CITY COUNCIL STAFF REPORT
Meeting Date: September 8, 2025
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCILMEMBERS
TITLE: ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. -25 ACCEPTING THE 2024 STORM DRAIN MAINTENANCE PROJECT NO. 04-24 AS COMPLETE AND
AUTHORIZING THE PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR TO ISSUE AND
RECORD A NOTICE OF COMPLETION
SYNOPSIS
The 2024 Storm Drain Maintenance, Project No. 04-24 (Project) provided storm drain maintenance repairs at select locations within the City. The contractor, FJ&I Engineering, has completed all work to the City’s satisfaction. The purpose of this item is to consider the acceptance of the Project as complete and to authorize the issuance of a Notice of Completion.
DISCUSSION
Background
The 2024 Storm Drain Maintenance Program, approved in the 2024-2029 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), funds the maintenance and repair of existing facilities, such as metal storm drain facilities, storm drain pipes, valley gutters, and roadside drainage ditches. The 2024 Storm Drain Maintenance Project focused on needed repairs at two separate, existing storm drain systems located on Boyd Road and Masefield Drive.
Masefield Drive
During a December 2005 storm event, the City experienced significant “bubble-up” flooding in the streets adjacent to Murderer’s Creek and the East Fork of Grayson Creek within the Poet’s Corner neighborhood. The existing drainage system in this neighborhood consists primarily of private storm drain systems that run from a drainage inlet in the street, through private drainage reserves, to an outfall in the creek. “Bubble-up” flooding occurs when the drainage pipe outfall is lower than the top of the creek waters, forcing water to back up the pipe into the street. In 2006, a City hired hydraulic consultant completed a Flap Gate Analysis survey to determine if the installation of a flap gate at the outfall would help prevent this “bubble-up” flooding in the street.
The study concluded that two locations would benefit from the installation of a flap gate: the outfall of the 36” storm drain pipe located at 507 Masefield Drive, and the outfall of the 24” pipe on Hawthorne Drive, underneath the bridge deck. Over the last several years, Poet’s Corner has begun to experience “bubble-up” flooding again during specific storm events. These nearly 20-year-old flap gates were installed in 2006, and a recent inspection of the flap gates at these two locations confirmed that the flap gates have reached the end of their useful life and need to be replaced to continue to function as designed.
Boyd Road
In 2023, staff was notified of a sink hole in the asphalt pavement on Boyd Road, between Pleasant Hill Road and the canal trail. An inspection revealed a break in the existing 18” reinforced concrete pipe located beneath the sinkhole, causing the roadway to deteriorate in the area around the broken pipe. Staff placed a steel plate over the sinkhole to stabilize the road as a short-term solution until the pipe could be repaired and the roadway re-established.
Project highlights included:
Removal and replacement of 15 feet of 18” reinforced concrete pipe on Boyd Road, between the canal trail and Pleasant Hill Road
Removal of the 36” flap gate at the pipe outfall at 507 Masefield Drive and installation of a new valve gate in the City right-of-way
Installation of a 45-degree concrete collar at the pipe outfall at 507 Masefield Drive, to prevent impact force, and increase drainage flow
Removal of the 18” flap gate at the pipe outfall on Hawthorne Drive and installation of a new valve gate in the City right-of-way
Bidding Process
The project was informally bid, as it was both a budgeted CIP project and estimated to be under $200,000. The Notice Inviting Bids was sent to the contractor exchanges on January 31, 2025, and four bids were received at the bid opening on February 19, 2025. The following table summarizes the bid results. Per the bid documents, the City based the project award on the lowest responsive, responsible total base bid. The apparent, responsive, responsible low bidder is highlighted in bold.
CONTRACTOR BID PRICE
1 FJ&I Engineering, Inc. $83,750.00
2 Golden Bay Construction, Inc. $90,336.00
3 Kerex Engineering, Inc. $116,200.00
4 Norgo Engineering, Inc. $144,400.00
Bidding rules require that the City Council award the construction contract to the lowest responsive, responsible bidder. FJ&I Engineering, Inc.’s bid of $83,750.00 was $51,250 (38%) below the Engineer’s Estimate of $135,000. Bid Item prices for the bid items were lower than the original Engineers’ Estimate. These lower Bid Item prices are justifiable, due to the scope of the project, and availability of contractors. Overall, the bid prices are reasonable and acceptable.
Due to the favorable bid prices, the City increased the project scope of work to include the removal and replacement of the second 24” flap gate at the pipe outfall on Hawthorne Drive, increasing the project budget from $83,750 to $119,000. To facilitate future maintenance, the flap gate was relocated from the end of the outfall pipe to a manhole along the right-of-way on Hawthorne Drive.
Staff confirmed with the City Attorney’s office that this increase in scope was acceptable, as it was the same scope of work and within the approved budgeted amount in the FY24/25 CIP.
Additionally, the total construction cost was still within the required dollar amount for an informal bid.
FJ&I Engineering, Inc. is a reputable contractor based in San Pablo, California, and has completed similar previous storm drain projects. Staff has contacted various project references listed by the contractor and these references indicated that FJ&I Engineering, Inc. has satisfactorily completed their contracts of similar size and scope, therefore their bid was acceptable.
On March 20, 2025, the City Manager, under the powers authorized by the City Council in Ordinance No. 770 Bidding on Public Projects, executed a construction contract with FJ&I Engineering, Inc. with a total project budget of $119,000 (including contingency).
The Zoning Administrator determined that the 2024 Storm Drain Maintenance Project was categorically exempt from environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act pursuant to California Code of Regulations Title 14, Chapter 3, Section 15301 - Class 1 and Section 15302 - Class 2 categorical exemptions prior to award.
Analysis
The Project is now complete, and the work conforms to the construction plans and specifications.
Construction began on March 31, 2025. The Contractor substantially completed the project on June 25, 2025, which was within the allotted contract time.
The total cost of construction, including change order work, is $118,985.12, which is within the approved contract amount of $119,000. Change order work totaled $5,735.12 and included flushing and cleaning the storm drain pipes and the installation of a new manhole cover at 507 Masefield Drive. These repairs were necessary to ensure the functionality of the overall storm drain system.
The City is retaining up to five percent of the total construction cost ($5,949.26) from FJ&I Engineering to ensure that the Contractor pays all of its vendors and suppliers. The procedure for releasing the retention is the City Council’s formal acceptance of the work with authorization to issue and record a Notice of Completion. If there are no claims filed within 35 days of recording the notice, the City may release final payment of the retained amount to the contractor. The completed work is subject to a one-year maintenance period to address any problems that occur within that time.
FISCAL IMPACT
The total Project cost of $118,985.12 is funded by the FY24/25 Storm Drain Maintenance Program funds.
PUBLIC CONTACT
Public Contact was made through posting of the City Council agenda on the City’s official notice bulletin board, at the Pleasant Hill Senior Center, and at the Pleasant Hill Police Department. The agenda and staff report are posted on the City’s web page.
RECOMMENDED CITY COUNCIL ACTION
Adopt a resolution accepting the 2024 Storm Drain Maintenance, Project No. 04-24, as complete and authorizing the Public Works Director to issue and record a notice of completion.
ALTERNATIVES TO RECOMMENDED ACTION
None recommended
ATTACHMENT(S)
Proposed Resolution
Prepared by: Danny Urrutia, Assistant Engineer
Reviewed by: Ann James, Public Works Director
Approved by: Ethan Bindernagel, City Manager