Navasota City Council approves two grant-funded water and sewer contracts, TIRZ development agreement and other routine business

Navasota ——City Council approved several infrastructure contracts and routine administrative items during its Feb. 9 regular meeting, including two grant-funded water and sewer construction awards, a development agreement tied to the city's Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ No. 1), and an authorization to use a State of Texas cooperative credit-card contract.

The council voted to award a Texas Department of Agriculture Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) water and sewer project on Minnie Street to Terrabella Construction for $377,842.84. Matthew Julian, project superintendent, told the council the work will replace about 906 feet of water main and 832 feet of sewer main and conclude with full asphalt reconstruction. Julian told the council the contractor had not worked on a required guardrail in the past two weeks and staff will request an updated timeline.

The engineer on the project, Zach Botall of Bridal Engineering, said the grant award of $475,000 left a buffer below the recommended contract amount, and grant alternates were included so staff would not have to rely on change orders for items not on the bid form. Grant administrator Megan Flynn said the city could still submit an amendment to the Texas Department of Agriculture if an item not on the bid form became necessary.

Council also approved a Texas General Land Office mitigation-method grant project for utility improvements on Foster Street and adjacent sections, awarding a contract to JTM Construction LLC for $917,385. City staff described the project as replacing more than 1,100 feet of water main, upsizing 1,400 feet of main from 8 inches to 12 inches to support future growth, replacing multiple hydrants, and replacing more than 2,000 feet of sewer main plus manholes and storm pipe, followed by full street reconstruction. Council members asked about construction during heavy rain on a frequently flooding street; staff said contractors typically do not leave open trenches overnight and will backfill and protect work areas as weather requires.

The council approved a development agreement between Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone No. 1 (TIRZ No. 1) and Altamira/Altamira LLC that includes a not-to-exceed reimbursement limit described by staff as "a little over $9,000,000." Development services director Lupe Diosado said the requested reimbursements align with the TIRZ's approved project and finance plans and largely cover off-site utility extensions (water, sewer, natural gas) and an on-site water plant.

Separately, the council authorized the city to participate in a State of Texas cooperative purchasing contract (946M4) for procurement-card services with U.S. Bank, replacing the current Citibank arrangement. Michael Labelle, introduced to the council as the city's finance director, said using the state contract will bypass a lengthy solicitation and provide pre-negotiated rates.

On regulatory matters, the council approved continuing participation in the Entergy Service Area Cities steering committee at the Public Utility Commission of Texas and authorized hiring of legal and rate experts as needed. City legal counsel said the city incurs no direct cost for participation because legal and expert fees are handled within the PUC proceeding.

Routine items approved by the council included the order of election for May 2, 2026 (one councilmember each for places 2 and 3), a joint election contract with Grimes County and Navasota ISD (staff estimated about a 15% cost increase tied mainly to poll-worker pay, roughly $6,100), and the consent agenda (January minutes). The council also authorized the city manager to pursue purchase or acquisition of real property as discussed in executive session. No action was taken on an agenda item offering financial incentives to prospective businesses.

Quotes from the meeting capture the operational details: "We have not seen any work from the contractor in the last 2 weeks regarding the guardrail, so we'll be reaching out this week trying to figure out when they're gonna come back and what the new timeline is gonna be," Julian said. Botall said, "The grant amount for this one is 475,000, and we're recommending a award of 377,000," and Labelle said the move to the state contract would "bypass a lengthy solicitation process while securing the competitive pre-negotiated rates already vetted at the state level."

The council approved each item by voice vote with no opposed recorded; the meeting adjourned after routine business.