By Anton Riecher
The Devine City Council voted 3-0 to approve a $3.47 million bid by a Burnett County construction company for water system improvements during a regular session held Aug. 16.
Qro Mex Construction, Inc. of Granite Shoals won the project with the best of six bids submitted. Other bids ranged up to a high of $5.667 million.
“I want to say that Qro Mex is a very good company,” City Engineer Raul Garcia Jr. told the council. “We’ve worked with them and they are currently working on a project here in Devine right now. I think this is a very good bid for the council to consider.”
A motion to approve the bid was made by Josh Ritchey and seconded by Debbie Randall. Council members Angela Pichardo and David Espinosa were not present.
The contract is funded through a loan obtained from the Texas Water Development Board as part of the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund. The fund, authorized by the Safe Drinking Water Act, provides low-cost financial assistance for planning, acquisition, design, and construction of water infrastructure.
Included in the project is installation of 20,343 linear feet of 8-inch water main, 3,327 linear feet of 5-inch water main, 6,613 linear feet of service line, plus various valves, hydrants and fittings.
Garcia told the council he has met with Qro Mex to review issues with previous improvement projects involving other companies “so that these issues don’t come up again.”
“We are confident they are going to follow our guidelines and work with us unlike our prior contractor,” Garcia said.
Work on the project is expected to begin in mid-September, Garcia said.
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