REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: BROCK D. BUCHE, PE, PLS, Director
Department of Public Utilities
BY: PETER MARACCINI, PE, PhD, Public Utilities Manager
Department of Public Utilities - Utilities Planning & Engineering
SUBJECT
Title
Approve the Fifth Amendment to the consultant services agreement with Carollo Engineers, Inc., to extend the term of the agreement from December 31, 2023, to December 31, 2025 to respond to pending comments from the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board (Regional Board) (Citywide).
Body
RECOMMENDATIONS
Staff recommends that City Council approve the Fifth Amendment to the consultant services agreement (Agreement) with Carollo Engineers, Inc., (Consultant), to extend the term of the Agreement from December 31, 2023 to December 31, 2025, allowing the Consultant to respond to the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board (Regional Board) pending comments on compliance documents previously submitted to the Regional Board for review; and authorize the Director of Public Utilities, or designee, to sign the amendment on behalf of the City of Fresno (City).
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Wastewater Management Division operates the Fresno-Clovis Regional Wastewater Reclamation Facility (RWRF) in accordance with Waste Discharge Requirements Order R5-2018-0080 (WDR), which is administered by the Regional Board. To remain in compliance with the requirements, the City entered into an Agreement with the Consultant to prepare various workplans and reports following the schedule established by the WDR. The Consultant has completed all compliance activities and submitted the required documents to the Regional Board for review and comment. To date, the City has not received a letter of determination from the Regional Board illustrating the City’s compliance with the WDR. As the scope of work requires that the Consultant respond to all comments and revisions required in response to the review, the City and the Consultant desire to extend the term of the Agreement from December 31, 2023, to December 31, 2025. The Fifth Amendment to Agreement will not increase the total contract amount.
BACKGROUND
The Wastewater Management Division operates the RWRF in accordance with the WDR which is administered by the Regional Board. The WDR is the regulatory document that establishes limits on final effluent discharges from the RWRF and on the receiving groundwater. Provision J of the WDR provides a schedule for a series of workplans and reports to be completed by the City in order to remain in compliance with the requirements.
On May 21, 2019, the City entered into a $250,000 Agreement with the Consultant to prepare workplans for evaluation of the existing groundwater monitoring well network and an arsenic and manganese assessment at the RWRF (Workplans) as required by the WDR. As part of this effort, the Regional Board further required that the City conduct arsenic and manganese (As/MN) water quality sampling of domestic and agricultural wells in the vicinity of the RWRF. As such, on October 25, 2019, City Council approved the First Amendment to Agreement to increase the total fee by $49,287 and to expand the scope of services.
On April 9, 2020, City Council approved the Second Amendment to Agreement to increase the total fee by $690,044 and extend the Agreement term to October 29, 2021. The Second Amendment expanded the scope of services to include support during implementation of the As/Mn Assessment in accordance with the approved Workplans as well as completion of the As/Mn Report as required by the WDR.
In accordance with the approved Workplans, the City began construction of additional wells within the existing groundwater monitoring well network to improve monitoring capabilities in the vicinity of the RWRF. On October 14, 2021, City Council approved the Third Amendment to Agreement, expanding the scope of services to include Consultant support during construction of the monitoring wells and review of groundwater data collected from the new wells and other wells. The Third Amendment utilized the remaining funds in the Agreement and extended the term to December 31, 2023.
The Fourth Amendment to Agreement was approved by City Council on January 6, 2023, increasing the total contract amount by $111,810 for a total fee not to exceed $1,101,141. The Fourth Amendment captured additional efforts required by the Consultant to modify the As/Mn Report as required by the WDR and further expanded the scope of services to allow for the evaluation of water quality data relevant to the As/Mn Assessment. The Fourth Amendment additionally allowed for the preparation of the first Annual Monitoring Report to inform the Regional Board of the RWRF’s performance and conformance data.
The Consultant has completed all compliance activities and submitted the required documents to the Regional Board for review and comment. To date, the City has not received a letter of determination from the Regional Board illustrating the City’s compliance with the WDR. As the scope of services requires that the Consultant respond to all comments and revisions required in response to the review, the City and the Consultant desire to extend the term of the Agreement from December 31, 2023 to December 31, 2025.
The City Attorney’s Office has reviewed the Fifth Amendment to Agreement and approved as to form. Upon approval by the City Council, the Fifth Amendment to Agreement will be executed by the Director of Public Utilities or designee.
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS
By the definition of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Section 15378, the amending of this consultant services agreement is not a “Project” for the purposes of CEQA.
LOCAL PREFERENCE
Local preference does not apply to this action because this is an amendment to an existing consultant services agreement.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no impact to the General Fund. Funding for the Agreement is included in the Wastewater Management Division’s Operations and Maintenance budget within the Wastewater Enterprise Fund 40501. No additional appropriations are necessary. The RWRF is located in Council District 3, however, the benefit of the services described is citywide.
Attachments:
Attachment 1 - Fifth Amendment to Agreement
Attachment 2 - Fourth Amendment to Agreement
Attachment 3 - Third Amendment to Agreement
Attachment 4 - Second Amendment to Agreement
Attachment 5 - First Amendment to Agreement
Attachment 6 - Consultant Services Agreement