Hickory Well Field Expansion Bids, Seal Coat Concerns and GPS Systems on City Council Agenda Tuesday

Numerous items are up for short discussion on the City’s light Council agenda Tuesday, as the consent agenda consumes the majority of the day’s intended topics. To be considered is the awarding of a bid on the second Hickory Well Field Expansion package, a new GPS contract for City Hall to aid in surveys, and an update on last September’s faulty seal coat project that has been a cause of public concern.

The meeting will also include an update on the City’s Employee Wellness Program, consideration of adopting an update on the Neighborhood Revitalization Plan, and a possible 5-year extension of an advertising agreement between the City and McLaughlin Advertising.

Hickory Well Field Expansion

Construction on the Hickory Well Field Expansion Package 2 has gone to bid, returning two companies interested in the contract. On Tuesday, Council will consider awarding the bid to the lowest of the two, Red River Construction Company for $9.76 million.

Initial plans for the Hickory Water Supply project’s current phase were to provide 6 millions of gallons per day (MGD) of water and gradually step up output to 9MGD and 10.7 MGD in 2026 ’36, respectively. Council approved the drilling of six new wells on Aug. 6 of last year, and currently, drilling on the first three wells is in progress.

The second expansion package will include installation of pumps in the six new wells, installation of well field piping to connect new wells to the existing system, construction of well field access roads and installation of an additional pump at the existing booster pump station, a City memo states.

Leica GPS Contract

Council will consider adopting a resolution to allow the City Manager to execute a license agreement with Leica in order to install a GPS unit and receiver in City Hall. The system is intended to aid the City in surveys, and could be used to pinpoint the location of water meters and sewer lines, for roadway surveys, project design data collection, and provide mapping features needed to update GIS maps, a memo states. Leica will include an additional base unit that may be used on long-range project such as the Hickory Aquifer, and is offering to provide the service free of charge for the right to set it up in City Hall.

Seal Coat Concerns

Just four short months after the completion of the last round of seal coating on 900,000 square yards of City streets, complaints pertaining loose aggregate and dust have been received by City staff. The City’s Engineering Services Division has identified several plausible causes of the issue, and an update will be given in City Council Tuesday during public hearing and comment.

Last year, there were four bidders for the project, and the bid was awarded to Brannon Paving Company of Victoria for approximately $1.7 million. City staff believed all materials used in the project met the specifications, however are currently having specimens tested for certainty. Other possibilities include inclement or inappropriate weather conditions.

“Ideally, sealcoat should be placed in the heat of the summer to get the best job possible,” a City memo states. “We also had rain on a portion of this project soon after it was applied, as well as several ice events over the entire project during November and December that could have had a detrimental effect on aggregate turning loose from the asphalt.”

The work is under warranty for defective work, and City staff are currently looking into other methods of recourse should the issues not be covered by the warranty.