Cotati City Council
Agenda Staff Report
Item type: CONSENT CALENDAR (ACTION)
To: City Council
Subject: Contract for backflow testing and repair professional services to be provided by R.H. Sons Water Services.
Date: April 26, 2022
Written by: Angela Courter, Director of Administrative Services Recommendation
It is recommended that the City Council of the City of Cotati adopt a Resolution authorizing the City Manager to execute a Professional Service Agreement (PSA) for a one (1) year term, with four (4) possible one (1) year renewals, with R.H. Sons Water Services for annual backflow testing services.
Background
Backflow prevention devices are installed to protect the water distribution system from contaminated water entering back into the municipal water system once it has entered the private property. The State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water ("DDW") requires management and testing of all backflow prevention (BFP) devices within the City to minimize cross contamination to the distribution system. This program is mandated by the state and requires each device to be tested by a certified tester on an annual basis.
To meet this state mandate, the City code CMC 13.20.060 requires the following:
“Backflow protection assemblies shall be inspected and tested after installation, repair, or relocation, and at least annually thereafter. The owner of the premises on which a backflow assembly has been installed shall be responsible for having the required inspection and testing completed as set forth in this chapter. Inspection and testing must be done by a person certified by the state of California to perform cross-connection control testing and inspection. Any assembly that is found to be defective shall be repaired or replaced by the owner of the premises and the backflow protection assembly shall be re-tested before being placed back in service. All test reports shall be submitted to the City.”
Currently, there are approximately 700 devices in the City, of which 50 are managed by the City as they are on City property. Property owners are responsible for testing their backflow devices under the City municipal code, so billing and notifications are done separately from normal utility billing, which can be to an owner or tenant.
The City put out a request for bids on March 9, 2022, with a deadline for completion of April 5, 2022. City Staff received four bids and is recommending R.H. & Sons Water Services as they are a qualified and lowest bidder.
Analysis/Discussion
The City received the following bids for back flow testing:
Company
Test /
Device
Hourly Rate
for Repairs
Materials
Markup Other
Benicia Plumbing $ 305.00 N/A N/A Not Provided
Checkrite Backflow $ 50.00 $ 100.00 10% Inflation factor of 2%/ year The Backflow Guy $ 85.00 $ 150.00 50% Inflation Factor
R.H. & Sons $ 20.00 $ 65.00 15% Inflation Factor - None R.H. & Sons Water Services has been doing business in Sonoma Mendocino, Lake, Marin, and Napa counties for over twenty-six (26) years. By approving this contract, R.H. & Sons will provide testing and repair or installation services for the City as they have done in all the Cities within Sonoma County. To provide the best bid and offer the best service the company has four (4) certified testers on staff and on Certified Cross Connection Specialist. R.H. Sons has also maintained an active business license with the City of Cotati since before 2006.
Financial Considerations
All work completed by the contractor for City devices will be budgeted within the FY 2022/23 Water Professional Contract Services (Account No. 401-00-80185) with additional repairs or replacements accounted for within the R&M- General (Account No. 401-00-80570).
Adopting this resolution is expected to save the City approximately $4,000/year with the testing of City managed backflow devices.
All work completed for private property owners will be recorded as an expenditure to the same accounts but will be billed out to the property owners with an additional administrative fee of seventy-seven (77) dollars as indicated within our fee schedule. For those who have used the City to test their devices the total cost will be reduced from one hundred and fifteen (115) to ninetyseven (97) dollars.
Environmental Issues
This action is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because it is not a project which has a potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment, pursuant to CEQA Guideline section 15378.
Attachments:
Backflow Testers - Bid Results Summary (XLSX)
R.H. & Sons Bid Document 03172022 (PDF)