DATE: 03/19/2025
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
Honorable President and Board Members
FROM: Utilities Department
2025-113
REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL AND
CORONA UTILITY AUTHORITY ACTION
SUBJECT:
MAINTENANCE/GENERAL SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH PROFESSIONAL METERS, INC. FOR THE INSTALLATION OF ADVANCED METERING
INFRASTRUCTURE METERS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
This staff report requests the City Council to approve a Maintenance/General Services Agreement to Professional Meters, Inc., for installing Advanced Metering Infrastructure meters as part of the Citywide AMI Meter Replacement Capital Improvement Project No.
UT-2022-03. Additionally, the Utilities Department seeks approval to create a new Operating and Maintenance Capital Improvement Project to conduct a Lead or Copper Pipe Service Line Audit.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
That the City Council:
a. Approve the Maintenance/General Services Agreement with Professional Meters, Inc. for installing Advanced Metering Infrastructure meters, the lowest responsive, responsible bidder, and waive all minor irregularities in the bidding document as submitted by said bidder.
b. Authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to execute the Maintenance/General Services Agreement with Professional Meters, Inc., in the amount of $6,494,405 and to negotiate and execute any non-substantive extensions, purchase orders, change orders, and amendments up to 10% of the total contract cost or $649,440. c. Authorize an appropriation of $3,520,797 from the Water Utility Fund 570 and $125,568 from the Reclaimed Water Utility Fund 567 to the Citywide AMI Meter Replacement Capital Improvement Project No. UT-2022-03. d. Authorize an appropriation of $1,497,480 from the Water Utility Fund 570 to a new Operating and Maintenance Project titled Lead or Copper Service Line audit.
That the Corona Utility Authority review, ratify, and, to the extent necessary, direct that the City Council take the above actions.
BACKGROUND & HISTORY:
The City Council approved the Fiscal Year 2022 Capital Improvement Plan on June 16, 2021, which included the Citywide AMI Meter Replacement Capital Improvement Project No. UT-2022-03. This project aims to upgrade approximately 46,500 water meters with AMI meters to enable real-time remote meter reads. This will allow customers to monitor usage and detect leaks in real-time, supporting water conservation and regulatory compliance.
On April 4, 2024, following a competitive procurement process through Request for Proposals (RFP) No. 23-019 CA issued on May 4, 2023, the City Council awarded a Professional Services Agreement to Ferguson Enterprises, LLC to provide Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) equipment supply, network infrastructure installation, and a data management system license. This project is partially funded by a federal grant from the Bureau of Reclamation, and the installation needs to be bid separately to ensure that federal procurement requirements are followed. Additionally, the City contracted MeterSYS, LLC., under a professional services contract, to oversee project management.
ANALYSIS:
On November 15, 2024, the City issued a Notice Inviting Bids (NIB) No. 25-006CA to install AMI meters. The City held a mandatory in-person Pre-Bid Conference on December 3, 2024. Eight firms attended the mandatory meeting and submitted questions for the project team. Two bids were received through Planet Bids by the given deadline, and after vetting the bids, both contractors were deemed responsive and responsible bidders by the Purchasing Department. The following table summarizes the bid evaluation results:
No. Contractors Name Location Bid Total
1 Professional Meters, Inc. Morris, IL $ 6,494,405
2 T.E. Roberts, Inc. Irvine, CA $ 7,053,497
The base bid included all costs associated with mobilization, project administration, a work order management system, citywide meter replacements and meter retrofits of various sizes, and lid replacements. Additionally, the bid includes alternate bid items to conduct a lead copper service line audit and provide unit costs to retrofit existing polymer lids that are in good condition and suitable. The number of lids that can be retrofitted is currently unknown since a citywide lid inventory has not been conducted due to the higher cost associated with conducting this audit independently. The change order authorization may be processed to cover any labor differences where retrofitting a lid is feasible. The cost for new meter lids is covered under Ferguson Enterprises’ contract.
To achieve 100% removal of lead service lines nationwide, the Environmental Protection Agency issued Lead and Copper Rule Improvements, requiring water systems to conduct a lead service line inventory to identify all lead service lines and meet the initial requirements of the improved rule and use this information for an implementation plan.
To reduce costs, the City of Corona has included this service line audit with the NIB for meter installation since the contractor will be visiting every meter in Corona’s service area.
A request to create a new Operating and Maintenance Project for this task is included in the recommended action section of this report to help track the costs associated with this task separately.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Approval of the recommended actions will result in a total appropriation of $5,018,277 from the Water Utility Fund 570 and $125,568 from the Reclaimed Water Utility Fund 567.
The appropriation of $3,520,797 from the Water Utility Fund 570 and $125,568 from the Reclaimed Water Utility Fund 567 will be allocated to the Citywide AMI Meter Replacement Capital Improvement Project No. UT-2022-03. Additionally, $1,497,480 will be allocated to the new Operating and Maintenance Project titled Lead or Copper Pipe Service Line Audit. The funds have sufficient working capital to support this appropriation.
Appropriation Request Breakdown Fund 570 Fund 567
AMI installation cost $ 5,018,906 $ 114,153
10% change order
$
501,891 $ 11,415
Amount needed for AMI installation $ 5,520,797
BOR grant funding
$
(2,000,000)
Appropriation for AMI UT-2022-03
CIP $ 3,520,797 $ 125,568
Lead or Copper Pipe Service Line Audit $ 1,361,345
10% change order
$
136,135
Appropriation for Lead or Copper
Pipe Service Line Audit O&M $ 1,497,480 $ -
Total appropriations $ 5,018,277 $ 125,568
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS:
This action is exempt pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of the Guidelines for the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The activity is covered by the commonsense exemption, as there is no possibility that the project may have a significant effect on the environment. Where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment, the activity is not subject to CEQA. This action is to replace or retrofit existing water meters in Corona’s service area and there is no possibility that approving this project will have a significant impact on the environment. Therefore, no environmental analysis is required.
PREPARED BY: JACQUELINE ZUKERAN, UTILITY BILLING AND ADMINISTRATION
MANAGER
REVIEWED BY: TOM MOODY, DIRECTOR OF UTILITIES
ATTACHMENT:
1. Exhibit 1 – MGSA with Professional Meter, Inc.