REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Award of Contract for Removal of Overgrown Vegetation from the Oxidation Ponds and Levee Areas at the Water Pollution Control Plant (F16-23)
Report
REPORT IN BRIEF
Approval is requested to award a contract in an amount not to exceed $244,740 to Aquatic Environments, Inc. of Concord to remove approximately 12 acres of overgrown vegetation at the Water Pollution Control Plant (WPCP or Plant) oxidation ponds and levee areas. Approval is also requested for a 10% contract contingency in the amount of $24,474.
EXISTING POLICY
Pursuant to Section 2.08.060 of the Sunnyvale Municipal Code, maintenance work anticipated to cost more than $50,000 is conducted through the issuance of an Invitation for Bids (IFB), with a contract awarded to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) determination for this project is a categorical exemption pursuant to Class 1, Section 15301. Class 1 exemptions include repair, maintenance and minor alterations of existing public facilities involving negligible or no expansion of use.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
The oxidation ponds are an integral component of the secondary treatment process at the Plant. During this process, the ponds are utilized to effectively remove soluble organic material, suspended solids, and ammonia inherent to wastewater and upon which strict discharge limitations have been placed by the Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB). The network of levees surrounding the Oxidation Ponds and recirculation channels have become significantly overgrown with emergent vegetation, placing increased risk of clogging/damaging integral pond effluent and recirculation pumping equipment (weed removal was last conducted in 2009). There are approximately 12 acres of vegetation to be removed.
An IFB for the weed removal work was issued on August 18, 2015, through the City’s public procurement network. Fourteen firms requested the bid documents, and three bids were received on September 9; summary is attached (Attachment 1). Bids from DBI Services of Sacramento and McNabb Construction Inc. of Lafayette were determined to be non-responsive because they did not meet the City’s submittal requirement for detailed work plans, especially for the mechanical removal of weeds encroaching upon 53 cross-over transport tubes running between the ponds and the recirculation channels. The non-responsive bids were received from DBI Services of Sacramento in the amount of $57,283, and from McNabb Construction Inc. of Lafayette in the amount of $328,440. The DBI bid, while attractive from a pricing standpoint, was based primarily on spraying an aquatic herbicide in areas where mechanical removal is required. Therefore the lowest responsive and responsible bidder was received from Aquatic Environments in the amount of $244,740.
FISCAL IMPACT
Project costs consist of the bid amount of $244,740 and a recommended 10% contingency of $24,474, for a total of $269,214. Budgeted funds are available in Capital Project 830200 (Repairs to the Secondary Process).
Funding Source
This project is funded by the Wastewater Management Fund.
PUBLIC CONTACT
Public contact was made by posting the Council agenda on the City's official-notice bulletin board outside City Hall, at the Sunnyvale Senior Center, Community Center and Department of Public Safety; and by making the agenda and report available at the Sunnyvale Public Library, the Office of the City Clerk and on the City's website.
RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
1) Award a contract, in substantially the same form as the draft contract attached to the report in the amount not to exceed $244,740 to Aquatic Environments, Inc. for the Removal of Overgrown Vegetation from Oxidation Ponds at the WPCP; and 2) approve a 10% contract contingency in the amount of $24,474.
Staff
Prepared by: Pete Gonda, Purchasing Officer
Reviewed by: Timothy J. Kirby, Assistant Director, Finance
Reviewed by: John Stufflebean, Director, Environmental Services
Reviewed by: Jane Chambers, Interim Assistant City Manager
Approved by: Deanna J. Santana, City Manager
ATTACHMENTS
1. Bid Summary
2. Draft Maintenance Contract