Jersey Village City Council voted unanimously to award the Australia Street and Solomon Street reconstruction contract to Ballast Point Construction Inc., citing past performance concerns with the lowest bidder, Environmental Allies. The council approved Resolution 2025-15 after staff and the citys engineering consultant, Gage Engineering, recommended Ballast Point despite a higher bid.

Council members and staff said the decision weighs the risk of a lower price against the likelihood of successful, timely completion. Assistant City Manager Robert Bassford told the council that Environmental Allies submitted the lowest bid at just over $5,000,000 but that staff and Gage Engineering had identified problems on previous projects including pavement issues, stormwater compliance concerns, construction sequencing problems and residential disruptions. Bassford said Ballast Points bid of $5,249,430 offered more reliable project management and fewer anticipated change orders.

Residents at the council meeting described continuing problems on the nearby Congo Street project, which is under a different contract. Multiple speakers said crews left punch-list items undone, used resident driveways for staging, left topsoil insufficient for replanting and delivered bricks that did not match home exteriors. Jackie Baba told the council the Congo Lane project "has been a nightmare" and asked the city to require staging away from homes. Cheryl Berges said laborers had used her outside water faucet without permission and that trucks were blocking drives.

Staff said project managers Tim and Bob are tracking resident reports and that a formal punch-list walkthrough will be required before final payment. Bassford said all street panels for Congo are poured and staff will hold a detailed punch-list inspection with the engineer, inspector and contractor. Council members asked staff to document pre-project photos so contractors cannot dispute claims of damage.

Votes and motions: Council Member Sheppard moved to approve Resolution 2025-15 awarding the Australia and Solomon reconstruction contract to Ballast Point Construction Inc.; Council Member McCrae seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

Why it matters: The reconstruction projects are part of the citys 2023 bond program. Council emphasized avoiding a repeat of perceived deficiencies on earlier work even if that means paying a higher price now to limit future costs and resident disruptions.

What comes next: Staff will finalize the contract with Ballast Point and schedule a pre-construction meeting so work can begin with summer scheduling in mind. City staff said they will continue to track and address Congo project punch-list items before final closeout.