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City Council
Staff Report
From: City Manager
Report Type: CONSENT CALENDAR
Lead Department: Public Works
Meeting Date: August 10, 2026
Report #:2606-6505
TITLE
Approval of Amendment No. 1 to Contract No. C24189086 with Carollo Engineers, Inc., to Increase the Contract Amount by $551,755 for a Revised Total Not-to-Exceed Amount of $3,294,529, and to Extend the Contract Term by Six Months through December 2027, for the Long Range Facilities Plan Update for the Regional Water Quality Control Plant (WQ-19002); CEQA Status – Not a Project
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council approve and authorize the City Manager or their designee to execute Amendment No. 1 to Contract No. C24189086 with Carollo Engineers, Inc. to increase the contract amount by $551,755 for the Long Range Facilities Plan Update supported by the Plant Repair, Retrofit, and Equipment Replacement project (WQ-19002), and to extend the term through December 2027. The revised total contract amount is not-to-exceed $3,294,529, including $2,995,026 for Basic Services and $299,503 for Additional Services.
BACKGROUND
The City owns and operates the Regional Water Quality Control Plant (RWQCP), which provides wastewater treatment and disposal services to Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, the East Palo Alto Sanitary District, and Stanford University. The RWQCP is currently implementing major capital projects recommended in the 2012 Long Range Facility Plan (LRFP)1 following Council’s acceptance of the LRFP on July 2, 2012.2 These capital projects are in various stages of design and construction.
On June 10, 2024, the City Council approved a $2,742,774 contract (No. C24189086) with Carollo Engineers, Inc., to prepare an LRFP Update (LRFP-U) to guide RWQCP infrastructure 1 Long Range Facilities Plan for the Regional Water Quality Control Plant, 2012; https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/v/1/public-works/water-quality-control-plant/lrfp-final-report- 08-2012.pdf
2 City Council, July 2, 2012; Agenda Item #7; SR# 2914, https://recordsportal.paloalto.gov/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=78611&dbid=0&repo=PaloAlto&searchid=9717d13 1-34d2-449b-9e0b-e67d3603d932&cr=1914
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investments and process improvements over the next 50 years.5 The LRFP-U also evaluates potential use of a portion of the adjacent Measure E site for future biosolids facilities, as directed by City Council on April 3, 2023.6
The existing contract term runs through June 30, 2027, and the original contract includes $2,493,431 for Basic Services and $249,343 for Additional Services. Key tasks include: 50-year treatment capacity evaluation and process modeling; update to the Biosolids Facilities Plan, including Measure E site analysis; RWQCP workspace planning; facility condition assessments; development of a 50-year capital improvement program; cost-of-service analysis; and a final LRFP-U report.
ANALYSIS
Since the City Council approved the original contract in June 2024, the scope of work for LRFP-U has expanded beyond what was anticipated. The RWQCP is concurrently undergoing or planning several major capital projects, including the Secondary Treatment Upgrades, the Advanced Water Purification System, the Headworks Replacement, and the Gravity Thickener Improvements. Coordinating the LRFP-U with these ongoing projects required substantially more review of project documentation, as well as supplementary biological process modeling to forecast how the future upgrade of the secondary treatment process would affect the resulting solids projections and process capacity evaluations for the 50-year planning horizon.
Staff recommends that City Council approve Amendment No. 1 (Attachment A) to add funds to the contract to address the following additional efforts:
Expanded facility condition assessments covering several additional onsite and offsite facilities not included in the original scope.
Additional effort to compile and verify equipment and piping information to support the facility condition assessment, including extensive review of historical design documents, O&M manuals, facility plans, and as-built records to confirm equipment capacities. Additional feasibility analysis for biosolids management alternatives at the RWQCP or the Byxbee Park site, including site layouts, life-cycle costs, evaluation criteria scores, and sensitivity analysis to test the robustness of the results. Additional alternatives analysis, prioritization, and documentation associated with a substantially greater volume of recommended capital improvement projects across the 50-year planning horizon than originally anticipated.
5 City Council, June 10, 2024; Agenda Item #6, SR#2405-2993, https://recordsportal.paloalto.gov/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=82887&dbid=0&repo=PaloAlto 6 City Council, April 3, 2023; Agenda Item #12; SR #2302-0942, https://recordsportal.paloalto.gov/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=82279&dbid=0&repo=PaloAlto&searchid=ead8a87e 302-0942
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Expanded public and partner agency engagement, including consultant support for biosolids public meetings held in May 2025, July 2025, and February 2026. This level of presentation support was not anticipated in the original scope and requires additional consultant services reflected in the amendment.
The amendment would increase the Basic Services budget by $501,595, from $2,493,431 to $2,995,026, and the Additional Services budget by $50,160 (10% contingency), from $249,343 to $299,503. The revised total contract amount is not to exceed $3,294,529.
FISCAL/RESOURCE IMPACT
This project is funded through the RWQCP partner-funded structure, with costs shared by the City and its regional partners consistent with established partner agreements and related amendments. Palo Alto’s share of this project is approximately 38%, with the remaining 62% funded by the partners based on wastewater flows and strength contributions.
Funding for this contract is included in the Fiscal Year 2027 Adopted Capital Budget for the Wastewater Treatment Fund Plant Repair, Retrofit, and Equipment Replacement Project (WQ- 19002). No additional budget appropriation is required at this time. Use of this professional services contract is more efficient than performing the work with City staff because the work requires specialized expertise in wastewater treatment and biosolids technologies, and advanced biological process modeling that is not available within existing staff capacity.
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
City management has been kept informed through the RWQCP Monthly Strategies and Challenges Meetings, and partner agencies receive updates through quarterly meetings. Public and partner-agency engagement for the LRFP-U includes public workshops/meetings, Finance Committee meetings,9 City Council meetings, and partner-agency presentations. Project updates and public involvement opportunities are also shared through the RWQCP Capital Improvement Program website, Uplift Local, and the Sustainability e-Newsletter.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Council action on this item is not a project as defined by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because the LRFP-U is an administrative planning activity that will not result in direct or indirect physical changes to the environment (CEQA Guidelines section 15378(b)(4)).
The LRFP-U will inform planning for future facilities at the RWQCP, and environmental review will be performed during the development of resulting projects, as necessary.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A: Amendment No. 1 to Contract C24189086 with Carollo Engineers, Inc.
APPROVED BY:
Brad Eggleston, Director Public Works/City Engineer
9 Finance Committee, Nov 4, 2025; Agenda Item #1, SR#2508-5132, https://recordsportal.paloalto.gov/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=83790&dbid=0&repo=PaloAltoff Report 2508-5132