Pflugerville officials advance measures to fight winter weather with $760K generator lease

Officials are continuing measures to diminish complications of potential severe winter weather.

During a Dec. 14 meeting, Pflugerville City Council approved a $760,960.26 lease agreement for a power generator for the city's surface water treatment plant located at 17601 Weiss Lane.

City staff said the generator will not be part of a facility's permanent design, and the installation of a manual switch to turn on the machinery is a temporary measure to help mitigate ramifications of any severe weather in the near future.

Pflugerville Public Utility Director Brandon Pritchett said the approval of the lease agreement was the first step, and council will need to approve the generator's installation at the next meeting Jan. 11.

"I just want to make sure that everyone out there understands that we're moving forward in preparation for this winter," Council Member Jim McDonald said.

McDonald said the city is working on a permanent design for inclusion of a generator within the water treatment plant that should be in place sometime in the coming year.

"This is a measure that will help keep residents with running water in case of a major power outage like we saw with Winter Storm Uri," McDonald said of the February polar vortex that blanketed most of Texas and left millions temporarily without power and water.

Council Member Doug Weiss echoed McDonald.

"We just need to recognize that this is an insurance policy," Weiss said. "We hope to not use this."