How we got here
Both facilities, located at 300 Water St., Bastrop, are severely impacted by grit and debris that have accumulated in the aeration basin—deposits that have led to a loss in treatment capacity, according to a staff report.
Curtis Hancock, director of water and wastewater for the city of Bastrop, called the rehabilitation “long overdue.”
“I can be honest with you, the plants are so old,” he said during the meeting.
About the project
The city of Bastrop opened for bids on May 28, with Emerson Construction Company offering the lowest bid of two. C.C. Carlton Industries submitted the second bid, but it was nearly $700,000 more at $3.1 million, according to the staff report.
“Both [contractors] have lots of experience, but Emerson has more experience in this type of project,” Hancock said. “We did have a panel of five that evaluated [the bids], and that’s how we came up with the recommendation.”
What are the options?
City officials said they will continue to discuss an appropriate dollar amount for a liquidated damages rate with Emerson Construction Company, previously proposed at $100 a day if late on delivery of the project, after Mayor Pro Tem John Kirkland voiced his concerns about how a rate that low felt useless.
“I think something that is more appropriate is taking the entire price of the project, dividing it up over two years, and then setting that as the daily rate for being late,” he said. “If you are two years late, when it’s done, then you get nothing. If you are a year late, you get 50% of the money.”
His proposal called for a liquidated damages rate of approximately $3,295 a day.
Put in perspective
Although Bastrop City Manager Sylvia Carillo-Trevino believes a liquidated damages rate of $100 a day is low, she emphasized how a rate of nearly $3,300 a day would be “extraordinarily high.”
“I think it bears a good conversation with the bidder,” she said during the meeting. “I don’t want them to say $2 is sufficient, because we need to protect the residents, but this is a point of negotiation.”
Hancock added that a high liquidated damages rate could potentially lead to Emerson Construction Company backing out.
“Where are we then? Because something has to be done,” he said. “I mean, we thought this plant was going to be shut down, and it’s not. So we have to make it right. We can’t go two years over, because we don’t have the room on the west side.”
Looking ahead
The project is intended to begin July 8 with a completion date of July 7, 2026, and will be financed with approximately $2.3 million in funding through the American Rescue Plan Act grant fund and $112,699 through the city’s Wastewater Capital Improvement Plan fund, according to the staff report.
Wastewater Treatment plants No. 1 and No. 2 will be offline during construction, and flows will be redirected to Wastewater Treatment Plant No. 3, at 384 SH 304, Bastrop—a facility that came online May 7, 2024.
