Council approves engineering survey for EPA compliance

San Angelo Standard-Times
·3 min read
A new study will determine where lead and copper water lines underlie older parts of San Angelo. Credit: Standard-Times Staff
A new study will determine where lead and copper water lines underlie older parts of San Angelo. Credit: Standard-Times Staff

The San Angelo City Council approved several items during the first regular meeting of October, focusing mainly on the one regular agenda item, concerning a Task Order to award a $1,092,570 contract to the engineering firm of Freese and Nichols, Inc., which pays for work on Phase 2 of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Lead and Copper Rule Revision Compliance Program, aimed at ensuring safe drinking water.

According to the agenda packet provided by the City, contract ES-06-19 concerns the initial service-line inventory, which must examine infrastructure installed before lead was banned on a system-wide scale, and Julie Huerta of Freese & Nichols told Council members that could include anything in use before 1988.

Huerta, aided by Assistant Water Utilities Director Andy Vecellio, took turns explaining the scope of the project and processes to be used, which will include targeted excavations and in-home sampling to determine if any lead or copper by-products are leaching into water along the service lines.

Mayor Brenda Gunter made a few remarks about the cost of the project, and Council members asked about grants or options to help defray the costs, along with questions about the timeline for this phase of the project.

Huerta said Freese & Nichols were looking at different grant possibilities, to help offset costs and aid the city in soliciting funds.

According to information from the City, Phase 2 is a year-long project that includes an initial desktop service line inventory, a pilot study plan and field survey, a pilot profile-sampling program, predictive modeling, planning, and initial implementation, a desktop corrosivity study, and a funding application with the Texas Water Development Board.

The contract was approved unanimously before the Council moved to Closed session under Texas Gov. Code Section 551.071, for consultation with an attorney regarding the City of San Angelo Development Corp.

In other business, the Council approved:

  • Recent Council meeting minutes.

  • A resolution accepting 4.994 acres and 0.658 acres from Rimrock Development, LLC for use by the Public Works Department, Stormwater Division.

  • Contract FD-02-22 to Credit Systems International, Inc. for EMT billing-collection purposes, in the amount of 22-percent of the collection balance.

  • An amendment to the 2021 Annual Action Plan (AAP) allocating HOME American Rescue Plan (ARP) grant funds.

  • A Second reading of an ordinance for Z22-17 to rezone properties at 1826 Magnolia St. from the Manufactured Housing Subdivision to the Single-Family Residential zoning district.

  • A Second reading and public hearing of an ordinance annexing into the City of San Angelo...an unaddressed 6.9 acre tract located northwest of Arden Road and Farm-to-Market Rd. 2288.

  • A Second reading of an ordinance for Z22-18 to zone property as part of an annexation to the Single-Family Residential zoning district, being 6.9 acres, northwest of Arden Road and Farm-to-Market Rd.  2288

Texas Gov. Code Section 551.071 states that agovernmental body may not conduct a private consultation with its attorney except: (1) When the governmental body seeks the advice of its attorney about: (A) pending or contemplated litigation; or (B) a settlement offer; or (2) on a matter in which the duty of the attorney to the governmental body under the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct of the State Bar of Texas clearly conflicts with this chapter.

This article originally appeared on San Angelo Standard-Times: City Council approves engineering survey for EPA compliance