HSB awards fire station bid
By Lew K. Cohn
Managing Editor
The Highlander
A contract to begin the first phase of remodeling Horseshoe Bay Fire Rescue's Central Fire Station was awarded by the Horseshoe Bay City Council Tuesday to Roan Commercial Group LLC for $172,730.
Work on the Central Fire Station is being divided into two phases, with the first phase approved in the fiscal year 2018 budget. Phase I includes creation of a dedicated, controlled and easily identifiable entry point for Horseshoe Bay residents. To make this happen, a new bay must be built to house the ambulance assigned to Horseshoe Bay.
The new entry point will face the parking lot servicing City Hall, where the current ambulance bay is located. The main entrance will include a controlled-access foyer and new office areas to support the daily operations of the fire department.
Phase II is not scheduled to be bid until fiscal year 2019 and will include new living quarters for the crew on the first floor, along with a re-purposed training/meeting room.
The budget originally set for Phase I, including $14,000 for architectural plans, was $140,000, and although it was the lowest, the Roan bid originally came in at $187,000 — some $61,000 more what was budgeted for construction.
Fire Chief Joe Morris told the council he wants to move $25,000 budgeted towards a training facility and $25,000 budgeted for general equipment replacement to the remodel project, which would increase the available balance for construction to $176,000.
Morris, City Manager Stan Farmer and Public Works Director Tim Foran performed a cost-cutting exercise with Roan representatives and were able to trim the construction cost to $172,300 and a change order will be enacted to reduce the bid to the lower amount.
Architect Ray Gill Jr. said the three of the bids the city received were not local and the second-lowest bidder even withdrew his bid.
“The size of the project has a lot to do with (the reason the bids were higher than expected),” Gill said. “Most houses in this area can be built in the low 300s, so getting local bidders on a project of this size is tough. Our highest bid was around $309,000 as well. I think the staff did well to reduce the cost of the project and get it manageable.”
Rusty Stout of Roan said the impact of Hurricane Harvey is being felt in the cost of construction materials, which has increased.
“Those get passed along to the customer,” Stout said. “Small projects like this cost more because we still have to staff them the same as we would a larger project. Plus, a tariff agreement with Canada has expired and American mills have increased the price of lumber, which has had an impact.”
City Council members also gave final approval to an annexation ordinance which brings the future 77-acre campus of Phoenix Center into the city limits. Two public hearings on the ordinance were held last month and there has been no objection to this voluntary annexation.
Phoenix Center, a local 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides mental health care to local children who have experienced trauma, recently acquired the 77 acres to serve as the site of their future campus, to include a state-of-the-art mental health clinic, equine therapy center, therapeutic camp facilities, and a ropes course.
The property is located two miles from the US 281 and Texas 71 intersection at 3340 W. Texas 71 in the extraterritorial jurisdiction of Horseshoe Bay. Two adjacent residential plots in Horseshoe Bay South — donated to the organization — will allow for a second entrance to the property in the future. The current entrance is off of Highway 71 close to Baylor Scott & White Hospital. The property is also a short distance east of the Horseshoe Bay Resort Jet Center.
City council members voted to approve an agreement with The Hills POA related to the city taking over management of the streets and water line along Hills Road, Hills Lane, Hills Way and Hills Court.
The POA is conveying the deed for the streets and water line to the city along with an annual fee of $5,000. In return the city agrees to maintain the streets through sealcoating and chipsealing and maintain, repair and replace any water lines, if necessary. The agreement between the city and The Hills POA is similar to one the city has with Pecan Creek POA.
If the POA ever decides they would like to convert the streets to a full upgrade, including concrete raised or ribbon curb with hot mix asphalt, the POA will pay the full cost of the project, which will be coordinated by the city.
The council also voted to adopt an ordinance establishing a speed limit of 35 mph on Ferguson Road from the intersection of FM 2147 to the south side of the bridge, spanning the Ferguson power plant water intake. The change both sets a “safe, reasonable and prudent speed” for the roadway, which will allow residents of Lighthouse Drive and No Return to legally operate golf carts for travel to and from the resort and/or the Slick Rock golf course.
Also, it removes an issue where one side of the road had a posted speed limit of 40 miles per hour and the other had a posted limit of 20 mph.
