City staff reports progress on Harris Street, 4th Street drainage and Fulcher Lift Station; church access prioritized

City and EDC staff updated the Fulshear Development Corporation on capital-improvement projects July 20, reporting active work on Harris Street and downtown drainage and the kickoff of a lift-station project.

Staff said Harris Street Phase 2 began July 6 and crews are working on subsurface utilities; staff installed temporary access for the nearby church and for a local construction business to maintain property access during construction. Regarding project accounting, staff told the board that a $215,000 line labeled as a change order in the report actually reflects two alternate bid items included in the contract, not a formal change order. Separately, staff described roughly $190,000 taken from retainage to address contract deficiencies at Site 1 after a contractor was terminated and the work was completed by another contractor.

On downtown (4th Street) drainage, staff said storm-sewer work had reached the Wilson intersection and that roadway paving from Houston to Sims — including the Sims/4th intersection — is paved; staff reported roughly 33% of calendar time elapsed and about 50% actual progress on the project. Staff identified a roughly $207,000 set of change orders that covered additional stabilization and extra storm-pipe work encountered in the field.

On the Katie Fulcher Lift Station, staff reported a notice to proceed was issued July 15 and discussed the funded amount for that work. When a council member raised a concern about access for Union Chapel, staff said they had spoken to the pastor and administrator and had installed temporary access and instructed the contractor to prioritize work to avoid blocking the church driveway; staff added biweekly stakeholder updates would be provided.

Staff also said the city's project dashboard (Fulcrum) is live on the city website but that construction updates will move toward a biweekly cadence rather than daily.

Quotes from the meeting highlighted operational steps: "We instructed the contractor to prioritize the opposite side but also put that barricade further back behind the entrance for their driveway," staff said, describing measures taken to maintain church access. The board had no vote on specific contracts at the meeting.

Next steps: staff will continue reporting progress and provide stakeholder updates; city finance will continue to process invoices and code reimbursements against the agreed percentages in the budget.