Agenda Item No: K.2
AGENDA REPORT
DATE: August 4, 2026
TO: Mayor and Council
FROM: David Gassaway, City Manager
SUBJECT: Resolution 202 6-169 PW North Bay Regional Treatment Plant Expansion Bartle Wells Professional Services Agreement for Financial Consulting and Budget Adjustment
Authorizing the City Manager to Execute a Professional Services Agreement with Bartle Wells Associates for Financial Consulting Services for the Cities of Fairfield and Vacaville for the North Bay Regional Water Treatment Plant Expansion, and Authorizing an Update to the Fiscal Year 2026-2027 Budget
Funding Source: $60,000; North Bay Regional Fund
Contact: David Vong, (707) 428-7784
RECOMMENDED ACTION
Adopt resolution.
STATEMENT OF ISSUE
City Council approval would authorize the city manager to execute a Professional Services Agreement (PSA) with Bartle Wells Associates (BWA) to provide financial consulting services for the North Bay Regional Water Treatment Plant (NBR) Expansion Project (Project) in an amount not to exceed $60,000. NBR is jointly owned by the Cities of Vacaville and Fairfield and is operated by City of Fairfield staff. Governance, ownership, and operation of the NBR are established in the Joint Exercise of Powers Agreement (JEPA).
DISCUSSION
Fairfield Municipal Utilities (FMU) provides water to the cities of Fairfield and Vacaville on a continuous basis and employs staff who are responsible for the operation of Fairfield’s water system, a portion of which includes the NBR. NBR was conceived and constructed out of a need to realize access to the North Bay Aqueduct (NBA), both of which were completed in 1988.
Over two decades ago, long-term planning efforts by the cities of Vacaville and Fairfield projected that NBR would eventually need to increase its treated water capacity. Today, both cities are experiencing population growth aligned with their respective general plans and water system master plans and are preparing to expand the plant as originally envisioned in the JEPA. The JEPA establishes the governance, ownership, and oversight framework for the NBRWTP, with these responsibilities administered through the Joint Powers Policy Committee (JPPC), which is composed of staff representatives from both cities.
On December 17, 2024, the council adopted Resolution No. 2024-293 authorizing a contract with West Yost Associates to identify the most effective Project delivery method, develop a business case demonstrating the need for the expansion, preparing an environmental study, production of an environmental study, and develop memorandum of understanding between both cities to implement the Project.
As part of development of the business case, the JPPC recognized that each city has different financial positions that affect potential funding challenges to the Project. To address these concerns, the JPPC deems it necessary to include Project financial strategy that is tailored to each city’s financial position and as such, requested a proposal from BWA.
BWA's proposal offers Financial Planning (Task 1) and Financing Support (Task 2) services for both the City of Fairfield and the City of Vacaville to facilitate the NBR expansion:
Task 1 - Development of a financial planning model for the City of Vacaville to determine funding strategies for its portion of the project.
Task 2 - Joint assessment of both cities' financial positions, coordination of financial strategies, and analysis of grant scenarios to support the project.
With over 60 years of experience serving California water and wastewater agencies, BWA is well- qualified to provide comprehensive financial consulting services for this initiative. BWA possesses in-depth knowledge of both cities, having completed Fairfield’s water rate study, which included the Project in its financial projections, and maintaining a longstanding relationship with Vacaville, most recently through the water and sewer capacity charge study. BWA is among the f ew firms capable of offering both financial advisory services for project financing and utility rate consulting.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The Project's financial consulting services are for a total amount not-to-exceed $60,000. Pursuant to the Joint Powers Agreement (JPA), all direct and indirect costs incurred by the administering agency are reimbursable from the JPA Fund.
The financial consulting services provided by Bartle Wells Associates for the Project (CPW040114) were not included in the fiscal year (FY) 2026 –2027 Capital Budget. Therefore, a budget amendment is required to increase appropriations by $60,000 in the NBR Fund (Fund 465 ; CPW040114) to fund these services.
The NBR Fund will utilize previously collected reserves. The estimated split of t he reserves is as follows:
Agency Task 1 Task 2 Total
City of Fairfield $0 $15,000 $15,000
City of Vacaville $30,000 $15,000 $45,000
TOTAL $30,000 $30,000 $60,000
PUBLIC CONTACT/ADVISORY BODY RECOMMENDATION
N/A
ALTERNATIVE ACTION
The council may choose not to authorize the city manager to execute the agreement. However, this would be inconsistent with the authority vested in the JPPC through the JPA.
COORDINATED WITH
NBR Joint Powers Policy Committee
STAFF CONTACT
David Vong, Senior Civil Engineer
(707) 428-7784
[email protected]
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment 2: Proposed Resolution
Attachment 3: Proposed Professional Services Agreement