Conroe City Council moved several water infrastructure projects forward Aug. 13, including a $572,425 emergency rehabilitation of Water Well No. 26 and the use of eminent domain to acquire property for two future water plants.
The most immediate concern centered on Water Well No. 26, a high-priority well on McCaleb Road that city officials said could fail at any time. The well is still operating, but there is currently no city-owned backup well serving the area.
What happened
Newly appointed Public Works Director Jason Miller said Water Well No. 26 needs major pumping equipment repairs and presented council with two options. One would cost $423,820 and take an estimated 10-12 weeks, while an expedited option would cost $572,425 and reduce the lead time to five weeks, according to city documents.
Miller said the city would typically bid the project but used a BuyBoard purchasing contract because of the emergency situation.
“This well is running. However, it could catastrophically fail at any given time,” Miller said.
With high summer temperatures and limited water supply in the area, Miller said waiting up to 12 weeks presented additional concerns.
“We do have firefighting concerns in that area currently as well,” Miller said.
Council ultimately approved the expedited five-week option without opposition.
The $572,425 will come from city reserves and requires a budget amendment. According to the agenda packet, the repair need was not known during the normal budget process and there were no other departmental funds available for a transfer.
Also of note
Council also unanimously authorized the use of eminent domain to acquire property for the Water Plant 33 and Water Plant 34 projects.
Council’s consent agenda included three additional water well and plant construction payments:
- $229,323.35 to Weisinger Inc. for replacement Water Well No. 14
- $64,391 to Weisinger for Water Well No. 6
- $251,427 to Wharton-Smith Inc. for Water Plant No. 32.
