By Edmond Ortiz
Boerne City Council met May 12 to address a key road project and a couple of water main initiatives.
Adler Road improvements
Council voted to amend the city’s current contract with engineering firm Freese and Nichols, which is serving as the design consultant on the Adler Road improvement project, which initially centered around roadway widening, a center turn lane, sidewalks, and drainage upgrades.
City staffers said they have identified additional improvements to address traffic operations, safety, drainage performance, and long-term infrastructure needs.
Key project additions include a roundabout at Adler Road and Plant Street to improve traffic flow and safety, expanded drainage analysis and design near Adler Road and School Street, turn lane improvements to support access to Northside Park, and incorporation of stormwater management features to reduce runoff and improve water quality.
The expanded project scope and extended project timeline means additional engineering and construction phase services are required to complete the project. The original $1.61 million contract is now increased to $3.26 million.
Ammann Road water main
Council authorized the city manager to enter into a contract with Houston-based Quiddity Engineering, which will design the city’s Ammann Road water transmission main project.
According to city representatives, the new main will transport water from the town’s new tank and pump station on Ammann Road to a pipeline constructed by the developer of the George’s Ranch development.
While original project design was finished in February 2024, timelines of the corresponding projects put permitting and construction of the project on hold. The original design was to include a segment of the water main built under the westbound lane of Ammann Road.
But last year, Kendall County revised its standards for issuing right-of-way permits for construction, including a new prohibition on construction of parallel underground utilities under the roadway.
This change prompted the city to revise the water main alignment and subsequent easement acquisitions to relocate the portion of the main that was supposed to go under the roadway into easements outside of the county right-of-way. As a result, Quiddity will take on project redesign efforts at a cost of $127,000.
Water main extension
Council also authorized the city manager to into an interlocal agreement with the city of Fair Oaks Ranch on sharing the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority’s water main extension along Ammann Road.
Boerne’s utilities capital improvements plan contains a project to provide a second delivery point from GBRA’s Canyon Lake treated water system, an effort that would involve extending a new water main from the GBRA Western Canyon Regional Water Supply pipeline along Ammann Road one mile to a metering station at the city’s new tank and pump station site.
Boerne officials said this additional delivery point will bolster system redundancy, increase fire flow capacity, and provide operational relief to the eastern part of the city’s water distribution system. The new pipeline will then be dedicated to GBRA as part of its regional delivery system, city representatives said.
Fair Oaks Ranch plans a similar connection at an adjacent location along Ammann Road. As a result, Boerne officials said, the pipeline project provides a chance to serve both communities through a shared infrastructure initiative.
Under the new pact, Boerne will manage design, bidding, and construction of the project, while Fair Oaks Ranch will reimburse its proportionate share of project costs on a quarterly basis. The total project cost is estimated at $2.2 million, so Fair Oaks Ranch’s reimbursement share comes out to $682,000.
