Victoria staff outline staffing, technology and pay changes after boil-water notices

City Manager Garza told the Victoria City Council at a specially called meeting on Sept. 9 that staff have moved from diagnosing causes of recent boil-water notices to implementing an array of operational fixes focused on people, process, equipment and technology.

Garza said the immediate organizational change shifts the surface water treatment plant manager to report directly to the new assistant director in Public Works to remove a layer of supervision and improve day-to-day oversight. “We think this really improves the lines of oversight and communication,” Garza said. He also said an internal promotion and cross-training with the utilities division will help fill critical gaps while some positions remain vacant.

Why it matters: Council members were briefed on specific steps designed to reduce the chance of future water-quality events and to stabilize staffing at the plant. Several of the steps require one-time spending or capital improvements and changes to how sampling and monitoring are done.

Key measures described by staff include: - Staffing and pay: Garza said the surface water treatment plant has five current vacancies plus five positions that were frozen earlier, effectively creating a shortage of about 15 roles when both are counted. To retain and recruit certified operators staff proposed a more aggressive pay recommendation for utility-centric roles that Garza said totals $207,000. He told council that money would come from working capital in the utility fund, not the general fund. - Training and external assistance: City staff have partnered with a private consultant (Texas Utilities and Environmental) and the Texas Optimization Program through the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to provide hands-on training. Garza said the state team has already run two trainings locally and will return for additional sessions; the trainings have included both plant operators and utilities-division staff to unify practices. - Equipment and monitoring: The city received and installed 12 additional automated flushers on Aug. 25 and developed standard operating procedures (SOPs) for inspecting them. Staff are testing options to add remote monitors that feed data to SCADA. Garza said the city also increased chlorine-residual sampling frequency from weekly to twice per day and is evaluating installation of chlorine analyzers at water towers and Water Plant 3 to reduce staff travel and manual sampling time. - Software modernization and SCADA: Garza said the city received notice of eligibility for CDBG-funded SCADA work from the Texas General Land Office (GLO) on Aug. 20 after more than two years of waiting; staff are now finalizing a contract with the GLO. Separately, staff are developing a digital sampling-log system (referred to as an eSense solution in the presentation) that will not replace paper logs but will allow leadership to set automatic alerts and create work orders when results fall outside parameters.

Garza said the city intends to use its utilities-division employees to backfill plant duties where possible because in-house staff can be trained and held to standard SOPs; the city will outsource other labor-heavy work like leak repairs when appropriate. He noted that some long-tenured employees—citing one crew member with decades of experience—are critical to operations and that targeted pay increases are intended to retain institutional knowledge.

Council questions centered on timing and budget: a council member asked whether the added flushers and planned mixers were encumbered in fiscal 2025; Garza replied that the flushers were encumbered in FY25 and that automated mixers or other items might require a future budget amendment. On the final report, Garza said staff expects a communications-supported summary in “a month or two.”

What’s next: Staff will continue implementing state and consultant recommendations, finalize software and SCADA contracting, evaluate chlorine analyzers, and prepare a written implementation report with communications staff. Garza said the $207,000 pay recommendation will be accounted for from utility working capital and considered in the next utility rate study to address recurring cost implications.

Ending: Council thanked the subcommittee and staff for the work and said they could “see the finish line,” while council and staff agreed more work remains to complete SOPs and infrastructure planning for a longer-term capital improvement program.