Whitehead brings transparency to $9.7-million water project

Less than three weeks on the job, Gary Whitehead, the new T or C city manager, demonstrated at his first city commission meeting that he already has a firm grasp of the city’s biggest problem–75 years of neglect of its water infrastructure. 

Whitehead met with me for an hour and a half and then answered many questions in subsequent phone conversations. It became clear that Whitehead had researched water-system engineering reports dating from 2014 to current day and that he had met with Wilson & Company, which has handled all of the city’s water and wastewater engineering needs for about eight years. Whitehead is a quick study and has superior critical-thinking skills. He has assessed the water problems and Wilson & Company’s solutions, concluding that the company has done well in setting priorities and will be retained. Its “legacy-firm understanding” and depth of knowledge of the city’s water and wastewater systems will serve the people well, he said

The “blueprint,” Whitehead said, that is directing and prioritizing water projects, is Wilson & Co.’s 2019 water asset management plan. It identified about $120 million in critical repairs, but six years later those estimates should be upped to “about $150 million,” Whitehead said. 

Putting water projects in context will be done, Whitehead promised. He will refer to the blueprint in the future, so the public can know how much of the $150 million has been done and how much more lies ahead. 

Whitehead had to explain a very complicated water project at his first public meeting, Feb. 12, obviously having synthesized a great deal of material in a short time. 

Three water projects that have been engineered by Wilson & Co. ran out of money and are being combined into one project that will cost $9.7 million, about $456,000 of which will be paid to Wilson & Co. About $122,000 of Wilson’s bill is for further engineering and the rest is to put together the bid package, to administer construction and to site-oversee the construction. 

The money to fund the project will come from two state sources. 

The first source is capital outlay. Last legislative session, our local state legislators, Sen. Crystal Brantley, Rep. Gail Armstrong and Rep. Tara Jaramillio, collectively gave the city $1.5 million of their discretionary capital outlay money. Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham gave an additional $2.9 million, bringing the total amount to $4.4 million. The money was to be used for critical water infrastructure projects. 

The second source is the “Colonias Infrastructure Fund,” which is overseen by the New Mexico Finance Authority, which receives 4 percent of the severance tax bond proceeds for infrastructure projects for poor communities 150 miles from the border yearly. The city applied a year ago and was awarded a $3.96 million grant and $440,000 loan, which it must match with $440,000 cash, for a total of $4.84 million. The money was to be used for critical water projects. 

$4.4 million capital outlay, $4.84 million CIF and $456,000 in engineering/construction oversight bring the total project to nearly $9.7 million. 

Whitehead is confident that the covid crisis, with its attendant inflation and supply-chain snaggles were the cause of Wilson & Co.’s inaccurate estimates. The engineering firm has also completed its mapping and modeling of the system, which was not available before, Whitehead said, further improving project estimates in the future.  

The three projects that ran out of money are: 

“MSD,” Main Street District water project. September 2019 the U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded the city a $3.9 million grant and a $5.457 million loan. What is left to be done that will be folded into the $9.7 million project, Whitehead said, are the following: 

• Cook Street Booster Station water tank; a larger tank than the current one, in which chlorination for the whole water system takes place. Redundancy and a larger tank are badly needed. 
• 840 linear feet of waterline running from Broadway to Riverside Drive and a second run along McADoo Street, terminating at the current Police Station. 
• Five of the city’s six wells (one is not operating) will be hooked into a SCADA or Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition computer networking system. 

“WSPI I,” water system performance improvements, phase one. In August 2021, USDA awarded the city a $2.72 million grant and a $4.811 million loan. This project has not broken ground yet. Whitehead said Wilson & Co. realized the project was closer to $12 million than the $7.531 million in grant loan. What will be folded into the $9.7 million project: 

• 5,900 linear feet of 12-inch waterline from the Cook Street Booster Station to the water tank on Morgan Street. 
• 10-inch waterline replacement along 8th and 9th streets. 

“DWSRLF,” drinking water state revolving loan fund water project. In March 2019 the New Mexico Finance Authority, which oversees the DWSRLF, awarded the city a $620,542 grant and the same amount in loan for a total of $1.241 million. Incomplete and to be folded into the $9.7 million project: 

• 2,600 linear feet of 8-inch waterline along 2nd Avenue between Ash and Silver streets.

Whitehead said that WSPI I, when complete, “will solve 90 percent of the water-leak problems,” because it will put in “pressure relief valves” that will allow city staff to monitor, on computer, and to control, via computer, water pressure. Currently the city fixes a leak and the sudden rise in water pressure after stopping the hole causes old pipes down the line to break. Evening out and controlling water pressure, isolating construction areas and then bringing them back online gently, will greatly reduce water leaks. 

The city commission approved the $456,000 contract with Wilson & Co., and the $9.7 million water project that combines parts from three water projects will go forward.