Two weeks ago at the Navasota City Council meeting, the city’s ground storage tank was a big topic of discussion. Amy Hennard, from Jones & Carter, said back then that installation issues brought the construction on the $800,000, 1 million gallon concrete storage tank to a halt. In short, there was issues with getting the tank filled. Over a weekend, water filled the excavation hole and cracked the foundation of the tank.
At the Monday night meeting of the Navasota City Council, Hennard was there to speak again. She says they have a few requests of the contracting company responsible for the slip up.
“We have done some more investigating into the proposed repairs from DN tanks. We have prepared a letter of our requests from DN,” said Hennard.
The requests include video evidence showing that piping has not been damaged, additional information of the event that caused the foundation crack, a submitted sealed review of their repair procedures by a 3rd party engineer licensed in the state of Texas, and a submitted inspection and warranty plan for the expected lifespan of the tank, among others.
As for the lifespan of the tank, the city was sold a certain tank and anything short of that is unacceptable.
“We are stressing to DN that the city was sold a 50 year tank. And that the city should not accept anything less than something that will last 50 years,” said Hennard.
City Manager Brad Stafford expressed his issues with the project and even said it might be best to just start from square one.
“I am still concerned that we are buying damaged goods if we do not ask them to demolish and start over. [Hennard] did say that was one of the options still on the table as well. Because I have concerns that we agreed to a 50 year tank that now…is damaged,” Stafford said.
Hennard stated that she wants the company to prove the tank is undamaged. Because after all, that is what the city bought. And that anything less than that is not fair to the city or its citizens.
Council members discussed as well that not only do they not like the idea of buying damaged goods, but they also said the warranty is only as good as the company that provides it. Council decided they will bring the item back for discussion at a later meeting. The letter that Hennard mentioned was sent out Tuesday afternoon and they will await response from the parties responsible.