Lago Vista may cut Garver sewer plant deal by $1,248,133.90

What is the Garver contract?

Garver, LLC is the engineering firm the city hired to design work at its wastewater treatment plant. The plant treats the city's sewage, and the first plan was to grow it from 1.0 million gallons a day (MGD) to 1.5 MGD. The contract has a not-to-exceed amount, which is the most the city can owe the firm. The council decides whether to approve this change, and if it does, the city manager signs it.¹

Victor Manzano, the city's capital improvement plan (CIP) manager, submitted the item, and the packet does not say who asked for it. The council's regular meeting starts at 3 p.m. in the City Council Chambers, 5803 Thunderbird. The agenda lists a closed executive session first and says the regular session will reconvene at 4 p.m.¹

Our earlier story about the city's state loan for the plant told how the contract began. It left open why the project moved from expansion to repair.

On May 16, 2024, the City Council voted unanimously to pick Garver to design a plant upgrade to 1.5 MGD.² On Dec. 5, 2024, the council approved a contract with Garver for the design, at no more than $2,821,902.00.³ The contract is dated Dec. 11, 2024, and a first amendment followed on May 2, 2025.¹ In October 2025 the council tabled a proposed amendment of up to $1,864,090.00 by a vote of 7 to 0.⁴

What changed before Nov. 5

The packet says the city weighed plant conditions, operating priorities, and project costs, and then shifted its near-term project away from an expansion. It says the council earlier told staff to move the filters and dewatering press ahead on their own, and to study a mechanical bar screen and grit chamber before going further.¹

On Sept. 17, 2026, Mayor Saum said the "unencumbered amount" of the city's 2024 bond was "somewhere around $2.2 million." Saum asked the council to set that money aside for a Type 1 filter. Another speaker answered that the EPA grant request covered several improvements, so a change would mean redoing that document.⁵ The packet now refers to a revised EPA grant workplan that lets the grant pay for eligible planning, permitting, design, and bid-phase services.¹ The packet does not say whether the mayor's request led to that revision.

What Amendment No. 2 would do

Amendment No. 2 splits the contract into two parts. Part 1 closes the original design work at $608,491.10, which is what Garver had billed through Aug. 29, 2025. Of the $2,213,410.90 not yet billed under the old contract, $965,277.00 would move to Part 2.¹

Part 2 covers a packaged tertiary filter system and a new volute press. Garver would design the filters and apply to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for a Type I permit to reuse treated water. The new press would replace the existing belt filter press inside the existing dewatering building. The packet expects no structural changes to that building.¹

The filters and the press would go out for bids as two packages at different times. The amendment also leaves out the mechanical bar screen and grit chamber for more study. No construction contract is part of this vote. Future construction contracts would come back to the council separately.¹

Who pays

The grant budget counts $610,999.00 of the $965,277.00 in new work. Construction administration and observation are not grant costs. Those two tasks are priced at $219,558.00 and $134,720.00.¹

Certificates of obligation are city debt, and the packet for the 2024 sale said they were payable from a property tax on all taxable property in the city and a limited pledge of water and sewer revenue.⁶ Staff recommend paying the city's share from 2024 Certificate of Obligation bond proceeds, Utility Reserves, or both. The packet says that choice is "subject to confirmation of available balances and final budget allocation."¹

Wastewater impact fees were first named as a possible source for this project, and staff no longer recommend them.¹ The adopted 2026-27 budget's capital plan still lists $820,000 in wastewater impact fees as the source for this project's design work that year.⁷

Other items on the same agenda

Item VIII.1 asks for approval of a $216,975 effluent master plan, a study of how the city handles treated wastewater. The EPA grant would pay $173,580 of it, and the city's required match is $43,395. Item VIII.3 is a vote on the city's part in the state loan program for the plant improvements project. A work session item the same day covers how to divide the EPA Community Grant between the plant and effluent projects.¹

What it means for you

This vote sets the most Garver can bill for engineering services, not what the plant work will cost to build.¹ In Oct. 2025, a Garver presenter said tertiary filters were "in the 4 to 5 million range" to build.⁸ If the council approves, the City Manager may sign the amendment, subject to "final legal review and applicable grant requirements."¹

What we could not find

• The outcome of the vote, who moves and seconds the motion, and how each member votes. The video and minutes are not posted yet.
• What the first amendment changed. It is not in this packet.
• Who decided to move from expansion to repair, and when. The packet says only that the city shifted its near-term project.
• What became of the Garver request that the council tabled.
• The revised EPA grant workplan and the grant's total. The packet gives only the shares that apply to this contract.
• Whether the city's share would come from the unencumbered bond money the mayor described in September, and the current balances of that bond and of utility reserves.
• What Garver has billed since the last invoice the amendment names, and whether the capped amount matches paid invoices.
• A construction cost for the revised project.

What you can do

• To speak in person, fill out the form in the chambers and give it to the mayor before the meeting starts. To speak online, email the form as it instructs.¹
• Ask the city for the missing records under the Texas Public Information Act. The city's open records page says it has up to 10 business days to respond.⁹