Title
Study Session Summary of September 25, 2018 - Clean Water Program Rebuild Costs
Summary
Call to Order:
Vice Mayor Klein called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.
City Councilmembers Present:
Mayor Glenn Hendricks
Vice Mayor Larry Klein
Councilmember Jim Griffith
Councilmember Gustav Larsson
Councilmember Nancy Smith
Councilmember Russ Melton
Councilmember Michael S. Goldman
City Councilmembers Absent:
None.
Study Session Summary:
Chip Taylor, Director of Public Works, delivered the Sunnyvale Clean Water Program presentation with the help of Sunnyvale Staff focusing on the program rebuild costs and updating Council.
Bhavani Yerrapotu, WPCP Division Manager, gave a brief background on the existing Water Pollution Control Plant (WPCP), milestones achieved, State Revolving Fund (SRF) and Environmental Impacts that were mitigated.
Jennifer Ng, Assistant Director of Public Works/City Engineer, gave an overview of the WPCP Master Plan, Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase 3 of the project. She then spoke about executed contracts, factors that impact program cost and current escalation. She also spoke about current scope and construction economy.
Tim Kirby, Director of Finance spoke about managing change, long term financing and SRF loans. Mr. Kirby also spoke about Wastewater fund and debt service vs. total requirements and noted that in an upcoming budget the Clean Water Program will be broken up into its own private section within the Capital budget to be able to see all the projects associated with the Plant and all the projects will be marked showing what phase they are currently in.
Mr. Taylor closed the presentation by talking about upcoming Council actions, annual strategic planning sessions and ongoing resolutions and contract awards. He noted that Allison Boyer, Sr. Engineer is managing the project, Jan Davel and Erin McGuire, CDM Smith are on the management team for the project. Mr. Taylor thanked Ms. McGuire for her help with the PowerPoint presentation.
Councilmembers asked questions, and made comments (some comments which were made by more than one councilmember are only listed once):
• Clarification and discussion on percent increase regarding Wastewater fund
• Confirmation and discussion that the cost escalation of this project will increase by 5 percent and why is it so much lower than other private industry projects
• Confirmation of overall understanding of the project was expressed with appreciation to Staff for hard work and excellent presentation of the project
• Question and answer about multiple points for Council review and action going forward in the future prior to January 8
• Question and discussion on possibility for project acceleration to save money in the future, managing costs and particularly avoiding tariffs
• Question and discussion on annual rate increases, debt service, project cost, and State Revolving Fund
• Question and discussion on how competitive SRF and WIFIA loans are
• Confirmation that in 2034 when debt service increases part of that will be paid through reserves and reserves need to be built up
• Question and discussion about projection about population and how much wastewater people are making, population growth estimated and band width
• Request that large City projects be brought back to a Study Session every two years for Council to receive an update
• Question and discussion about how quickly an economic downturn can be incorporated into the plan
Public Comment:
One member of the public addressed Council and asked the following question:
• Question and discussion on cost if project would have been done differently as a turnkey project instead of as laid out in approved Master Plan
Adjournment:
Vice Mayor Klein adjourned the meeting at 7:00 p.m.