Dilley OK’s $560K bid for water works
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By Breyana Segura
The Dilley City Council has voted to accept a $560,000 bid from Zapata-based A&A Pipeline Services to advance a critical municipal water infrastructure project.
The approval comes after a previous procurement attempt that saw bid costs soar to more than double the grant’s allocated budget and follows recommendations from project engineers to restructure the contract scope.
The city was awarded a $500,000 Texas Community Development Block Grant (TxCDBG) in 2025, primarily through the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA). The grant is earmarked to improve local water infrastructure and secure emergency power capabilities for public facilities, with the city committing a five-percent local match – initially budgeted at $25,000 – $415,000 in construction costs and $75,000 in engineering fees.
After Grant Administrator Carl Esser secured an emergency extension from the state to extend the procurement timeline in June, the city reopened the process and evaluated two new bids on July 7. Rio Grande Valley Industrial Machine Shop and Pumps was the other bidder, making a $995,000 offer.
“Two bids were reviewed and tabulated and once we tabulated them, we came up with a recommendation for the council and the recommendation is for A&A Pipeline Services,” Manuel Gonzalez from Premier Engineering told the council, noting the company has previously worked with the Zapata contractor on a number of federally funded projects.
To align the recommended $560,000 proposal with available grant funding and avoid pulling additional funds from the city’s general cash reserves, engineers structured the contract using alternative line items that can be removed as needed.
According to Gonzalez, the base bid is $10,000 for mobilization; one alternative includes $245,000 to replace a critical aerator at the water treatment plant; another includes $25,000 for improvement at the civic center to replace a variable frequency drive to an existing water pump; and a third alternative allocates $100,000 for two capacity filters at the civic center water well.
“So, if you remove the emergency power generator for $180,000, it gives you a total of $380,00,” Gonzalez said.
Councilor Joe Garcia quizzed Gonzalez over the removal of an emergency generator, citing a desire to keep the equipment.
Gonzalez confirmed the importance of the generator but said removing the item was a strategic financial move to save municipal funds.
“We are going to put that item on the application we are submitting this month to the Texas Water Development Board through the HB 500 application,” Gonzalez said. “We could be getting a generator for free because it is a no-match grant. It is a better option for the city; we want to have backup generators for all facilities.”
Despite council’s approval of the selection of A&A Pipeline Services, final execution of the contract remains contingent upon formal review and approval from Esser and the TDA.
