Title
Recommendation to Award a Contract in the Amount of $3,564,002, Including Contingency, to McGuire and Hester for Construction of Group 3 - Sewer Pump Station Renovations for Reliability and Safety Improvements Project, No. P.W.03-14-11. (Public Works 602)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Jill Keimach, City Manager
Re: Recommendation to Award a Contract in the Amount of $3,564,002, Including Contingency, to McGuire and Hester for Construction of Group 3 - Sewer Pump Station Renovations for Reliability and Safety Improvements Project, No. P.W.03-14-11
BACKGROUND
The City of Alameda has separate sanitary sewer and storm water drainage systems. Infiltration and inflow is storm water that should enter the storm drainage system but instead enters the sewer system through cracks and other defects in the sewer pipes. Storm water in the sewer system can cause excessive flows during wet weather events that exceed both local conveyance and regional treatment capacity.
In 2009, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) filed a complaint against the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD), owner and operator of the regional wastewater treatment facilities. The objective of the lawsuit was to create a federal court order to force EBMUD to eliminate the use of three wet weather facilities (WWFs), which were constructed in the 1980’s. The WWFs were built to handle excessive sanitary flows during the wet season by providing partial treatment and chlorination of peak flows prior to discharge to the San Francisco Bay. The EBMUD lawsuit was followed by a separate suit by the EPA against each of the municipal entities that operate sewer collection systems discharging to the EBMUD system. Alameda was named in the second lawsuit, along with the other dischargers including Albany, Berkeley, Emeryville, Oakland, Piedmont and Stege Sanitary District (collectively the “Satellites”).
The EPA case against the Satellites was legally based on allegations of “unpermitted” discharges or sewer system overflows (SSOs). However, the primary objective was not related to SSO enforcement, but rather to ensure that an aggressive program to reduce WWFs in the sewer system would be carried out by the Satellites. The lawsuits were combined and settled with the terms of the settlement codified in Final Consent Decree for Case Nos. C09-00186 and 09-05684.
DISCUSSION
In accordance with requirements of the Consent Decree, the Public Works Department is upgrading existing sanitary sewer pump stations to limit public health impacts associated with SSOs and to improve reliability and safety.
The pump stations to be renovated under this phase include:
• Pump Station #4: Sheffield-Cumberland - 166 Cumberland Way
• Pump Station #6: Seaview I - 2901 Seaview Parkway
• Pump Station #7: Seaview II - 57 Killybegs Road
• Pump Station #14: Eastshore/Meyers - 1330 Eastshore Drive
• Pump Station # 15: Bayview - 2810 Bayview Drive
• Pump Station #23: Sand Beach - 1155 Sand Beach Place
• Pump Station #30: Triumph-Independence - 1302 Triumph Drive
• Pump Station #36: Lift Station 6 - 201 Willie Stargell Avenue
• Pump Station #43: Grand - 699 Grand Street
The renovation work includes installing permanent backup generators where needed, sealing wells, installing multiple pumps, replacing motor controls, installing System Control and Data Acquisition alarms, and other safety improvements to provide reliable power to operate the sewer delivery system and prevent SSOs in the event of power failure.
To solicit the maximum number of bids and most competitive price for this project, plans and specifications were provided to builders exchanges throughout the Bay Area and posted to the BPexpress website. A notice was placed on the City's web page and published in the Alameda Journal on November 18, 2016. After a bidding period of 30 days, three contractors submitted bids, and the bids were opened on December 15, 2016. The bid results are as follows:
|
Bidder |
Location |
Base Bid Amount |
|
McGuire and Hester |
Oakland, CA |
$3,099,132 |
|
Mountain Cascade Inc. |
Livermore, CA |
$3,543,701 |
|
Ranger Pipelines, Inc. |
San Francisco, CA |
$3,580,240 |
After reviewing the bids and contacting several references provided by the contractor, staff recommends awarding the contract to McGuire Hester for the bid amount plus a 15% contingency for a total amount of $3,564,002. The contractor is not guaranteed any of the contingency and its use of it will be at the sole discretion of the Public Works Director for work not originally anticipated in the specification. The specification also informed the successful bidder that they shall pay not less than the prevailing rate of per diem wages as determined by the Director of the California Department of Industrial Relations. Construction of this project is expected to be complete by summer of 2017.
In addition, this contract is not subject to the Project Stabilization Agreement (PSA) that the City Council authorized on October 18, 2016. That agreement required all of the building trades signatures before it was executed by the City Manager. The building trades were made aware and understood that all signatures would have to be gathered by November 15, 2016, or else this project would be bid without the PSA. Those signatures were not made available by that date. As of today, the PSA has been fully executed and all future contracts subject to the PSA will be awarded as such.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Budget for the project is included in the Public Works Department Capital Improvement Program (Project No. 9100817) Sewer Pump Station Upgrades: Reliability. The project is funded with monies allocated from the Sewer Enterprise Fund (Fund 602). There is no impact to the General Fund.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
This action does not affect the Municipal Code.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
In accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), this project is Categorically Exempt under CEQA Guidelines Section 15301(b), Existing Facilities.
RECOMMENDATION
Award a contract in the amount of $3,564,002, including contingency, to McGuire and Hester for construction of group 3 - sewer pump station renovations for reliability and safety improvements project, No. P.W. 03-14-11.
Respectfully submitted,
Liam Garland, Acting Public Works Director
By,
Erin Smith, Public Works Coordinator
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Elena Adair, Finance Director
Exhibit:
1. Contract