Title
Approval of Services Agreement No. AGR 22-25 with James, Cooke & Hobson, Inc. in the amount of $480,000.00, plus Applicable Gross Receipts Tax, for the Purpose of Sewer Lift Station and WWTP Pump System Operation, Maintenance, Troubleshooting and Repair.
Recommended Action
I move that the Board of Public Utilities approve Services Agreement No. AGR 22-25 with James, Cooke & Hobson, Inc. in the amount of $480,000.00 and a contingency in the amount of $48,000.00, for a total of $528,000.00, plus applicable gross receipts tax, for the purpose of Sewer Lift Station and Wastewater Treatment Plant Pump Systems - Operation, Maintenance and Training Services, and forward to Council for approval.
Staff Recommendation
Staff recommends that the Board approve as presented.
Body
James, Cooke and Hobson (JCH) is a firm very familiar with DPU sewer lift stations who have assisted DPU over the past 10 plus years with sewer lift station and Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) pump systems. This agreement will cement a 7-year relationship between JCH and DPU for the following services: 1) Development of improved field inspection forms and standard operating procedures; 2) Annual inspection of all sewer lift stations and WWTP pump systems; 3) Annual training of WC and WT staff on various aspects of sewer lift station and WWTP pump system facilities (with a lean toward State certification training and testing requirements); 4) Provide for On Call Emergency and Non-Emergency response, troubleshooting and repair services; 5) Immediate (or immediate scheduling for) repair & replacement of equipment found deficient during emergencies.
There are currently 27 sewer lift stations and 7 WWTP pump systems. After the White Rock WWTP project is completed the number of WWTP pump systems will rise to 9 systems. The 10-year CIP plan for DPU includes some sewer lift station eliminations and current development plans call for some sewer lift station additions. The agreement proposes to include all facilities on an annual basis.
The term of this agreement has been planned to be coincident with the DPU fiscal year - starting on 1 July 2022 and ending on 30 June 2029.
The total amount of the agreement, including a 10% contingency, is $528,000. Seven (7) years of training is estimated at $7,500 total or $1,071.43 per year. Seven (7) years of sewer lift station annual inspection is estimated at $154,500 total or $22,071.43 per year or $817.46 per sewer lift station per year. Seven (7) years of WWTP pump system annual inspection is estimated at $121,800 total or $17,400 per year or $1,933 per pump system per year. Proposed emergency and non-emergency call outs (4 annual sewer lift station & 2 annual WWTP pump systems), which may or may not be required, plus assistance in the development of inspection forms and standard operating procedures, miscellaneous services related to on call activities and contingency remaining is estimated at $244,200 total or $34,886 per year.
In the period between June 2021 and June 2022, the DPU/GWS crew has and will lose 135 years of DPU/GWS system knowledge and O&M experience. It is expected that this trend could continue through the end of the current 10-year planning period. The DPU does not have the resources to double fill multiple positions in order to accumulate staff knowledge and experience. As a response to this, and as an alternative approach to succession planning, DPU is proposing the implementation of a series of 7-year agreements with professional consultants and contractors who will augment the GWS crew's knowledge, experience and training. Having these proposed services provided by outside consultants and contractors, experienced with the most up to date industry standards and technology, will provide the GWS staff with the necessary training, skills and experience to provide improved daily through annual operation and maintenance of, in this specific agreement, all sewer lift stations and WWTP pump systems.
Alternatives
The alternative is to not approve this contract. The consequences, should the Board not approve this item, are that GWS staff will continue to do their best with the experience and resources available to them but that sewer lift stations and pump systems at both WWTP's will not receive the top tier operational and maintenance activities they could receive with the approval of this item.
Fiscal and Staff Impact
Fiscal impact will be a contractual commitment of approximately $47,500 per year to the WC Lift Station Maintenance O&M budget line item and $21,100 per year to the WT LA & WR WWTF Ops Preventive Maintenance O&M budget line items; not including contingency. Staff impact will be more efficient scheduling and more thorough facility inspections. Staff impact will also be the ability to have a reliable contractor, familiar with DPU facilities, on call to provide emergency response, troubleshooting and repair. Staff impact will also be enhanced standard operating procedures and annual professional training on sewer lift station and WWTP pump systems.
Attachments
A - AGR 22-25 James Cooke and Hobson Inc_FINAL