On June 18, 2019, the City of Bee Cave and Travis County entered into an Interlocal Agreement (“ILA”) (attached) related to the construction of an extension to Vail Divide and modifications associated with the low water crossing on Great Divide Drive.  This agreement outlines various milestones associated with ultimately constructing an “alternate improvmenet” at the Great Divide low water crossing are generally described below:

• Section II.E of the ILA provided that within 90 days from the date of the annexation of Great Divide, which was approved by Council on September 10, 2019, the City agreed to retain an engineering firm to study the Great Divide low water crossing due to flooding concerns.  The City issued a Request for Proposal on October 24th, 2019 with a submission deadline of no later than December 2, 2019.  Council subsequently selected Saxon Loomis to perform the study on December 10, 2019.
•  Pursuant to Section II.F of the ILA, "within 90 days from the date that the engineering firm provides recommendations regarding possible bridge solutions, the Council of the City will consider and make appropriate decisions regarding the most cost-effective solution to replace the low water crossing with Alternative Improvements".  Thus, on March 23, 2021, Saxon Loomis provided an alternative improvement recommendation and Council ultimately voted to authorize staff to prepare a Request for Proposals to design a bridge that conveys a minimum of the 10-year storm event with a minimum of an 8-foot pedestrian way. 

• Pursuant to Section II.G of the ILA, "within six months from the date that the City makes a decision regarding the appropriate solution for a bridge, the City will retain an engineering firm to design the Alternative Improvements."  Thus on June 8, 2021, Council authorized staff to publish a Request for Proposals for engineering services related to the design of the bridge improvements

For future reference, pursuant to Section II.H of the ILA, "within 90 days from the completion of design, the City will commence the procurement process for construction of the Alternative Improvements that have been selected.  Construction shall be commenced and completed as soon as reasonably possible and subject to appropriations by the City."  There is not an explicit timeframe requirement for the design phase of the  Improvements.  The contract will be structured such that the selected design firm will also provide bidding and construction phase services for the Alternative Improvement. The scope will also assume the project team will attend one or more City Council meetings and public open houses to present the bridge design.