SULLIVAN CITY — The county is teaming up with the Agua Special Utility District to repair Pinto Road, which despite previous efforts to address wear and tear continues to experience drainage problems.
“It’s going to be two-fold; if you fix the drainage, you’ll fix the streets,” said City Manager Juan Cedillo. “And Agua SUD has a vested interest in making sure that street and drainage are in good working condition.”
The city commissioners approved interlocal agreements Tuesday with the county, Precinct 3 and Agua SUD to work together on the project.
Joe Flores, Precinct 3 commissioner, said the county would be helping with machinery and equipment while Agua SUD, which provides water and sewer services to Sullivan City, will pay for the asphalt.
After Agua SUD completed construction of the Sullivan City sewer project in 2012, Flores said the county also helped with repairs.
“We did the same thing, we did the pavement overlaying because, from what I understand, they were going to go ahead and just patch it,” Flores said. “They paid for the asphalt and we did the work.”
Over the years, however, the sewer pipe that went through the middle of the road sank, Flores said, so they plan to repair it again.
Cedillo said Agua SUD had a vested interest in making sure that street and drainage are in good working condition. In particular, Agua’s Executive Director Oscar Cancino, who didn’t return calls requesting comment, has a stake since he was hired as the project engineer.
The project, according to Cedillo, was originally awarded to S&B Infrastructure, but the city and the company could not reach an agreement on the contract payment, causing a six-month delay. It was then that the city went with Cancino.
“That’s how things get done in small communities,” he said of the collaborative effort between Precinct 3, Agua SUD and the city.
Still, a start date on the project has not been set as funds remain tied up in the city’s splash pad construction.
“So when the splash pad is complete, hopefully next week, we’ll be able to transfer that money for drainage and begin work on that project,” Cedillo said.
He did not have a total cost estimate readily available but figured that about $65,000 was going to be transferred from the splash pad to the drainage project.
