Stone Creek Environmental Consulting
416 Aviation Blvd, Suite H
Santa Rosa, CA 95403
[email protected]
707-318-9415
1 www.consultingstonecreek.com
June 15, 2022
Mr. Craig Scott
City Engineer
City of Cotati
201 West Sierra Avenue
Cotati, CA 94931
Subject: Proposal for Storm Water Support Services, 2022/2023 Fiscal Year -Revised Dear Mr. Scott:
Stone Creek Environmental Consulting (Stone Creek) is pleased to present this proposal and fee estimate to provide stormwater support services to the City of Cotati (City). Colleen Hunt, owner, is a Certified Professional in Municipal Stormwater Management and brings direct regulatory compliance experience with municipal stormwater permit requirements. She has worked with dozens of municipal stormwater Permittees during her time with the Regional Water Board and for the past three years as a consultant. Colleen has been providing storm water assistance to the City since 2018.
The City is subject to requirements of the Regional Water Board’s Waste Discharge Requirements Order No. R1-2015-0030, National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit No. CA0025054 for Discharges from the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) (Permit). The Permit became effective January 6, 2016 and expired on January 5, 2021. The Permit is administratively extended until the Regional Water Board renews the Permit. The Regional Water Board anticipates that the Permit will be renewed in the 2022/2023 fiscal year, although it is hard to anticipate the exact timing of the renewal. Until a new Permit is adopted, the City must continue implementing the requirements of the expired Permit.
Tasks in this proposal are to assist the City with the on-going requirements of the expired Permit.
This includes:
Sediment Reduction Plan Implementation
Construction Site Inspections
Municipal Staff Training
Annual Reporting
Low Impact Development Maintenance
Coordinating Meetings
Monitoring
This proposal includes a scope of work to assist the City on these Permit requirements as outlined below.
Stone Creek Environmental Consulting
416 Aviation Blvd, Suite H
Santa Rosa, CA 95403
[email protected]
707-318-9415
2 www.consultingstonecreek.com
Scope of Work
Task 1. Sediment Reduction Plan Implementation
Section I of the Permit requires the City to develop and implement a Sediment Reduction Plan to assess effectiveness of Best Management Practices (BMPs) used to control sediment in storm water runoff. The City developed a workplan for this requirement that was approved by the Regional Water Board. The workplan divided the scope of work into four phases:
Phase I Source Investigation Research
Phase II Sediment Source Field Investigation
Phase III Sediment Source BMP Plan
Phase IV Progress Reporting
The City has completed Phases I and II and is in the process of implementing Phase III. The City will also have to submit a progress report with the 2021/2022 Annual Report (Phase IV). This task is to assist the City with the continued implementation of Phase III and drafting the progress report.
Requirements for Phase III includes implementing BMPs identified in Phase II to control significant sediment sources and studying the effectiveness of both new and existing BMPs.
Tasks identified in the Phase III workplan for the 2022/2023 fiscal year include drafting a workplan to complete outfall inspections and assessments to better understand the implications of sediment from aging infrastructure. The workplan will be developed to define the scope of work, inspection methodology and assessment criteria. Stone Creek will provide a draft workplan within 90 days of the executed contract. The final workplan will need to be submitted to the Regional Water Board for review and approval.
This task will also include conducting the on-going effectiveness assessment of BMPs used to control the discharge of sediment in storm water run-off. This effort will continue using the 2NFORM platform to track effectiveness by calculating the water quality benefit associated with sediment load reduction. As part of this task, Stone Creek will populate the platform with new BMPs and manage the platform. This includes entering BMPs used to control sediment discharges into the platform, maintaining information, and running load reduction calculations for reporting purposes. Utilizing the data generated in the platform, Stone Creek will also develop the effectiveness assessment report for the sediment reduction plan due to the Regional Water Board by October 15, 2023.
The fee estimate includes the annual user fee to use the platform for one year. Based on our experience, this methodology is the most cost-effective approach, even with the need to pay a user fee. The user fee includes the ability to incorporate other program areas into the platform, including tracking Low Impact Development (LID) inspections, storm drain maintenance needs, construction site inspections, industrial and commercial inspections and trash plan management.
Stone Creek Environmental Consulting
416 Aviation Blvd, Suite H
Santa Rosa, CA 95403
[email protected]
707-318-9415
3 www.consultingstonecreek.com
Task 1 Deliverables: Effectiveness Assessment Report. Load reduction report for the 2022/2023 Annual Report.
Task 2. Construction Site Inspections
Section VI.F4.e of the Permit requires the City to conduct routine inspections of active construction site projects which disturb one acre or more of land. Inspections are required to take place in September, after the first significant rain event, and monthly during the rainy season.
Under this task, we will assist the City with these inspections. This includes conducting inspections, documenting inspection findings, providing recommendations to improve BMP management, and coordinating follow up with City staff. This task assumes inspecting six sites up to eight times each during the contract.
Task 2. Deliverable: Electronic record of inspections.
Task 3. Municipal Staff Training
Section G.12. of the Permit requires the City to annually train staff whose interactions, jobs, and activities may affect stormwater quality. We will provide training on storm water topics selected by the City. This may include illicit discharge, non-storm water discharges, municipal activities BMP requirements, and/or integrated pest management. Training will be provided as a prerecorded video or in person as conditions allow.
Task 3. Deliverable: Stormwater training, including preparation of a PowerPoint presentation, training materials, and training documentation records.
Task 4. Annual Report
The Annual Report for the 2021/2022 reporting period is due October 15, 2022. At the beginning of the new Permit term, the Regional Water Board developed an annual report template for Permittee use. The template provides a streamlined method for annual reporting. We will assist the City with populating the template and gathering information needed for reporting. The City will need to complete sections of the report with data that is not readily available to us to adequately complete the report. The City will be responsible for submitting the final report to the Regional Water Board.
Task 4. Deliverable: Draft Annual Report
Task 5. Low Impact Development Maintenance Inspections
The permit requires the City to conduct routine inspections of post-construction BMPs once every two years. Inspections were conducted in 2021. Most BMPs were identified as needing some level of maintenance. Although there are no inspections required this year, follow up is Stone Creek Environmental Consulting
416 Aviation Blvd, Suite H
Santa Rosa, CA 95403
[email protected]
707-318-9415
4 www.consultingstonecreek.com
needed to confirm corrective actions have been taken. This task will include follow up visits to each project to determine if maintenance needs have been completed. The task will also include any additional follow up needed if corrective actions are still needed.
Task 5. Deliverable: Inspection summary.
Task 6. Coordination Meetings
The City currently participates in three coordination meetings: Co-Permittee, Regional Water Board, and Russian River Watershed Association (RRWA). This task is for Stone Creek to attend these meetings as a representative of the City. As part of these meetings, the City is scheduled to chair the meetings January 2023-March 2023. This task will include assistance with chairing the meetings, if directed by the City.
Task 6. Deliverable: Email summary notes after each meeting.
Task 7. Monitoring Data Management
The City is subject to ongoing wet weather monitoring requirements. Under this task, we will provide the City with assistance with managing monitoring requirements and data management.
This includes developing “at-a-glance” monitoring requirements for each monitoring event, populating data tables, and reviewing draft monitoring report narratives.
Task 7. Deliverable: Data tables; At-a-glance monitoring forms.
Task 8. Consulting Services
Throughout the duration of this contract, the City may identify additional tasks or areas where assistance is needed. This may include the need for consultation type services to discuss project requirements, advise on compliance options, review grading plans, review Low Impact Development plans, or provide other technical information. This task will be managed as an “oncall” task. The task will be used on an as needed basis, based on the City’s initiation of assistance with a task not already covered under this scope of work. Suggested on-call assistance can include:
Education and outreach strategies
Review of LID plans
Russian River Pathogen TMDL planning
Task 8. Deliverable: TBD by client.
Stone Creek Environmental Consulting
416 Aviation Blvd, Suite H
Santa Rosa, CA 95403
[email protected]
707-318-9415
5 www.consultingstonecreek.com
Task 9. Program Management
This task will include general project management tasks needed to manage the contract properly and effectively. Tasks will include a project schedule, managing budget, monthly invoicing, and routine communications with the City, including meetings to report progress and discuss key recommendations and decisions.
Task 9. Deliverable: Invoices
Fee Estimate and Level of Effort
The Scope of Work will be conducted as described above for an estimated not-to-exceed budget of $35,720. The estimated fee and associated level of effort are summarized below.
Task Level of Effort,
hours
Estimated Fee, $
Task 1. Sediment Reduction Plan 25 7,000
Task 2. Construction Site Inspections 50 8,000
Task 3. Municipal Staff Training 8 1,320
Task 4. Annual Report 8 1,320
Task 5. LID Maintenance 16 2,640
Task 6. Coordination Meetings 52 8,580
Task 7. Monitoring Data Management 5 880
Task 8. On-call Consulting Services 24 4,000
Task 9. Project Management 12 1,980
Total 200 35,720
Billing rates for the estimate are provide below. Rates will be valid for the duration of the contract:
Technical Professional Services I $145 per hour
Technical Professional Services II $165 per hour
GIS/Mapping $175 per hour
Intern Assistance $85 per hour
Administrative Assistance/Travel $75 per hour
Quality Assurance Review $185 per hour
Direct Costs Cost + 10%
Mileage Standard Federal Rate
Any services not included in this Scope of Work will be performed only after receiving written authorization and a corresponding budget augmentation from the City.
Stone Creek Environmental Consulting
416 Aviation Blvd, Suite H
Santa Rosa, CA 95403
[email protected]
707-318-9415
6 www.consultingstonecreek.com
I am looking forward to working with you on this important work. Please feel free to contact me at 707-318-9415 or [email protected] if you have any questions or would like to discuss this proposal further.
Sincerely,
Colleen Hunt, CPMSM #343
Professional Consultant