Title
Approval of Services Agreement No. AGR 22-26 with Alpha Southwest, Inc. in the amount of $2,400,000.00, plus Applicable Gross Receipts Tax, for the Purpose of Water Systems Well and Booster Station Operation, Maintenance, Troubleshooting and Repair
Recommended Action
I move that the County Council approve Services Agreement No. AGR 22-26 with Alpha Southwest, Inc. in the amount of $2,400,000.00, and a contingency in the amount of $240,000.00, for a total of $2,640,000.00, plus applicable gross receipts tax, for the purpose of Water Systems Well and Booster Station Operation, Maintenance, Troubleshooting and Repair.
Utilities Manager's Recommendation
The Utilities Manager recommends that Council approve the motion as presented.
Board, Commission or Committee Recommendation
The Board of Public Utilities reviewed this request at their regular meeting of March 16, 2022 and unanimously recommends that Council approve the motion as presented.
Body
Alpha Southwest (ASW) is a firm very familiar with Department of Public Utilities (DPU) well and booster stations who have assisted DPU over the past 10 plus years with well and booster station facilities. This agreement will cement a 7-year relationship between ASW and DPU for the following services: 1) Development of improved field inspection forms and standard operating procedures; 2) Annual inspection of all well and booster stations (both WP & NP); 3) Annual training of WP staff on various aspects of well and booster station 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 12 functional well stations - this includes the new Otowi Well 2 station but does not include the currently non-functional Guaje Well 1A station. There are 18 booster stations in the WP system - two (Otowi BS 1 & Barranca BS 1) are currently inactive and are not anticipated to be a part of the services for 16 booster stations through this agreement. There are 4 booster stations in the NP system and all scheduled to be a part of this agreement. The 10-year CIP plan for DPU includes the replacement of the Otowi BS 1 in FY 2028, the replacement of the Guaje Well 1A station in FY 2031 and the elimination of the Barranca BS 1 (with conversion to the NP system) in FY 2024. The agreement proposes to include all functional facilities on an annual basis.
The term of this agreement has been planned to coincide 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 $2,640,000. Seven (7) years of training is estimated at $12,850 total or $1,835.71 per year. Seven (7) years of WP well station annual inspection is estimated at $552,850 total or $78,978.57 per year or $6,581.55 per well station per year. Seven (7) years of WP booster station annual inspection is estimated at $1,170,800 total or $167,257.14 per year or $10,453.57 per WP booster station per year. Seven (7) years of NP booster station annual inspection is estimated at $292,700 total or $41,814.29 per year or $10,453.57 per NP booster station per year. Proposed emergency and non-emergency call outs (4 per year any station), 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$610,800 total or $87,257.14 per year. Possible contingency expenditures for this agreement could be well casing video inspection, pump and/or motor pull and reset, pump and/or motor rehabilitation, etc.
In the period between June 2021 and June 2022, the DPU/GWS crew will have lost 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 crew with the necessary training, skills and experience to provide excellent daily through annual operation and maintenance of, in this specific agreement, all WP & NP well and booster stations.
Alternatives
The alternative is to not approve this contract. The consequences, should the Council not approve this item, are that GWS staff will continue to do their best with the experience and resources available to them but that well and booster stations 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 $79,000 per year to the WP Well Station Maintenance O&M budget line item and $167,000 per year to the WP Booster Station Maintenance O&M budget line item and $42,000 per year to the NP Booster Station Maintenance O&M budget line item. 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 well and booster stations.
Attachments
A - AGR 22-26 Alpha Southwest Inc._FINAL