Island begins major infrastructure overhaul

GALVESTON — Galveston’s aging and hurricane-damaged infrastructure is about to get a major overhaul as the city begins spending $107 million in federal disaster recovery money.

Council members Thursday accepted the federal money specifically earmarked to replace hurricane-damaged infrastructure and hired Beck Disaster Recovery to administer the grant money. The company will earn no more than $1.34 million, less than 1 percent of the total federal disaster recovery dollars for infrastructure projects.

Council members Thursday approved $12.8 million in contracts to improve Galveston’s wastewater treatment plant; water distribution lines, pumps and storage facilities; and a fire station, among other projects.

This is the most the city has spent at one time to repair its infrastructure, spokeswoman Alicia Cahill said.

The repair jobs will not be bid competitively. Instead, the city intends to pick contractors prequalifed by the state — and experienced in specific infrastructure improvements — to do the construction and repairs in an effort to expedite the work, Eric Wilson, director of municipal utilities, said.

The city expects to spend most of its infrastructure money on rebuilding the main wastewater treatment plant. The plant was under more than 2 feet of water during Hurricane Ike, frying its electrical system and knocking the plant out of commission for about a week. The city intends to rebuild the plant but not expand its capacity. Plans are to elevate all components by 13 feet so that the plant won’t flood in future storms.

The city also will ensure the plant, which hasn’t been improved since 1972, is brought up to meet all state codes and regulations. Wilson said it may cost as much as $70 million to rebuild the plant.

The city is using federal diaster recovery money instead of Federal Emergency Management Agency dollars to rebuild the plant because FEMA would pay to repair the plant to its prior conditions, not improve it. The plant serves the city’s core urban area, from 61st Street to the far East End.

Elevating the main wastewater treatment plant and hardening the city’s water system will help ensure Galveston doesn’t lose its sewage and water capacity in future storms like it did after Hurricane Ike, Wilson said.

The city tried to add other projects in the list of sewer, water, streets and drainage systems it intended to reconstruct, but the state denied those projects — including plans to repair a water line, installed in 1890, that runs parallel to the causeway and is riddled with cracks and holes, and a request to buy right of way for the planned Stewart Road widening project.

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At a glance

Infrastructure projects paid for with $107 million in round one federal dollars for hurricane recovery:

• Rebuild the main wastewater treatment plant.

• Elevate fire station No. 4.

• Preserve historic building fronts.

• Install a 20-inch waterline connecting Galveston Island to Pelican Island, creating a loop system that provides a backup for water distribution if another city water line goes down. The water line also will support the University of Texas Medical Branch.

• Elevate and harden the sanitary sewer lift station at 29th Street and Harborside Drive.

• Build a vocational-technical center for Galveston College.

• Replace the natural gas generator with a diesel generator at the Scholes International Airport pump station.

• Install main water distribution line between 30th and 59th streets.

• Build two water storage tanks on 30th Street to stockpile water for use during shortages.