Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Drainage Projects topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Drainage board reviews bond progress, awards contracts and authorizes change‑order limits
Summary
Hidalgo County Drainage District directors said the district has completed roughly 135 projects totaling about $170 million, approved a pool of title firms and awarded a construction contract for the East Mercedes project; the board also authorized limited change‑order authority for its general manager.
The Hidalgo County Drainage District board on Dec. 15 reviewed progress on multi‑year bond programs, approved procurement actions and gave staff limited authority to approve routine change orders.
A staff director said the district identified 37 projects under the 2018 bond (72 phases) from a $190 million authorization and reported 42 projects complete; counting completed GLO and ARPA projects and in‑house efforts the speaker said the district has finished about 135 projects representing roughly $170,000,000 in work. The director added the district is tracking roughly $30,000,000 in applications with the Texas Division of Emergency Management and that several projects remain in design or right‑of‑way acquisition.
The board approved a motion to close out debt service on a refunded 2016 bond and transfer the bond fund balance into the 2025 bond service account; the amount recorded in the transcript was unclear and is not specified here. The court also approved a title company services pool (RFP ACD1250040924) and authorized staff to negotiate separate contracts with qualified proposers, naming Sierra Title, Abidalgo County Inc., Amigo Title Company and Valleyland Title Limited as the qualified firms.
On construction, the board awarded the East Mercedes 2018 bond project to the lowest responsive bidder, Moorewell LLC, and approved adding an alternate that had been omitted in the prior award. The contract amount in the recorded transcript was garbled and could not be reliably transcribed; the record reflects that the board approved the award with the alternate.
Citing a provision of Texas law, the board also authorized the district general manager to approve change orders that increase or decrease contract costs up to $50,000, within statutory limits. The board took that vote publicly and recorded the motion as carried.
After a closed session, the board took a public action to allow an individual named in closed session (referred to as Mr. Sassine in the record) to proceed consistent with the discussion in closed session; the court voted to authorize the action on the public motion.
The board adjourned later in the afternoon. Meeting minutes and contract documents will provide the final numeric and legal details for each item approved.
