The total amount for these six contracts, including an update to the Stormwater Drainage Master Plan, is $4,219,498.62. Utilities Director Michael Thane said the rest of the $11 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds will be used toward construction costs of these projects. The master plan has not been updated since 2014, Thane said, and an update will help determine where attention is needed.
”This really sets the stage for where we need to spend money on capital improvement projects around the city,” Thane said.
ARPA funds, in conjunction with some stormwater and drainage monies, will be used to pay for a Stormwater Drainage Master Plan update of $350,434, contracted through Halff Associates Inc.; engineering for improvement plans in Old Town Meadows totaling $996,316.12 and contracted with HDR Engineering, Inc.; $365,901.25 for Round Rock West, contracted with LIA Engineering, Inc.; neighborhoods between East Palm Valley Boulevard and Louis Henna Boulevard totaling $280,139, contracted through Freese and Nichols Inc.; a Dry Branch tributary in the South Creek area totaling $276,678.50, contracted through Kasberg, Patrick and Associates Inc.; and $953,713.63 for the Chandler Branch Tributary, contracted through K. Friese and Associates Inc.
Thane said the funds will allow the city to complete projects it would not have been able to undertake without raising stormwater drainage rates.
“We would not be able to do all these projects under the current drainage rates,” Thane said. “Before this money came forward, we were looking at updating our drainage model to determine if we needed to have a rate increase. This helped alleviate that.”
