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(ARCHIVE PHOTO | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Jacob & Martin Project Manager Tristan King (at right) speaks with the Graham Parks Department Board of Directors during a February 2024 meeting. Jacob & Martin was approved to assist with the city with the scope and cost of a lead service line inventory.
Following a notice of violation from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for failure to submit a lead service line inventory, the city is retaining an engineering firm to assist with the cost and scope of the project.
The Graham City Council met Thursday, July 17 and approved engineering and architectural firm Jacob & Martin to assist the city.
“Council previously directed the city manager to develop a plan to answer a recently issued violation notice from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality regarding a required survey to determine if lead, or lead-based waterlines exist in the city,” City Manager Eric Garretty said. “Retention of the firm of Jacob & Martin will enable development of a concept for the inventory and production of a cost estimate to conduct the inventory.”
The firm will prepare a memorandum with the TCEQ requirements for the lead service line inventory and replacement. An opinion of probable cost on the lead service line inventory will be provided by the firm to the city.
Additionally, the firm will brief the city on utilizing the Texas Water Development Board Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) Lead Service Line Replacement (LSLR) program.
The city manager said in June that he spoke with consulting engineers who looked at a similar community with half the amount of water connections and the cost of the inventory was $230,000.
“That means it could cost us half a million dollars just to do the inventory. If we uncover anything that needs to be replaced, the program provides that the city may, at the city’s expense, replace the customer side of the line,” Garretty said.
If the city decides to move forward with the grant process, they would have to submit an application in March and could be notified of the award in May.
The council authorized the city manager to negotiate and conclude an agreement with the firm not to exceed $5,000 for the preparation of a concept development document and preparation of an opinion of probable cost for a lead service line inventory.
The city manager said in June that hiring Jacob & Martin would be the first step before they potentially contract the project out.
“(Jacob & Martin have specialized) in this since this program came out. They can provide us with some initial guidance on what to do and give us a professional opinion on what it is, what they think we’re looking at, …and give us an opinion of probable cost if we decide to contract it out,” Garretty said.
TCEQ required the city to send notice to residents in June regarding noncompliance with a lead service line inventory requirement in place from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The city did not comply with the October 2024 deadline to submit an initial lead service line inventory.
“What’s being required by the Environmental Protection Agency, with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality acting as their agent in Texas, is they have ordered a full inventory of all the connections in our water system... (of) around 4,700 connections,” Garretty said in June.
The city manager said the city would have to dig up water lines on the customer side of the meter and verify if the line is lead or another type of material.
“In some cases, they’re requiring that if we discover a particular type, we can’t just look in the meter box or dig out a pothole on the customer side. They’re requiring us to uncover the entire line all the way to the customer’s residence to determine if there’s any lead solder joints along a metal line,” Garretty said in June.
