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Department of Finance - Division of Procurement & Contracts
Reference: Award of Formal Solicitation Water Treatment Plant Expansion & Denitrification Design Services Project #19-020
To: Mayor Kenneth J. Kreutzer and Members of City Council
Through: Marv Falconburg, Acting City Manager
Prepared By: Amber Gibbs, Procurement and Contracts Manager
Through: Michael Woodruff, Director of Infrastructure
Bradly Dallam, Assistant Utilities Director
CC: Maria Ostrom, Interim Finance Director
Date Prepared: August 26, 2019
PURPOSE
Requesting City Council approval of a formal solicitation for the Water Treatment Plant Expansion & Denitrification Design Services Project to the most responsive and responsible proposer and approving the resolution, giving the City Manager the authority to sign the contract. Pursuant to Municipal Code Section 3-8-90, all bids and proposals in excess of $50,000.00 shall be awarded through formal written procedures by the City Council.
BACKGROUND/HISTORY
The City of Brighton has received a permit from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) for the treatment of potable water through the Reverse Osmosis (RO) section of the Water Treatment Plant. That permit has a compliance schedule in which defined water quality limits that need to be met with the waste discharge (brine) from the plant by Sept of 2022, failure to meet those permit limits could result in the city incurring significant fines from the State. To reiterate, this is the discharge to the stream not the drinking water.
In addition, the water system needs to be expanded (optimized) to meet the future demands of the City as our present ability to treat water closely matches our City demand. Expansion of well fields, delivery to the treatment plant, and expansion of the treatment facilities are concurrent needs of the Utility.
Staff has pursued professional services through a process that included a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) and then proposals through a Request for Proposal (RFP) process. The proposal included a spectrum of possible projects needed for the system to be in compliance and available to meet the needs of the city.
Three firms submitted Qualifications and staff shortlisted two firms after extensive review. Proposals were received from Brown and Caldwell, Inc. as well as Burns and McDonnell the two shortlisted firms. Both firms are leaders in the industry who have local divisions within their companies that specialize in municipal water system design. The request for proposal included a scope that included all of the work of the first of three phases. However, at this time, the City only requested costs for the first phase. The first phase included the development of a conceptual design and pilot testing of that design (as needed). Phase II is for the development of construction plans and Phase III is for services during construction.
Staff recommends approval of a contract with Brown and Caldwell. Staff felt their proposal was well thought out, innovative, and had the higher potential of greater benefit to the City. Brown and Caldwell has provided engineering services for the City for years with many successful projects. As a company, they utilized that institutional knowledge in preparing the proposal and developed a plan that will be advantageous to the City. This contract for Phase I is in the amount of $ 663,532.00, in which a $500,000.00 allowance was allocated for pilot testing.
Brown and Caldwell has proposed an aggressive schedule for the City to avoid possible fines from the State, and are in concurrence with Staff in that a Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) delivery method will be best suited for this project. This method will allow the ordering of critical, long lead-time, products before the completion of design, thus optimizing contract time between now and the permit expiration date. Council will be requested to approve several additional contracts over the next couple of years. Examples of future contracts include, but are not limited to, Brown and Caldwell Phase II and Phase III, the General Contractor in the CMAR process, pre-purchase of equipment, a Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) from the CMAR, contractors for pipelines, wells and other ancillary infrastructure needed to develop or update a water system.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Sufficient funding was approved in the budget for the 2019 Water Treatment Plant Expansion Project. The bid from Brown and Caldwell of $663,532.00 is within the budgeted amount for the project.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
The Finance Department, in working with the Utilities Department completed the review and evaluation of this bid, and the recommendation is to award to Brown & Caldwell the lowest most responsive and responsible bidder to perform the required services. The award will include a base bid of $663,532.00.
Brown & Caldwell is in good standing with the State of Colorado.
OPTIONS FOR COUNCIL CONSIDERATION
Ø Approval as presented
Ø Reject
Ø Require new proposals be prepared
Attachments:
Ø Resolution