DATE: March 22, 2016
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Director of Utilities & Environmental Services
SUBJECT
Title
Recycled Water Storage and Distribution Project: Authorization for the City Manager to Execute a Professional Services Agreement
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RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
That Council adopts the attached resolution authorizing the City Manager to execute a Professional Services Agreement with West Yost Associates, Inc., for design of the Recycled Water Storage and Distribution Project and engineering services during construction, in an amount not to exceed $1,400,000.
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BACKGROUND
The City prepared a Recycled Water Feasibility Study in 2007 that provided a conceptual overview of the potential for delivering highly treated wastewater for irrigation and other industrial uses. Based on the results of the Feasibility Study, a Recycled Water Facility Plan (Plan), partially funded by a grant from the SWRCB and the United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR), was completed in 2009 and updated in September 2013.
The Plan identifies potential sites where recycled water may be used for irrigation or industrial purposes. The Plan also includes a conceptual treatment and distribution system, and estimates project costs based on an assessment of prevailing conditions. The Plan envisioned the City receiving excess recycled water from the Russell City Energy Center (RCEC), operated by Calpine, which receives secondary treated wastewater from the City and utilizes its own facilities to treat the wastewater to tertiary level for use in its cooling process. Staff continues to have discussions with Calpine representatives to this end; however, a final determination in this regard is yet to be made. This is at best an interim measure so that a limited quantity of water can be available more expeditiously compared with the City having to design and build its own facility. However, the quantity of water available from RCEC is not nearly enough to meet the City’s medium to long term needs. It is anticipated that in the coming years, the City would need to plan, design, and construct a City owned treatment facility to meet its needs for the next twenty years.
On May 19, 2015, the City Council adopted Resolution 15-072, authorizing the City Manager to sign and file a State Revolving Fund (SRF) Loan application with the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) for an amount not to exceed $12 million for the design and construction of the Recycled Water Storage and Distribution Project. Since that time, staff has submitted four parts of the application that include General Information, Technical, Environmental, and Financial Security packages.
On December 15, 2015, the City Council adopted an Ordinance to add Article 6 to Chapter 11 of the Hayward Municipal Code regarding Recycled Water Use, as required by the SWRCB as part of the SRF loan process. The adopted ordinance mandates recycled water use when the City determines that a property lies within the City’s recycled water service area and that such use is appropriate and technically feasible for delivery of recycled water, either through formal user agreements or some other appropriate mechanism.
The Recycled Water Project currently consists of constructing a new 2.5 million gallons (MG) recycled water storage tank and a new pump station located at the City’s Water Pollution Control Facility (WPCF), with capacity to deliver an estimated 290 acre-feet per year of recycled water (equivalent to nearly ninety-four million gallons per year, or 260,000 gallons per day) to twenty-four locations within the City. The project would include approximately 51,200 feet (9.7 miles) of new eight-inch and/or ten-inch diameter distribution lines including over three miles of lateral pipelines with connections to customers. Upon completion, recycled water would be delivered to approximately twenty-four sites primarily for irrigation, with some industrial uses in cooling towers and boilers.
The project does not currently include a treatment component, as it is envisioned to receive treated wastewater from RCEC through a future agreement. If negotiations with RCEC for procuring treated water prove unsuccessful, staff will return to Council with a request to design and construct the necessary treatment component.
DISCUSSION
On January 15, 2016, City sent out the invitations and the Request for Proposal to four engineering firms and three proposals were received on February 16, 2016. Staff has completed the review and rated the proposals submitted by the consultants (Carollo Engineers, RMC Water and Environment, and West Yost Associates). The following factors were considered for each firm: 1) the relevant experience of the firm and its sub-consultants; 2) the experience and qualifications of the project manager and professional team; 3) understanding of the City’s specific issues of concern; 4) demonstrated ability to meet the City’s needs within the defined budget and schedule; and 5) innovative proposal components that would add value to the project above and beyond the standard tasks. All of the proposals were solid with each firm having particular areas of strength.
While each firm is highly qualified and assembled very strong teams for the City’s projects, staff recommends West Yost Associates for demonstrating the best combination of qualifications and responsiveness to the City’s requirements. West Yost Associates achieved higher rating in the selection criteria by providing a solid and innovative approach to the engineering design, and proposing a knowledgeable and experienced project team. West Yost Associates indicated an excellent understanding of the City’s needs and has performed satisfactorily on other similar projects.
Cost was not the deciding factor in staff’s recommendation. However, West Yost Associates has proposed a reasonable number of labor hours and competitive hourly rates, which resulted in the lowest overall projected cost. As part of the selection process, staff further negotiated and lowered the fees. Staff believes that the final negotiated not-to-exceed cost of $1,400,000 is reasonable for the scope of services required.
West Yost Associates will be responsible for the design of the water storage tank, pump station, and recycled water pipeline distribution system with associated service laterals and connection details. City staff will be responsible for the project administration including bidding process and construction management.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The City completed an environmental assessment in October 2014 and adopted an Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration on December 16, 2014, in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
ECONOMIC AND FISCAL IMPACT
A Capital Improvement Project, titled “Recycled Water Storage and Distribution Project,” is included in the current Capital Improvement Program’s Sewer Improvement Fund (Fund 612). The project budget is $12 million, financed by a 1% interest State Revolving Fund (SRF) loan amount of $8,083,560 and a construction grant of $3,511,200.
This project will not utilize any General Fund monies and the debt service incurred will be obligated to the Wastewater Enterprise Fund.
NEXT STEPS
If Council approves this request, staff will finalize a professional services agreement with West Yost Associates, Inc. and issue a Notice to Proceed. After the completion of the design plans and specifications, staff will ask the Council to approve the documents and call for bids for the construction of the project.
Prepared by: Henry Louie, Senior Utilities Engineer
Staff contact
Recommended by: Alex Ameri, Director of Utilities & Environmental Services
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Approved by:
Fran David, City Manager
Attachments: