Lago Vista panel pushes golf wastewater pipe fix, bonds may pay

The pipe carries treated wastewater, called effluent, from pond 17 to the new irrigation pond on hole 2.⁷ Stewart, speaking by phone, worked from contractor prices he said he got that day.³ The city's 2026-27 budget book shows $290,033.77 left of the $4,095,000 in 2024 bond money set aside for the irrigation job. The book says that remainder is "needed for electrical connection and sand/material needs."⁸ The committee only advises, and the City Council decides.⁹

The pipe, the permit, and who decides

The city's sewer plant gets rid of its treated water by spraying it on land, and the golf course is one of those places. City staff wrote in January that the reclaimed water system "relies on the golf course as a primary discharge point" under the city's Texas Land Application Permit.¹⁰ The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), the state's environmental agency, issued that permit.¹¹ A change order adds work to a contract that is already under way, and Hall called that "relatively simple."¹² The 2024 money came from certificates of obligation (CO), a type of city bond.⁸ Large building projects fall under the city's Capital Improvement Program (CIP).¹⁰

Earlier coverage

The City Council voted 7 to 0 on Jan. 15, 2026, to approve the irrigation contract, a vote covered in Lago Vista's golf course got $2.8 million in public subsidies.¹³ Diamond Golf International Inc. bid a lump sum of $3,615,632.23.¹⁴ Staff called the job "currently the most critical project within the City’s Capital Improvement Program."¹⁰ Our Oct. 24 story, Golf course irrigation slips to Jan. 1, draft minutes say, reported that draft Sept. 22 minutes put the finish between Dec. 1, 2026, and Jan. 1, 2027.¹⁵

How it started

Stewart, a former city public works director, spoke on Oct. 15, 2026, during citizen comments at the City Council's regular meeting. He said a decision was made that the main line between pond 17 and pond 2 "is not to be replaced" now. He said it would instead be replaced "5 or 10 years down the road." He said the pipe could go in for "about $200,000 maybe right now," but waiting could cost the city "450,000 to $500,000." He asked the council to issue a change order so the contractor already on the job could replace it.¹⁶

A council member, whom the video lines we reviewed do not name, answered that "we did look at that transfer line." The member said a test ran "almost 4.5 hours" at about 130 pounds of pressure and found "zero leak." Once pond 2 is in service, the member said, the line is "going to virtually have no pressure at all." The member added, "I would find it hard to spend $200,000 on a water line that is perfectly functional." Stewart answered that the pipe is "bedded in shot rock" and that the test "is a static pressure test."¹⁷

A council member then suggested sending the subject to a special meeting of the irrigation subcommittee. The next speaker said "I agree 100%" and that the pipe "is worth further discussion." That speaker also mentioned a parting comment from Taylor Whichard, who the speaker said had left.¹⁸ A TCEQ letter of Sept. 30, 2025, copied Taylor Whichard as the city's Director of Public Works.¹⁹ The meeting lines we reviewed show no vote on the line.¹⁸

The Oct. 27 committee meeting

The committee met at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 27, 2026, in City Council Chambers at 5803 Thunderbird. City Secretary Robin Smith certified that the agenda was posted by 5 p.m. on Oct. 20.²⁰ The ordinance sets the committee at seven members plus a council liaison.⁹ The agenda has no separate item on the pipe, which came up under staff and council liaison reports.²⁰

Golf Pro Greg Saul, the committee's staff liaison, gave the staff report.¹⁵ He said Diamond Golf "weren't contracted" to put a new main line in to the hole 2 pond. He called the line "55, 56 years old." A break would stop irrigation until it was repaired. In a hot, dry summer, he said, there is "potential of losing greens." Asked whether the line was weighed when the irrigation job was designed, Saul said "it has been, but I can't give you any details."⁷

A committee member then relayed, from "one person," that a city infrastructure subcommittee had recommended replacing the line. The member said Council Member Adam Benefield told the council a former official's last advice was to replace it. The name given on the video for that official was "Richard Taylor."²¹ The council comment we found is the Oct. 15 one described above, where the name spoken was Taylor Whichard.¹⁸

Stewart's case by phone

The chair told Stewart, "I believe you have six minutes," and then took questions. Stewart said he was given a green light in 2018 to fix the irrigation system, but funds then switched to Sunset Park.²² Stewart said he worked for the city for 33 years and ran Public Works "from 2005 until 2016 or so." He said he is a Class A wastewater treatment plant operator.²³ The council appointed Dave Stewart to the city's Planning and Zoning Commission on Jan. 6, 2026, for a term expiring in 2026.²⁴ He said three members of a city infrastructure subcommittee agreed the 10-inch line should be replaced.²² He later put that meeting at "probably six months ago."²⁵

Stewart said the pipe has had five "spigot to bell splits," which he said happen only if a pipe is "worn out." He said there is "like $1.1 million in this CIP fund that hasn't been spent." He said the city will "never put it in the ground for the price that it is right now."³ Asked about scope, he said he was "confident that $200,000 is more than enough money." He then said he was "thinking it could be done for less than 150 K," but would "keep it at the 200."²⁶

The city's table of 2024 bond projects shows $290,033.77 remaining in the golf irrigation row and $6,122,388.86 remaining across all of its projects. The same table lists $1,557,742.89 still programmed for effluent ponds, with a note on "pond#14 repairs and bypass efforts." The table warns its amounts "have not been independently reconciled or validated by the Finance Department."⁸

Stewart said past change orders used the price per foot "with an adjustment of 15 to 20% for the unexpected work." He warned that once the city accepts the system, "this document is worthless."²⁷ He said an engineer with a seal must size the pipe. An 8-inch pipe instead of a 10-inch pipe would save "about maybe 40 or $45,000," he said. He said the contractor is "supposed to leave the site around mid January" and would "need to be notified before Thanksgiving."²⁸

Stewart on pipe age, the permit, and fines

Stewart said the pipe maker "said that his pipe should be replaced after 50 years of service."²⁹ He said "this pipe has been in service for 49 years," a different age than the 55 or 56 years Saul gave.^7,29

Stewart said the golf course "provides a crop that our TCEQ discharge permit uses to dispose of effluent." He said, "The golf course is the crop," and that killing it "will be a major violation."³⁰ A proposed TCEQ order did cite a dead crop, but at Cedar Breaks, a separate disposal site, and from too much water. The order alleges that problems there "have caused the death of the required crop by over watering." The same order says the city "generally denies each allegation."³¹

Asked about fines, Stewart said, "they've had eight violations in the last 26 months." He said a fine "could be a 40 or $50,000 fine," but it is "really hard to tell what the fine could be."³² A TCEQ letter dated Sept. 30, 2025, proposed an agreed order with a $13,500 penalty. The city would pay $10,800 if it met the order's deadlines.¹¹ The penalty worksheet lists three violations.³³ TCEQ's compliance worksheet, from a Nov. 4, 2024, screening, rated the city a "Satisfactory Performer."³⁴ Stewart said fines for other violations at the plant and Cedar Breaks have not been issued and "they're still coming."³²

Stewart said the city can store "28 million gallons" in its ponds, but taking pond 17 out of service would "lose about half of it."³⁵ Staff wrote in January that pond 17 "is currently leaking and known to TCEQ."¹⁰ Stewart said replacing the line is "an effluent disposal department expense" rather than a golf course expense. He called not replacing it now "a gross error in judgment."²⁵

Council Member Hall's report

After Stewart signed off, one member asked to make a motion, and the chair said to wait until Hall's liaison report was done.^25,36 Hall is the council's liaison to the committee.¹⁵ His wider report on staffing, the budget, and the city's major projects is covered in our companion story on his report. He said the city is reorganizing its departments and "we are challenged with a staff capacity to take on projects."³⁶ He thought a contract with Freese and Nichols for an interim engineer was either signed or close to it.³⁷ He said a break would be "an automatic emergency and funds would have to be found." He said the project "was not on the list, but certainly belongs on the list."³⁶

Hall said projects outside the budget need a revenue source, such as "cuts in the budget in other areas" or "reserve funds." For the golf course, he said, "there are bond funds available." He added that the council would still weigh "a lot of high priority CIP projects." He said strong arguments can be made that the amount is "really very small compared to all the others."³⁶ He described the leftover as money not used for the irrigation system.⁴

Asked whether a change order needs bidding, Hall said "it doesn't have to be bid out again." He added that if the contractor finishes the job, "that might require the project to be bid out."¹² Hall said an engineer would have to weigh in, so there is "probably not time" to approve it at the next meeting, "but at least put it in front of them." The council could vote at the following November meeting, he said.³⁸ Members asked whether the line was in the original irrigation bid, and none was sure.³⁹

The motion and the vote

A member then moved to prepare the change order "in 48 hours time" so Hall, "if he agrees," could put it on the Nov. 5 agenda. The chair restated it as a motion "to create a proposed change order." The order would go to the council liaison "in hopes that he can get it on the agenda for November 5th." The mover said he would ask that the change order use the 10-inch pipe, "since that's the most expensive, and that would be the worst case number."¹

Committee member Gage Hunt said, "I certainly think the pipe has got to be replaced." He called drafting a change order "getting into the weeds a little bit deeper than where we're supposed to be." He favored "strongly recommending to council that they approve a change order" and letting them develop it.⁴⁰

A member answered, "If we had a longer runway, Gage's approach would work." The member added, "We have a pretty short runway right now." The member said "by no means is it an official document."⁴¹ A member said people "have volunteered to help us." The committee then voted by voice, with the words "All in favor, say aye. Any nays? Nay. Okay. Motion passes."²

The committee approved its Sept. 22 minutes by voice and pushed off its last two items.⁴² The next scheduled meeting is Jan. 26.⁴³

How they voted

The video shows a voice vote with no roll call, and one "nay" was heard before the motion passed.² The agenda roster lists seven members, including a chair, a vice-chair, and a secretary.²⁰ The chair called it "Mike's proposal."² The ordinance says a motion "may be made by any member other than the chairperson."⁹ No second was heard on the video.² The ordinance says a motion to recommend council action "shall require four" favorable votes.⁹ The video does not count the ayes.² The minutes for this meeting were not posted when we checked the city portal on Oct. 28.⁴⁴

What it means for you

Stewart's "less than $200,000" is his own estimate, made the day he said he got the bid tabs.³ The January bid also lists prices by the foot for "any additions or deletions from the work." They include $22.20 a foot for 10-inch pipe and $14.32 a foot for 8-inch pipe.⁴⁵ The Debt Service fund budgets $545,000 in principal and $1,117,125 in interest for the 2024 bonds in 2026-27.⁵ It also budgets $4,387,819 in property taxes for debt.⁶ The pipe is not the only proposed use for leftover 2024 bond money. On Sept. 17, Mayor Shane Saum asked the council to set aside about $2.2 million left in those bonds for an effluent filter, as our story Lago Vista taxpayers face a $28.2 million sewer plant loan choice reported.⁴⁶

Waiting could cost more, Stewart said, with a failure costing "probably 2 to 3 times" what a fix costs now.²⁶ The Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) says that as an asset declines, "deferring maintenance and/or replacement could increase long-term costs and liabilities." It also says "budgetary pressures often impede capital program expenditures or investments for maintenance and replacement."⁴⁷ On the other side, the council member's test found no leak at about 130 pounds of pressure.¹⁷

The next step is Hall's choice about the Nov. 5 agenda, and he said he would be the "appropriate person" to place it.^1,38 The city's upcoming events list showed no council meeting when we checked on Oct. 28.⁴⁴ Stewart's deadline for notifying the contractor is before Thanksgiving.²⁸

What we could not find

• The length of the old line, which with the bid's per-foot prices would show what a new one could cost.
• The unspent balance Stewart described, or which fund he meant.
• The text of the city's permit, and any rule that treats the golf course turf as a crop.
• Records of the violations Stewart counted.
• When the line was laid. Saul and Stewart gave different ages.
• Who moved, who seconded, and who voted no, and the posted minutes.
• Whether the line was in the first irrigation bid.
• The names of the council members who answered Stewart at the October council meeting, and the exact words of the Whichard comment. A person is checking them by ear.
• Any tax rate or fee change tied to the pipe, and whether the council will take it up.

What you can do

• Check the city's meeting portal for a Nov. 5 council agenda.⁴⁴
• To speak at a council meeting, submit the citizen participation form before it starts.¹⁰
• Ask for the length and drawings of the line from pond 17 to pond 2, and the city's permit, through the city's records request page.⁴⁸
• If you get records, send them through Share records.