Photo by Samantha Bryant

Hutto City Council approved an agreement March 15 with a vote of 6-1 with the Texas Department of Transportation for the funding of a project that will widen FM 685 and replace a bridge to bring it out of the 100-year flood plain.

Council was scheduled to vote on the issue at its regular meeting March 8, but the item was pulled from the agenda because the city still needed additional information from TxDOT about how much money the city would need to contribute to the project, Mayor Debbie Holland said.

The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization selected the FM 685 project for funding in October 2011 and committed to fund $13.8 million. Running from Carl Stern Boulevard to Great Western Drive, the improvements consist of reconstructing FM 685 to create a divided roadway with turn lanes, sidewalks and replacing the bridge over Brushy Creek.

TxDOT needed the city to approve an advanced funding agreement this week in order for the project to move forward, Interim City Manager David Mitchell said.

According the agreement, the city will be responsible for funding plan specifications and estimates, 10 percent of right of way acquisitions and utility relocations. City staff had presented various cost estimates at a Feb. 16 workshop and at the March 8 meeting that ranged from $1.1 million to $1.9 million, but the final estimate March 15 was the city would contribute about $1.5 million.

The cost includes $700,000 for relocating a water line along FM 685, which City Engineer Matt Bushak said would need to be replaced soon anyway.

Bushak said the city will be fronting all of the right of way, engineering and utility relocation costs and would be reimbursed by TxDOT.

The cost estimates assumed that no right of way would be donated and that all of the utilities would need to be relocated, so Bushak said there could potentially be savings for the city in those areas.

"I feel like the numbers I'm giving you here are the maximum the city is going to be out-of-pocket," he said.

City Attorney Charlie Crossfield, who has handled right of way acquisitions for Williamson County road projects, said right of way and utility relocation costs can fluctuate and are hard to predict until the processes have started. He said the city would also be held financially responsible if there is a delay in obtaining right of way.

"All that being said, this is a great time to build a road," he said. "You've got $13.8 million, and almost all of the projects that I've seen in the last four years have come way under bid, maybe 25 to 30 percent."

Councilman Paul Prince voted against approving the agreement. He said it was his understanding last August when the city applied for the funds that the grant would cover all costs. He said $1.5 million is a lot of money for a city of Hutto's size, and that he wished the city had more control over the project.

"I'm not comfortable about the lack of control over what will be a huge gateway into the city," Prince said.

Bushak said the costs to the city would be minimal during this fiscal year and could be about $60,000. For the following fiscal year, Finance Director Micah Grau said it will depend on growth in the tax base as to whether or not the city will need to issue debt to cover the expense.

Also at the March 15 meeting, the city awarded LJA Engineering Inc. the contract for engineering services to design the FM 685 project.

Bushak said the project will probably be bid in August of 2013. Construction is expected to take about 18 months.