DATE: November 17, 2025
TO: President and Members of the Estero Municipal Improvement District (EMID) Board of Directors
VIA: Stefan Chatwin, District Manager
Marlene Subhashini, Assistant District Manager
FROM: Andrew Brozyna, Public Works Director/District Engineer Laura Galli, Engineering Manager
Francine Magno, Senior Civil Engineer
DEPARTMENT: Public Works
SUBJECT: WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT MASTER PLAN
IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT (CIP 455-652) - CLEAN WATER
PROGRAM - UPDATE FOR QUARTER 3 – JULY THROUGH
SEPTEMBER 2025
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the Board of Directors of the Estero Municipal Improvement District (EMID) by Minute Order, receive and accept this Q3 progress update on the Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) Master Plan Improvements Project (CIP 455-652) – Clean Water Program (CWP). No further action is required by the EMID Board of Directors.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report summarizes the progress-to-date of the WWTP Master Plan Improvements Project (CIP 455-652) - Clean Water Program (CWP) for the City of San Mateo/EMID WWTP for the months of July 2025 through September 2025. The report includes summary information about construction and other project activities over the third quarter of the calendar year.
BACKGROUND
The CWP is a comprehensive Capital Improvement Program to rehabilitate the sanitary sewer collection system in the City of San Mateo and the treatment systems at the San Mateo WWTP. EMID has 24.12% ownership of WWTP. The City of San Mateo, as the lead agency, has responsibility for the performance of tasks required to develop, implement and complete construction of the CWP Improvements, including administration of design and construction, construction management, and program management contracts; management of the CWP budget; and maintenance and operation of the plant facilities. EMID reimburses the City of San Mateo for its share of the program and facility costs.
In October 2014, the City of San Mateo retained Jacobs to serve as the Program Manager responsible for overseeing the management of the approximately $1 billion-dollar combined program, including the coordination of the design, construction, and start-up activities of this multi-year program. EMID’s portion of the CWP consists of the WWTP Expansion Project, Immediate Action Projects (IAPs), and Annual Major Component (AMC) Projects. The WWTP expansion project replaces the existing liquids treatment process with a new facility. IAP Projects comprise critical major infrastructure projects, and the AMC Projects comprise rehabilitation and replacement projects that will both continue to remain in operation after the WWTP expansion project has been completed.
The EMID Board of Directors has requested that staff provide updates on a regular basis.
The WWTP Expansion Project is the CWP’s largest project and is being performed using a Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) delivery method. The involvement of the contractor during the early stages of the design process, to provide constructability input and insight to inform the design development, ultimately benefits the overall project delivery.
The WWTP Expansion Project Manager and Construction Manager is Jacobs. The WWTP Expansion Project Design Engineer is HDR. The team for the disinfection improvements portion of the WWTP Expansion Project is Trussell Technologies. HDR is also providing Engineering Services During Construction (ESDC). The CMAR Contractor is Sundt Construction Inc. (Sundt).
The WWTP Expansion project construction was awarded in three separate construction packages. Packages 1 & 2 have been completed and Notices of Completion filed with the County as follows:
Construction Package 1 – Site Preparation (Original Construction Agreement with Sundt - $33,098,178) – Final Expenditures at Completion are $31,630,697.
The Notice of Completion was filed and recorded with San Mateo County on April 23, 2025.
Construction Package 2 – Foundation Piles (Amendment No. 1 to the Construction Agreement with Sundt - $17,716,049) – Final Expenditures at Completion are $17,206,534. The Notice of Completion was filed and recorded with San Mateo County on March 6, 2024.
A ribbon cutting ceremony was held in September 2025 to celebrate the near completion of the liquid process portion of the project and completion of the Administration Building.
ANALYSIS
WWTP Expansion Project
Construction Package 3 – WWTP above grade Facilities (Amendment No. 2 to the Construction Agreement with Sundt in the amount of $379,880,747 with approved 10% contingency of $38,986,910) – Construction is approximately 97% complete and in its final stages. Efforts by the Contractor to mitigate schedule impacts from multiple change events are ongoing.
Administration Building and Maintenance Warehouse
Construction of the Administration Building and Maintenance Warehouse is substantially complete and under a Temporary Occupancy permit from the City’s Building Department. Both buildings are furnished, and the Administration building was occupied by WWTP operations staff in June 2025. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) commissioning activities for the Administration Building are pending final completion.
Processing Facilities
Construction of the new treatment process facilities is now complete.
Plant Commissioning
Clean water testing, which began in January 2025, is nearing completion. Construction of the force main tie-ins, process seeding, startup, and performance testing has been pushed to the November to December 2025 timeframe. This is approximately three months later in comparison to the last quarter update. This is due to delays associated with programming and the need to construct additional improvements to provide uninterrupted power supply to the plant. The new liquid treatment processes are anticipated to be in full service by December 2025.
Final Project Completion
The projected date of final completion is currently June 2026. The last element of work once the plant is in full service, consists of repurposing the existing aeration basins into a flow equalization basin to store excess water during wet weather events.
Estimated Cost to Complete WWTP Expansion Project
As of the end of September 2025, the project’s estimate at completion (EAC) is approximately $597.5 million for construction (including construction, design, construction management, permitting, and miscellaneous costs), which is approximately the same as reported during the last quarterly update.
Annual Major Components (AMC) Projects
AMC projects address repairs and replacements of aging components of the existing WWTP that will continue to remain in operation after the expansion project has been completed. As of the end of September 2025, the AMC’s estimate at completion is approximately $23.6 million, which is a $1.8 million increase from what was reported during the last quarterly report, with the increase due to increased costs associated with repairing Digester 2 and increases in the construction estimates for two of the projects.
This increase to the AMC is largely offset by savings from IAP-2. AMC project completion is anticipated to coincide with the end of the CWP.
Immediate Action Projects (IAPs)
IAP Projects comprise critical major infrastructure projects. Active IAP projects include IAP-2 and IAP-3.
As of the end of September, IAP-2 has an estimate at completion of $14.8 million (down from $17.0 million during the previous update). The City of San Mateo recently resolved outstanding issues relating to a delay claim with the contractor, Meyers Construction.
IAP-3 has an estimate at completion of $19.4 million (up from $18.5 million during the previous update due to changes required to address unforeseen underground utilities and their impact on the new electrical duct banks). The completion of IAP-3 is now estimated in March 2026, which is pushed back from the previously reported date of September 2025, with the delay due to previously mentioned unforeseen underground utilities.
QUARTERLY CONSTRUCTION REPORT
Attachment #1 consists of selected portions of the Quarterly Progress Report for July through September 2025 published by the City of San Mateo Program Management Team on October 21, 2025. This report summarizes the budget, schedule, and project activities that have occurred during the third quarter of 2025 and activities that are anticipated to occur in the fourth quarter of 2025 for the WWTP Expansion Project, IAP, and AMC projects.
Attachment #2 consists of a site plan showing the locations of the various process units being constructed as part of the projects.
Attachment #3 includes photographs of construction activities at the site over the past 3 months.
Attachment #4 includes a history of the Project financing.
More detailed information including additional photographs and architectural renderings of the completed WWTP Expansion Project , are available on the Clean Water Program Project site: Wastewater Treatment Plant – Clean Water Program San Mateo. Additionally, a video describing the state-of-the-art wastewater treatment plant is also available on the site: WWTP Video – Clean Water Program San Mateo CEQA
A Programmatic Environmental Impact Report (EIR) was prepared for the WWTP Master Plan Improvements Project (State Clearinghouse No. 2015032006).
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact associated with receiving this update. While certain projects within the program have experienced incremental increases and decreases, the total program costs remain within the approved budget.
At the start of the project, a strategic funding and financing plan to deliver the CWP was executed by both Agencies and included raising sewer rates over several years (14.25% FY17/18 to FY22/23; 10% FY23/24; 2% FY24/25; and 0% FY25/26), issuing bonds, and pursuing loans. The CWP successfully received three low-interest rate loans from State and/or Federal programs (see Attachment No. 4). These loans were able to reduce the fiscal impact of the Cities’ investment in the wastewater infrastructure on EMID ratepayers. No additional rate increases beyond typical inflationary adjustments are anticipated to fund this project.
CITY COUNCIL VISION, MISSION, AND VALUE/PRIORITY AREA
Facilities and Infrastructure
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment 1 – Portions of Quarterly Progress Report – 3rd Quarter Report, July 1, 2025 to September 30, 2025
Attachment 2 – Wastewater Treatment Plant Site Plan
Attachment 3 – Construction Photographs
Attachment 4 – Project Financing