DATE: March 16, 2026
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 4 – OCTOBER THROUGH
DECEMBER 2025
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the Board of Directors of the Estero Municipal Improvement District (EMID) by Minute Order, receive and accept this Q4 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 October 2025 through December 2025. The report includes summary information about construction and other project activities over the fourth 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 the 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.
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. Startup processes (including clean water testing and plant seeding) are now complete as of December. In addition, the Foster City and Mariner’s Island force mains were connected into the new headworks facility in February. The remaining project elements include calibration of process equipment now that sewage has been introduced, performance testing, SCADA programming, continued coordination with the San Mateo Building and San Mateo Consolidated Fire Department for Final Occupancy for the Administration building, and landscaping and security improvements. 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.
The projected date of final completion is currently June 2026, which is the same as was anticipated during the last quarter update. Efforts by the Contractor to mitigate schedule impacts from multiple change events are ongoing.
Estimated Cost to Complete WWTP Expansion Project
As of the end of January 2026, the project’s estimate at completion (EAC) is approximately $603.4 million (including construction, design, program management, construction management, permitting, and miscellaneous costs), which is approximately $5.9 million higher than was reported during the last quarterly update. The increase is primarily due to:
Additional time impact delay claims from the contractor for previously identified delays associated such as SCADA programming and the need to construct additional improvements to provide uninterrupted power supply to the plant. Additional project management and construction management costs resulting from the SCADA programming and instrumentation component taking significantly longer than scheduled (~ 8 months), and the additional costs associated with consultants retained to assist in resolving the time impact delay requests.
Design issues related to the Foster City force main connection to the new headworks
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 January 2026, the AMC’s estimate at completion is approximately $20.0 million, which is a $3.6 million decrease from what was reported during the last quarterly report, with the decrease due to a favorable bid received on the Solids Instrumentation and Control Project. AMC project completion is anticipated to coincide with the end of the CWP in December 2026.
Immediate Action Projects (IAPs)
IAP Projects comprise critical major infrastructure projects. Active IAP projects include IAP-2 and IAP-3.
IAP-2 is now substantially complete, with only minor work remaining. As of the end of December, IAP-2 has an estimate at completion of $14.8 million, which is unchanged from the last quarterly update.
IAP-3 has an estimate at completion of $21.8 million (up from $19.4 million during the previous update due to various unforeseen site conditions). These unforeseen site conditions included a new duct bank and conduit that was necessary to replace the old facilities that have deteriorated beyond re-use, as well as, settlement issues with various pipes and sanitary sewer manholes. The completion of IAP 3 is now estimated in July 2026, which is pushed back from the previously reported date of March 2026.
Estimated Cost to Complete the CWP Projects
Since the comprehensive EAC update brought forth to the Board of Directors on March 17, 2025, the WWTP Expansion Project and IAP-3 Project have taken longer to construct and encountered unexpected site conditions, extending the project completion date and increasing each projects’ respective EAC. As of the end of January 2025, the EAC of EMID’s portion of the CWP is approximately $681.7 million (EMID Share: $172.9 million).
Since March 17, 2025, the overall project changes include:
$1.8 million decrease for AMC projects (due to a favorable construction bid lower than the engineer’s estimate)
$3.9 million decrease for IAP-2 (due to contractor claims coming in lower than budgeted for)
$4.0 million increase for IAP-3 (due various unforeseen site conditions) $5.84 million increase for WWTP Expansion Project (time impact delays, increased soft costs, and additional consultant support to analyze time impact delay requests)
Overall, these project changes total approximately a $4.14 million increase to the EAC.
The EAC reflects the worst-case scenario, as it does not include any reductions that may result from negotiations or rejections of contractor requests. EMID’s share of the EAC increase is approximately $1 million.
QUARTERLY CONSTRUCTION REPORT
Attachment #1 consists of selected portions of the Quarterly Progress Report for October through December 2025 published by the City of San Mateo Program Management Team on February 3, 2026. This report summarizes the budget, schedule, and project activities that have occurred during the fourth quarter of 2025 and activities that are anticipated to occur in the first quarter of 2026 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 as well as real time video of the active construction, are available on the Clean Water Program Project site:
https://cleanwaterprogramsanmateo.org/wwtp/.
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.
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; and 2% FY24/25), 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.
Based on the project cash flow estimates, there is sufficient fund surplus to cover the net CWP $4.14 million budget increase (EMID share: approximately $1 million) without requiring additional rate increases beyond typical inflationary adjustments. The budget information in this update will be incorporated into EMID’s Fiscal Year 2026-2027 Capital Improvement Program Budget for approval later this fiscal year. With this increase, the estimated cost at completion of the CWP is $681.7 million (or approximately $172.9 million for EMID). The EAC reflects the worst-case scenario, as it does not include any reductions that may result from negotiations or rejections of contractor requests.
CITY COUNCIL VISION, MISSION, AND VALUE/PRIORITY AREA
Facilities and Infrastructure
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment 1 – Portions of Quarterly Progress Report – 4th Quarter Report, October 1, 2025 to December 31, 2025
Attachment 2 – Wastewater Treatment Plant Site Plan
Attachment 3 – Construction Photographs
Attachment 4 – Project Financing