REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: BROCK D. BUCHE, PE, PLS, Director
Department of Public Utilities
BY: CASSIE SCHOLZ, PE, Licensed Engineer Manager
Department of Public Utilities - Utilities Planning & Engineering
JOSEPH DE GEORGE, MS, MBA, Project Manager
Department of Public Utilities - Utilities Planning & Engineering
SUBJECT
Title
Approve the First Amendment to the consultant services agreement with Partners in Control Inc., dba Enterprise Automation, in the amount of $200,000, increasing the total contract amount to $650,000. (Citywide)
Body
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends City Council approve the First Amendment to the consultant services agreement with Partners in Control Inc., dba Enterprise Automation (Consultant), in the amount of $200,000, increasing the total contract amount to $650,000, to expand the Consultant’s scope of services to include the replacement of the Schneider Electric Quantum Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) at the Northeast Fresno Surface Water Treatment Facility (NESWTF); and authorize the Director of Public Utilities, or designee, to sign the First Amendment on behalf of the City of Fresno (City).
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Department of Public Utilities (DPU) Water Division utilizes a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system to monitor and control various mechanical processes that produce and treat both groundwater and surface water. The SCADA system requires around-the-clock support for various programming issues on system optimization, PLC programming, alarm support, and reporting. While Water Division staff can perform some portions of the SCADA system management, additional support from consultants familiar with SCADA system upgrades and programming is needed to ensure new equipment can be connected and successfully integrated. On March 21, 2024, City Council approved consultant services agreement with Partners in Control Inc., dba Enterprise Automation, to provide on-call SCADA support services Citywide. This on-call agreement provides DPU the ability to obtain additional support for specific capital projects through contract amendment. This project will replace the existing Schneider Electric Quantum PLCs at the NESWTF because the PLCs have been in service for nearly 10 years ago, have reached their end-of-life period, and support will be discontinued in 2025. DPU desires to amend the consultant services agreement to expand the current scope to upgrade the existing PLCs, include programing and integration services.
BACKGROUND
SCADA systems are distributed computer systems used by nearly every community water system for process monitoring and automation. Within the City water system, there are approximately 260 active water wells, each having a Remote Terminal Unit (RTU) that communicates using SCADA to receive and relay information to the main station at the Water Division headquarters. The City also has three (3) active surface water treatment facilities, the Northeast Surface Water Treatment Facility, the Southeast Surface Water Treatment Facility (SESWTF), and the Tank 3 (T-3) water storage and surface water treatment facility, that utilize the SCADA system for controls, reporting, and alarms. The SCADA system requires around-the-clock support for various programming issues on system optimization, PLC programming, alarm support, and reporting. While Water Division staff can perform some portions of the SCADA system management, additional support from consultants familiar with SCADA system upgrades and programming is needed to ensure new RTUs can be connected and successfully integrated. Consequently, on March 21, 2024, City Council approved the consultant services agreement with Partners in Control Inc., dba Enterprise Automation, to provide on-call SCADA support services Citywide. The original agreement was approved for a total fee not to exceed $450,000 over three years, and it included the ability for DPU to obtain additional support for specific capital projects through contract amendment.
The current Schneider Electric Quantum PLCs, upgraded by the Consultant in 2015, have reached their end-of-life period and support will be discontinued in 2025. The PLCs need to be replaced, programmed, and integrated into the SCADA, and Water Division staff requires additional support to complete the project before support for the PLCs is discontinued. Given the specificity of the project, the current consultant services agreement needs to be amended to incorporate the additional scope of services specific to the PLC replacements at the NESWTF. City staff will perform the hardware modifications while the Consultant will support and help mitigate risk.
The City Attorney’s Office has reviewed this First Amendment to the Agreement and approved as to form. Upon approval by City Council, the First Amendment to the 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 amendment 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 fiscal impact to the General Fund. The Project is a Citywide Project. Funding for this Project is included in the Fiscal Year 2025 Capital Improvement Budget within the Water Division’s Enterprise Fund 4000-4001.
Attachments:
First Amendment to the Agreement
Consultant Services Agreement
Vicinity Map