The Inner Harbor desalination plant is back on the negotiating table for now.
On Feb. 24, the Corpus Christi City Council narrowly voted to approve staff drafting a contract with Desal Partners of Corpus Christi to move forward on the project, which plans to produce up to 30 million gallons of treated water per day.
Mayor Paulette Guajardo and City Council members Carolyn Vaughn, Everett Roy, Mark Scott and Roland Barrera voted in favor of the contract.
City Council members Gil Hernandez and Kaylin Paxson voted against it, while Eric Cantu abstained.
Efrain Rodriguez, vice president of business development for Acciona Aqua Corporation, said the rendering provides an overall site overview of the proposed Corpus Christi Inner Harbor desalination plant.
City officials said the pending contract with CCDP is expected to include three main components: bringing the project to 60 percent design, perfecting a guaranteed maximum price and developing a demonstration plant.
The committee is likely to consider the drafted contract in April.
CCDP is now poised to take over the project and was the second highest bidder in the initial award process.
Kiewit Infrastructure was the original design-builder, but the design contract was terminated in a 6-3 vote in September.
Some council members attributed their vote against proceeding with the design to the total cost of plant development cited by Kiewit — about $1.2 billion based on a 10 percent design.
CCDP’s initial guaranteed maximum price is approximately $979 million.
At that figure, the average residential customer’s bill is expected to increase by about $13.80, according to a presentation to City Council.
The average residential customer uses approximately 6,000 gallons of water per month.
The demo showed that a typical business account’s bill would increase by about $46, and a high-volume user’s bill would increase by about $207,000.
Controversy over the project continues, reflected in a nearly three-hour public comment session. Among the ongoing concerns are potential environmental impacts and proximity to the Hillcrest community.
Kirsten Crow covers city government and water news. Have a story idea? Contact her at kirsten.crow@caller.com.
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This article originally appeared in the Corpus Christi Caller-Times: Corpus Christi City Council votes to draft desalination contract
