City Council Agenda Report
April 16, 2024
TO: Honorable City Council
FROM: Jesus M. Gomez, City Manager
BY: Glen W.C. Kau, P.E., Director of Public Services/City Engineer Jacqueline Koontz, P.E., Senior Civil Engineer
SUBJECT: AWARD OF PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT - 2025 WATER
SYSTEM MASTER PLAN AND WATER RATES STUDY
Background:
Norwalk is about 9.8 square miles in area; is a balanced residential, commercial, and industrial City with approximately 110,000 residents. Incorporated in 1957, Norwalk, is located 17 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles, and is part of the Greater Los Angeles area.
The City of Norwalk (City) owns and operates the Norwalk Municipal Water System (NMWS).
The NMWS is the water enterprise owned and operated by the City which serves portions of the Cities of Norwalk and Artesia and a small unincorporated area of Los Angeles County located within the City of Cerritos. The NMWS system components consist approximately of 56 miles of various pipe diameters (4” to 16”); 1,000 system valves; 1,100 fire hydrants; and 3 groundwater wells in the Central Groundwater Basin.
The last Water Master Plan (WMP) and Water Rate Study (WRS) were completed and adopted by City Council in 2015 and 2016 respectively. WMPs are typically updated on a 5-7-10 year basis, dependent upon various economic and operational factors. WRS studies are reviewed on a similar time basis. It is time for an update to the WMP and a review of the WRS to be performed.
The selected engineering consulting firm will be selected through a qualifications-based selection (QBS), a procedure whereby a firm is retained based on qualifications and responses; price is not the primary factor but is considered into the agreement with negotiation as needed for a mutually agreeable contract.
Public Services Utilities staff sought after qualified and experienced engineering consulting firms to perform a water system master plan (WMP) for the City’s Norwalk Municipal Water System
City Council April 16, 2024
Award of Professional Services Agreement
2025 Water System Master Plan and Water Rates Study
Page No. 2
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9 (NMWS) along with completion of a comprehensive cost-of-service analysis. The WMP is intended to be used to form a recommendation for a new water rate schedule over the next several years, estimated to start in Spring 2025.
In October 2023, staff solicited a Request for Proposal (RFP) to acquire WMP study cost-of- services study. The work scope consisted of five phases at minimum:
Phase I WMP Research & Assessment
Phase II Hydraulic Analysis
Phase III Water System Improvement Program (WSIP) Phase IV Water Service Rate Study
Phase V Final 2025 Water System Master Plan and Rate Study Report These phases cause the data collection; review and analysis; planning and recommended/needed improvements for both design and service life; financial review to provide optimized costs for the water system and water rate payers. The Utility Section has already been in upgrade mode with the recently completed distribution water main and automated meter read (AMR) upgrade projects. We currently initialized design efforts (conceptual phase) for a treatment plant at Well 10. This filtration system will treat out both Benzene and PFAS/PFOS constituents and funded through a grant courtesy of the Water Replenishment District and is anticipated to complete by late 2025 to mid-2026.
No responses were received during initial solicitation. Staff contacted potential engineering consultants to extend personal invitations to propose. Again, this proved successful as two proposals were received from the second solicitation. The two proposals were reviewed and ranked with the following results:
Rank Company Name Complete Time Fee
1 Stetson Engineers, Inc. 12 months $389,400
2 Dudek <12 months $357,640
These two firms’ proposals had similar approaches. Stetsons’ proposal provided more detailed responses in their methodology and approach for data collection, water modeling, system operations; determining hydraulic capacity; using current and critical planning criteria to accommodate future, improvements and expansions; development of the system improvement plan; their experience in water rate studies and development.
Stetson previously provided the Replacement Costs New Less Depreciation (RCNLD) study services for the Artesia Service Area valuation.
City Council April 16, 2024
Award of Professional Services Agreement
2025 Water System Master Plan and Water Rates Study
Page No. 3
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9 Fiscal Impact:
Adequate funding ($125,000) is available in the approved FY2023-24 budget. Additional appropriations are already planned for the upcoming FY 2024/25 budget. Staff recommends that these services be funded over two fiscal years and if necessary, will budget the project appropriately.
Citizens Advised:
N/A
Strategic Plan 2023 Implementation:
The recommended action will further the City’s Strategic Plan Goal 2: Work in Partnership with Our Community to Achieve Safe and Livable Neighborhoods, Objective 1, Reinvest in existing and aging infrastructure.
Recommended Action:
Staff recommends City Council award a professional services agreement with Stetson Engineers, Inc., to provide professional engineering services for preparation of the City of Norwalk’s 2025 Water Master Plan and Water Rates Study Project, for a not-to-exceed-fee of $389,400; and authorize the City Manager to execute the agreement and any amendments, provided there is funding in the budget and it is within the City Manager’s signing authority, on behalf of the City, in a form approved by the City Attorney.
Attachments:
N/A