REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
July 16, 2015
FROM: THOMAS C. ESQUEDA, Director
Department of Public Utilities
BY: MICHAEL CARBAJAL, Division Manager
Department of Public Utilities - Water Division
SUBJECT
Title
Actions pertaining to the 2015 Urban Water Management Plan (Citywide)
1. Approve Professional Consultant Services Agreement with Provost & Pritchard Engineering Group, a California Corporation dba Provost & Pritchard Consulting Group for $90,354 for preparation of the 2015 Urban Water Management Plan.
2. Authorize the Director of Public Utilities, or designee, to sign all documents on behalf of the City of Fresno.
Body
RECOMMENDATIONS
Staff recommends that the Council approve a Professional Consultant Services Agreement with Provost & Pritchard Engineering Group, a California Corporation dba Provost & Pritchard Consulting Group for $90,354 for preparation of the 2015 Urban Water Management Plan, and authorize the Director of Public Utilities or designee to sign the Agreement.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The City is required by the State to prepare an Urban Water Management Plan (Plan) that assesses the reliability of its water sources over a 20-year planning horizon, and reports its progress on 20% reduction in per-capita urban water consumption by the year 2020, as required in the Water Conservation Bill of 2009 SBX7-7. The 2015 Plan will document Fresno’s actions to support these two objectives, among other things. A Plan must be prepared every five years and submitted to the Department of Water Resources (DWR). The 2015 Plan is due to DWR by July 1, 2016.
BACKGROUND
The City has a service area that covers nearly 114 square miles and serves approximately 513,000 residential customers and 35,000 commercial and industrial accounts. The City’s water demands are approximately 145,000 acre-feet annually, 88 percent of which is met by groundwater and 12 percent by treated surface water. Groundwater production is achieved through utilization of 270 active municipal wells, while treated surface water is provided by the City’s existing 30-million-gallon-per-day (mgd) Northeast Surface Water Treatment Facility (NESWTF). The NESWTF commenced operations in 2004.
Fresno’s major accomplishments since the 2010 Plan was submitted to DWR include:
1. Completing the installation of residential water meters in 2014;
2. Adopting the key recommendations of the Metropolitan Water Resources Management Plan and approving a 5-year rate plan that authorizes the construction of a new surface water treatment facility, raw water pipelines, and finished water pipelines; and
3. Approving the 2035 General Plan Update.
The 2015 Plan is being prepared by Fresno to support long-term resource planning, and ensure adequate water supplies are available to meet existing and future water demands. The scope of this project is to prepare the 2015 Plan, support the public outreach and notification process, and support the submittal of the Plan to DWR.
In accordance with Fresno Municipal Code Chapter 4, Article 1, and Administrative Order 6-19, the Department of Public Utilities conducted a competitive process to select consultants to provide professional services to prepare the 2015 Plan. Announcements were published on March 13, 2015 in the Fresno Business Journal and on March 19, 2015 on PlanetBids Online requesting that interested consultants contact the Water Division to obtain a request for qualifications (RFQ) for this project. The Water Division received requests from 17 consulting firms and distributed RFQs to each. The RFQ requested that consultants provide a statement of qualifications (SOQ) by April 8, 2015, and the Water Division received five SOQs by the due date. The SOQs were evaluated by a selection committee consisting of representatives from the Water Division. Upon completion of the evaluation of qualifications submitted, and the scope and fee negotiation process, Provost & Pritchard Consulting Group (“Consultant”) was selected as being best to meet the City’s needs for this project.
The services required by this Agreement will be completed in approximately 344 consecutive calendar days from the authorization to proceed. The contract is for a not to exceed amount of $90,354, paid on a time and materials basis.
A standardized consultant service agreement has been used in accordance with Administrative Order 4-4, and the consultant’s Certificates of Insurance have been approved by the City’s Risk Management Division. Upon approval by the City Council, the agreement will be executed by the Director of Public Utilities or designee, who has been delegated this authority by the City Manager.
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS
The approval of the Agreement is not a project for the purposes of the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”), pursuant to CEQA guidelines Section 15378.
LOCAL PREFERENCE
Local preference was implemented; the Consultant is a local business as defined by Fresno Municipal Code 4-109(b).
FISCAL IMPACT
The project, which will benefit the entire City of Fresno water system, will not have any impact to the General Fund. Appropriations for the consultant agreement and support costs to prepare the 2015 Plan are included in Water Division’s FY 2016 Capital Improvement Program budget within the Water Enterprise Fund (40101). The funding for this project was included in the water rate model used to create the five-year utility rate plan and subsequently adopted by City Council on February 26, 2015. No additional funding is required for this project.
Attachment:
Consultant Agreement