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Groves approves $590,000 investment‑grade audit to advance wastewater plant upgrades
Summary
The Groves City Council unanimously approved an investment‑grade audit with Schneider Electric that city staff says will fund engineering to make the aging wastewater plant reliable and energy‑efficient; the audit costs $590,000 and would be rolled into construction if the project proceeds.
The Groves City Council on Dec. 22 unanimously approved an investment‑grade audit agreement with Schneider Electric Buildings America Inc., authorizing the city manager to negotiate and execute the contract that Schneider says will produce shovel‑ready engineering for upgrades to the city’s wastewater treatment plant.
Craig Mesmer of Schneider Electric introduced the firm’s team and timeline and turned the technical presentation over to Troy H. Hotchkus, Schneider’s chief engineer. Hotchkus said a recent sampling campaign (conducted in fall 2025) produced laboratory data showing incoming flow and loading differ materially from historical design assumptions, and that the new data allow engineers to design a system that can be permitted and guaranteed to perform. "We can stand behind myself and two other engineers. We can sign it and seal it," Hotchkus said, describing the sampling work as the technical foundation for sizing biological treatment and controls.
Why it matters: council members and staff said the plant is aging and operating under variable flow conditions — the original design used about a 2.5 million‑gallons‑per‑day (MGD) annual average figure, Schneider staff said, while the sampled data indicate annual averages closer to the low‑to‑mid 3 MGD range; the city’s permit capacity is 5 MGD. Schneider recommended sizing installed equipment to meet the permit while using measured loadings to design biological processes and control strategies that reduce energy use and handle peak storm inflows.
Schneider emphasized that the largest energy savings come from aeration upgrades (blowers and variable‑frequency drives) and an updated controls/sequencing package to modulate equipment in low‑flow and peak‑flow conditions. The firm discussed tradeoffs among blower technologies (centrifugal, screw, turbo) and said vendor selection will weigh life‑cycle cost, maintainability and local service availability.
Cost and next steps: Schneider told council the investment‑grade audit (IGA) will cost $590,000; staff said the city has reserves to cover the audit and that, if council approves construction later, the audit cost would be rolled into the overall project. Council heard that an initial invoicing stage is expected during the spring (staff referenced a partial invoice in April) and that a final project and construction contract could be ready for discussion by late summer after the engineering and permitting work is complete. Mayor Bourne and all council members present voted in favor of authorizing the IGA.
The city manager and Schneider also warned that permitting with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) will require submission of the recent flow and loading data and likely a discussion about permit sizing versus system build‑out; staff said the city is prepared to discuss whether to reduce its permit if it chooses not to build to full permitted capacity. The investment‑grade audit is intended to produce a design, price and schedule sufficient to support construction financing decisions later this year.
