REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Authorize Modification of an Existing Contract and Award of Contract for Chronic Toxicity Testing Services at the Water Pollution Control Plant (F14-102)
Report
REPORT IN BRIEF
Approval is requested to modify an existing five-year contract with Pacific Eco-Risk Environmental Consulting and Testing for chronic toxicity testing services, increasing the value by $25,000, from $480,000 to $505,000. The existing contract expires September 15, 2014. Approval is also requested to award a new three-year contract beginning September 16 to Pacific Eco-Risk in the amount of $284,460, and to delegate authority to the City Manager to extend the contract for an additional two-year period in the amount of $220,540. The total value of the new five-year contract will not exceed $505,000.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
N/A
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
Following a Request for Proposals (RFP) process, the City Council approved a three-year contract in the amount of $290,000 to Pacific Eco-Risk in September 2009 for toxicity testing to meet National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit requirements (RTC No. 09-224). As part of the approval, Council also delegated authority to the City Manager to renew the contract for two additional one-year periods, which added $95,000 per year for a total of $480,000.
Due to accelerated monitoring and Toxicity Identification Evaluation (TIE) studies required by the NPDES permit, an additional $25,000 is required for the final year of the contract, bringing the grand total to $505,000. The additional testing was in response to persistent toxicity detected in the WPCP effluent in recent months.
Customarily, and consistent with best practice, services such as toxicity testing are competitively bid every five to seven years through the RFP process. When the RFP was conducted in 2009, three firms submitted proposals: Block Environmental Services, Pacific Eco-Risk, and ToxScan. At that time...
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