The proposed project will replace the existing water and sanitary sewer mains and repair the streets in the Buffalo Valley South area.  The Buffalo Valley South area is the neighborhood south of FM 78 that contains the following streets: 1st Street; 2nd Street; Chruch Street; Dowman Street; Lee Street; Mill Street; Wuest Street; and Zuehl (see attached map).

The existing water mains are old and most do not meet the current minimum pipe size.  The sanitary sewer mains are also old and beginning to fail in some locations.  The sewer manholes are old, hand-constructed brick manholes that are also failing.  The proposed project will replace all the mains with modern materials and increase the pipe sizes to the minimum standards needed for the area and replace all the sewer manholes with new concrete ones.  The new infrastructure will have a much longer service life than the existing infrastructure.

The streets in the area are in "fair" condition and were originally scheduled to be in an earlier SPAM Project for "rehabilitation."  These streets were in the "rehabilitation" category because they had deteriorated past the point where they could simply be "resurfaced."  They needed more work done to them than just resurfacing in order to reset their PCI to a near perfect score.  The streets were removed from the earlier SPAM Project because the water and sanitary sewer mains needed to be replaced.  The street work was combined with the utility replacement work to create a single project to complete everything at once, rather than have two successive projects.  This results in less overall disruption to the neighborhood.

The City issued a Request for Bids (RFB) and bids were opened on November 22, 2024.  A total of three bids were received ranging from $4,817,637.93 to $6,127,381.00. The bid package contained a Base Bid and two alternates.  Alternate 1 is to pipe burst a segment of the new sanitary sewer main in Wuest St instead of trenching.  A portion of the sanitary sewer main lies in an easement across developed private property.  Pipe bursting this section could save some time and would be less disruptive to the property owner than trenching.  Alternate 2 is to use flowable fill for trench backfill instead of allowing excavated material to be used.  Flowable fill is self-compacting and would help ensure that trench settlement does not occur after the pavement is replaced.

Staff carefully reviewed the alternates and the pros and cons of awarding them.  During this review it was noted that the costs of both alternates would fit within the available budget for the project. Since there are available funds for the alternates and the City will see additional benefits from construction of both alternates, Staff is recommending that the Base Bid and Alternates 1 and 2 be awarded. 

Both staff and our on-call engineer have reviewed the bids and checked references on the low bidder.  Based on our analysis, Staff recommends awarding the construction contract to the low bidder, E-Z Bel Construction, for the amount of $4,817,637.93.

To obtain authorization from City Council to execute a construction contract with E-Z Bel Construction for $4,817,637.93, with a not to exceed amount of $5,300,000 for the Buffalo Valley South Project.

Replacement of the water and sanitary sewer mains are expected to reduce the possibility of utility failures in the neighborhood.  Flows are also expected to improve, particularly since the new water mains will be appropriately sized.  The street rehabilitation will replace the aging and failing asphalt surface and increase the strenght of the base material.  The new street will have a longer service life and a new, smooth driving surface.  The new surface will improve the driving experience for residents.

Authorize execution of the construction contract with E-Z Bel Construction for $4,817,637.93, with a not to exceed amount of $5,300,000 for the Buffalo Valley South Project.

Funding for the proposed project comes from a combination of General Funds earmarked for SPAM and Federal American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds.  The Federal ARP funds were allocated to the City of Schertz as part of the COVID recovery effort.  The ARP funds can only be used for specific project types, such as water and waste water utility replacement projects. 

The funding breakdown is as follows:

Funding Source	Amount
General Fund (SPAM)	$1,300,000
ARP Funds	$4,000,000
Total:	$5,300,000

Approve Resolution 24-R-160