The Gazette-Enterprise

SEGUIN — Seguin can’t wait much longer for completion of repairs to the Kingsbury Street water tower.

Water Utility Manager John Schraub said that the city has been providing residents water service without the 1-million-gallon storage tank for the past year while it was undergoing repairs.

But use of the tank is now becoming necessary during peak water demand hours, as the drought continues and the mercury climbs.

“The extreme weather conditions of 100 degree-plus temperature and drought that the Seguin area has experienced during the past months has begun to impact the system. Pumps run longer to meet demands and elevated storage capacities take longer to recover,” Schraub said in a memo to council. “The long-term weather forecast calls for hot and dry weather during the next several months. The need to maximize all water components is becoming critical due to drought conditions. Placing the Kingsbury elevated storage tank back into service should become a priority.”

The tank was taken out of service for improvements to be made by contract companies Diversified Coating Ltd. and Texas Bonding Company, which were scheduled to be complete in June 2008.

Frustrated with a number of setbacks and delays, city leaders gave the contract companies an ultimatum in April 2009 — finish the project by June 30 to city specifications or be prepared for possible legal action.

The terms of the contract addendum drawn up by council during an executive session include provisions that the project be finished by June 30; that the contractor fully comply with specifications set by the city’s March 18, 2009, bid-package for elevated tank repair work; that both parties reserve and retain rights to seek recovery of costs of completion, damages and other expenses; the contractor and the city retain claims to arbitration with a mutually agreed-upon arbitrator; the contractor will complete a schedule with benchmarks for the projects completion; and that the contractor and engineer will meet each week to discuss the schedule and the project’s progress.

Schraub said TRC Engineering is preparing for reinspection of the tank and, hopefully, bringing the interior of the tank into compliance with the city’s standards.

He will present a full report to city council during Tuesday’s meeting at 5:30 p.m. in council chambers, 210 E. Gonzales St.

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