(This story was updated to add new information.)
The Inner Harbor desalination plant is tentatively back on the table — but with little more than half of the Corpus Christi City Council in support of its return.
In a narrow vote, the Corpus Christi City Council on Feb. 24 gave the green light for staff to negotiate a potential contract with Corpus Christi Desal Partners to advance the project, planned to generate as much as 30 million gallons of treated water per day.
Voting in favor of pursuing a contract were Mayor Paulette Guajardo and City Council members Carolyn Vaughn, Everett Roy, Mark Scott and Roland Barrera.
City Council members Gil Hernandez, Sylvia Campos and Kaylynn Paxson voted in dissent, and City Councilman Eric Cantu abstained.
Prior to the vote, Scott noted the number of permits that have already been secured for the Inner Harbor seawater desalination plant.
“Don’t let the perfect get in the way of the doable,” he said. “I think this is a doable project.”
The proposed contract with CCDP to be presented to the council is expected to include three major components: taking the project to 60% design, refinement of a guaranteed maximum price and development of a demonstration plant, city officials have said.
The council could consider the drafted contract as soon as April, according to staff.
Financing
CCDP, now poised to take on the project, was the second-ranked bidder in the initial award process.
Kiewit Infrastructure Co. was the initial design-builder, but its contract — which, at that point, had taken the project to 10% design — was terminated in a 6-3 vote in September.
Several council members have attributed their vote against continuing Kiewit’s contract to the overall cost for plant development that had been disclosed by the company — about $1.2 billion.
CCDP’s preliminary guaranteed maximum price is about $979 million, with estimated operating costs estimated at about $32 million per year, according to city officials.
Under CCDP’s figures, it’s estimated that the bills of average residential customers would increase by about $13.80, according to a presentation shown to the City Council.
Average residential customers use about 6,000 gallons of water per month.
Based on current assumptions, bills would increase by about $46 for average commercial accounts and about $207,000 for average large-volume users, the presentation showed.
Hernandez presented his own slide showing an overview of the debt associated with groundwater projects, reuse projects and Corpus Christi Water capital improvement projects, in addition to the Inner Harbor project. The combined capital costs are about $2 billion, $979 million of which would be the Inner Harbor desalination project.
The estimated bill increases quoted in the staff’s presentation represented those specific to the Inner Harbor project, he said.
“We have lots of money that we’re spending here,” Hernandez said. “So I don’t want to have a false sense of how much we’re going to be paying as citizens or ratepayers as to how much this is going to go up.”
There’s a reluctance by city officials to spend money when it rains, Barrera said.
“So that’s the thing — we have to act because we’re in the worst drought that we’ve ever been and we need to move quickly,” he said. “What this does is it brings certainty for the community.”
Location
Project controversy has continued, mirrored in a nearly three-hour public comment session dominated by water topics.
Campos, who has long contested the project, described renewed discussions as “Groundhog Day.”
She has previously raised questions about potential risks to the environment, as well as the location of the site for plant development — particularly for the Hillcrest neighborhood.
“Whatever we do to them shows how we treat the rest of our city,” Campos said. “If we’re willing to sacrifice them … then what does that tell you?”
The lack of a comprehensive far-field study — one that included both Nueces and Corpus Christi bays, as well as the ship channel — had been among the largest sticking points in the earlier proposal with Kiewit.
City Manager Peter Zanoni, following through on his proposal in November, assembled a committee that would act as advisers in additional environmental research — specifically, a comprehensive far-field study.
The committee has met once, and a modeler to perform the study hasn’t yet been selected.
A second committee meeting is planned for March, officials have said.
It’s possible that full results of the far-field study — which several council members have said is important — may not be available before a potential contract with CCDP is drawn up for consideration.
Staff’s goal is to make as much progress as possible on the far-field study by April, Zanoni said, adding that the “more far-field results we have, the better.”
If sufficient enough information is available, the staff may recommend that the contract be considered, or it may recommend postponing a decision if study results would take a few more weeks, according to officials.
If it appears the results of the study wouldn’t be available for another few months, the staff may recommend moving forward with the contract — with the understanding that results, once available, may mean redesign — or potentially ending the contract altogether, depending on findings, Zanoni said.
Kirsten Crow covers city government and water news. Have a story idea? Contact her at kirsten.crow@caller.com.
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This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Corpus Christi leaders reconsider desal plant as questions remain
Reporting by Kirsten Crow, Corpus Christi Caller Times / Corpus Christi Caller Times
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