Council accepts single bid to advance Glen Hills lift station project despite higher-than-expected cost

The Bowie City Council voted to accept a lone bid from BAC Underground for Phase 2 of the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) project — the Glen Hills lift station and sludge pump replacement — at a presented low bid of $1,380,605. City engineering consultant Mike Tibbets told the council the bid process produced only one responsive bidder and recommended awarding the contract based on the contractor’s local work and satisfactory performance on Phase 1.

Tibbets outlined potential immediate savings of about $228,000 by omitting selected line items and noted additional options such as switching manhole types to save roughly $28,000. He also reviewed the related Nelson Street (Mill and Nelson) construction issues, saying that the inlet box there was not built to specifications, the contractor has been slow to respond to repeated notices, and the city currently holds retainage and unpaid balances on a separate project estimated at roughly $410,000. Tibbets said the Nelson contractor is about 73% complete and the stated completion date for that contract is July 13, though weather and unresolved construction disputes could delay final work.

Council voted to accept bid WSRF73893 and authorized standard TWDB procurement controls, with staff reserving the ability to remove line items under TWDB rules to manage cost. "We can tell the contractor we're not going to do that portion of it," staff said while noting some items (e.g., abandonment of an existing lift station) carry higher prices that the city could defer or alter to trim costs.

Why it matters: accepting the bid moves a major wastewater infrastructure phase forward while staff try to manage cost using allowable contract adjustments; separate contractor performance issues on Nelson Street remain a potential financial and schedule risk for the city.