Completion of new Lytle water tower expected in mid-September

By Anton Riecher
Erection of Lytle’s long-delayed elevated water storage tank is expected by July 8 with completion, including painting and inspection, by mid-September, an engineering contractor reported to the city council Monday night.
Scott Horowitz of TRC Engineers said that the project is one to two weeks behind schedule, citing a revamped timeline provided by project contractor, Avon, IN-based Phoenix Fabricators and Erectors.
“The contractor explained that it’s partly due to the inclement weather that they’ve had in the past 30 days or so,” he said.
Painting will begin immediately after erection and take about 30 days. After painting and inspection, remaining work should take another 35 days.
Originally slated for construction in February, Phoenix Fabricators blamed labor shortages and massive increase in demand for tank construction for the initial delay. The company faces a substantial penalty on its final bill for the lengthy setbacks, city staff has previously said.
Once completed, bringing the new water tower online will require careful balancing of the entire city water system to avoid problems, especially for commercial users, Mayor Ruben Gonzalez said.
In other business, the council unanimously approved an engagement letter with Houston-based auditing firm BrooksWatson & Co. covering the city audit for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2026. This is the second consecutive audit by BrooksWatson performed for the city.
Action on engaging the firm had previously been tabled to allow staff to work with the firm on accountability measures such as moving the report deadline from March to February with BrooksWatson providing an update on the audit’s status in January.
Council members including District 4 Alderman Michael Rodriguez raised concerns that the draft did not include liquidated damages or monetary penalties for missed deadlines.
“If I’m not mistaken I saw nowhere in there where there were provisions for damages liquidation or damages for them not fulfilling their part,” Rodriguez said.
City Attorney Austin Beck with Davidson Troilio Ream and Garza reported that BrooksWatson was unwilling to agree to such monetary requirements. If the council insists, it would likely require finding another auditor with that requirement included in the RFQ (request for quote).
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