REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
January 30, 2020
FROM: MICHAEL CARBAJAL, Director
Department of Public Utilities
THROUGH: BROCK D. BUCHE, PE, PLS, Assistant Director - UP&E
Department of Public Utilities - Utilities Planning & Engineering
BY: MATTHEW L. BULLIS, Professional Engineer
Department of Public Utilities - Utilities Planning & Engineering
SUBJECT
Title
Approve the Fifth Amendment to the Agreement with Provost and Pritchard Consulting Group, Inc., amending the work completion date to March 31, 2021 for Engineering Design and Feasibility Analysis for Removal of 1,2,3-Trichloropropane from Groundwater Extraction Wells, with no impact to the previously approved contract amount of $1,044,000 (Citywide)
Body
RECOMMENDATIONS
Staff recommends that City Council approve the Fifth Amendment to the Agreement with Provost and Pritchard Consulting Group, Inc., (Provost and Pritchard) for Engineering Design and Feasibility Analysis for Removal of 1,2,3-Trichloropropane from Groundwater Extraction Wells (Project) and authorize the Director of Public Utilities, or designee, to execute the amendment on behalf of the City of Fresno (City).
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This Project is funded through a Proposition 1 Groundwater Planning Grant (Grant), which was accepted by the City on August 18, 2018 and recently amended by the State to adjust the work completion date to March 31, 2021. The Fifth Amendment to the Agreement with Provost and Pritchard will adjust the consultant’s Agreement time of completion to March 31, 2021 in order to match the work completion date of the Grant. The only change in scope of work is the time of completion, which will not impact the overall cost of the contract.
BACKGROUND
In 2018, the State of California (State) established new groundwater regulations, setting the allowable maximum contaminant level at 5 parts per trillion for 1,2,3-Trichloropropane present in drinking water. 1,2,3-Trichloropropane is a component of agricultural soil fumigants historically within the Central Valley. Due to the chemicals low adsorption rate, the contaminant does not adhere to soil after spray application which resulted in the chemical leaching into the groundwater. Any water containing elevated detections of 1,2,3-Trichloropropane require advanced levels of treatment prior to distribution for potable use.
Currently, approximately 45 of the City’s 237 active drinking water wells have detected the presence of 1,2,3-Trichloropropane. While the commissioning of the new Southeast Surface Water Treatment Facility has permitted the increased use of surface water supplies, groundwater production remains a vital component of the City’s water supply portfolio. The conjunctive use of groundwater and surface water supplies ensure the City’s long-term ability to meet existing and future water demands.
On January 31, 2017, the City hired Provost and Pritchard to prepare a Feasibility Study for prioritizing well treatment options for compliance with this new State regulation. The cost for the initial work was $268,000. A draft of the Feasibility Study was completed in May 2018. In parallel with the preparation of the Feasibility Study, the City applied for a State grant to fund the Feasibility Study and engineering design for treatment facilities resulting from the study. As part of the grant requirements, the draft Feasibility Study was submitted to the State for their review and approval. The State established guidelines for completing the Feasibility Study and approved $891,500 in funding to complete this work.
On December 8, 2017, the First Amendment to the Agreement was approved for preliminary design activities for Pump Station 70. The cost of this work was $99,000. Pump Station 70 is a water well impacted with various constituents, including 1,2,3-Trichloropropane and requires continuous operation due to ongoing remediation efforts associated to historic activities at Old Hammer Field. This required the fast track of well design work for this site.
On February 8, 2018, the Second Amendment to the Agreement was executed to extend the timeline for completion of the work by September 1, 2018. This amendment did not add any project cost to the contract.
On October 4, 2018, the Third Amendment to the Agreement was executed for completion of the design activities related to the Prop I Groundwater Grant. The scope of work included remediation system design; construction documents, bidding support services and planning grant assistance. The cost of this work was $677,000.
On June 13, 2019 the Fourth Amendment to Agreement was executed to include a remedial investigation of the nature and extent of the 1,2,3-Trichloropropane distribution in groundwater that is impacting the subject water wells. This work included: identifying potential critical areas impacted with 1,2,3-Trichloropropane (Study Areas); defining the geological and hydrological conditions in the selected Study Areas; defining the nature of the extent of the potential non-Trichloropropane contaminants that might affect potential treatment designs; developing site conceptual models for each study area and evaluation of the mitigation by pump and treat strategies for the effected wells. In order to comply with the requirements of the Grant and stay within the confines of the original funding guidelines staff has negotiated a change in the scope of work to include the items listed immediately above in exchange for eliminating remedial design activities for two of the five impacted well sites inclusive of the grant agreement. The net addition/subtraction to the scope of work resulted in no net change in cost to the contract.
Due to the addition of groundwater studies to the scope of work the Planning Grant completion date was extended to March 31, 2021. The Fifth Amendment to Agreement with Provost and Pritchard amends the consultant’s Agreement to complete all work activities by March 31, 2021, matching the work completion date of the Grant. This amendment does not add any project cost to the contract.
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS
By the definition provided in the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Section 15378, the approval of the amendment does not qualify as a “project” for the purpose of CEQA.
LOCAL PREFERENCE
Local preference does not apply to this action because this is an amendment to an existing agreement.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no impact the General Fund. This Project is citywide. Funding for this Project is included in a State Grant to mitigate 1,2,3-Trichloropropane in groundwater and the Water Division’s Fiscal Year 2020 Capital Improvement Budget Enterprise Fund 40101. The Project was also included in the water rate model used to create the five-year utility rate plan that was adopted by the City Council on February 26, 2015.
Attachments:
Attachment 1 - Fifth Amendment to Agreement
Attachment 2 - Original Consultant Agreement, First, Second, Third, Fourth Amendment to Agreement