August 19, 2025
Public Works
DATE: August 19, 2025
TO: Mayor Martinez and Members of the City Council
FROM:
Daniel Chavarria, PE, Director of Public Works
Robert Armijo, PE, Deputy Director of Public Works / City Engineer
Hillal Hamdan, PE, Senior Civil Engineer
Subject:
Contract with BKF Engineers for Engineering Services to Support the Feasibility Study of the Keller Beach Sanitary Sewer Main
FINANCIAL IMPACT: The proposed fiscal impact is $650,000 for a total not to exceed amount, including contingency, of $780,000.
Funding will come from the Wastewater Fund (Account
String: 40322931-400708-01C10).
PREVIOUS COUNCIL
ACTION:
January 18, 2025
STATEMENT OF THE
ISSUE:
City staff seeks City Council approval to amend the
Fiscal Year 2025–26 budget, appropriate funds from the
Wastewater Fund, and award a contract to BKF
Engineers to perform engineering services in support of a Feasibility Study for the Keller Beach Sanitary Sewer
Main, in an amount not to exceed $780,000. This
includes a base contract of $650,000 and a contingency
of $130,000 for potential amendments. The contract
would be executed by the City Manager, or their
designee, and any change orders or amendments within
the contingency would be approved by the Director of
Public Works, or their designee.
AGENDA
REPORT
August 19, 2025
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
ADOPT a resolution to amend the Fiscal Year 2025–26
budget, APPROPRIATE $650,000 from the Wastewater
Fund, and APPROVE a contract with BKF Engineers for
engineering services to support the Feasibility Study of the Keller Beach Sanitary Sewer Main, in an amount not
to exceed $650,000; AUTHORIZE the city manager, or
their designee, to execute the contract; and AUTHORIZE
the director of Public Works, or their designee, to
approve any change orders or amendments, if
necessary, in an amount not to exceed $130,000, for a
total feasibility phase amount not to exceed $780,000,
with a term beginning July 1, 2025, through December
31, 2027 – Public Works Department (Robert Armijo
510-620-5477/Hillal Hamdan 510-621-1612).
DISCUSSION
The City of Richmond entered into a second settlement agreement with San Francisco Baykeeper (Baykeeper) in 2018 to address recurring sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) in the City’s wastewater collection system. As part of that agreement, the City committed to performing a condition assessment of its entire sanitary sewer collection system. This assessment was conducted using closed-circuit television (CCTV) inspections in accordance with the National Association of Sewer Service Companies (NASSCO) Pipeline Assessment and Certification Program (PACP). The PACP system provides an industry-standard, objective rating scale from zero (0) to five (5), where a rating of zero indicates a pipe in excellent condition with no observable defects, and a rating of five indicates structural failure or imminent failure requiring immediate repair or replacement.
Although most sewer lines in the system were assessed by the City’s contractor, Veolia, the Keller Beach Sanitary Sewer (KBSS) line had not been evaluated at the time. This omission was identified in the City’s Annual Risk Assessment Report and subsequently raised by Baykeeper. To address this gap, the City retained Coastland Engineers to perform a condition assessment of the KBSS line. The resulting report was adopted by City Council via Resolution 8-22 on January 3, 2022, and submitted to Baykeeper in March 2022.
In July 2022, the City awarded a sole-source contract to Coastland Engineers via Resolution 111-22 to complete a Feasibility Study that would evaluate potential solutions for the deteriorating KBSS line. However, in March 2023, Coastland withdrew from the project for reasons beyond the City’s control, leaving the study incomplete and the City without a consultant to move the project forward. This disruption led to a loss of project momentum and caused significant delays.
August 19, 2025
During this period of inactivity, public confusion and frustration grew regarding the status of the KBSS project, especially among residents and developers affected by the capacity constraints of the sewer system. To rebuild public trust and improve transparency, the City retained Kearns and West—a public engagement firm—on a short-term basis to support community outreach and reframe the discussion surrounding next steps.
Despite these challenges, the City remained obligated to complete the feasibility study under the terms of the Baykeeper settlement. Recognizing the need to preserve system capacity and regulatory compliance while long-term solutions are developed, the City Council adopted Urgency Ordinance 06-25 N.S. on April 1, 2025, enacting a moratorium on new connections to the KBSS line. The moratorium will remain in place until early 2027 and builds upon prior actions taken under Ordinances 05-22 and 06-22.
To restart the project, City staff issued a formal Request for Proposals (RFP) for engineering design services on March 5, 2025. A total of 53 prospective bidders downloaded the documents, and three (3) proposals were received by the April 18, 2025, deadline. A panel of Public Works staff evaluated the proposals based on demonstrated experience, understanding of the scope, project approach, ability to meet the schedule, and cost effectiveness.
The evaluation results are summarized below:
Consulting
Firms
Rater
1 Rater
2 Rater
3 Average
1. BKF 97 97 91 95
2. CSW | ST2 91 96 93 93
3. WATEARTH 79 70 52 67
To fund the proposed contract, staff recommends amending the Fiscal Year 2025–26 budget and appropriating $650,000 from the Wastewater Fund (40322931-400708- 01C10). This amount represents the base contract value. The additional $130,000 contingency will be subject to contract amendment, if needed, but is included within the total not-to-exceed authority of $780,000. This project was not previously budgeted and will require mid-year appropriation.
City staff recommends that the City Council adopt a resolution which awards a contract to BKF Engineers in the amount of $650,000, with an additional contingency of $130,000 to cover any necessary amendments. The contract will be executed by the City Manager, or their designee, and the Director of Public Works, or their designee, will be authorized to approve change orders or amendments within the authorized contingency, for a total feasibility phase amount not to exceed $780,000.
SYNERGISTIC POLICIES:
August 19, 2025
Strategic Goal 3.2e – Create new infrastructure: Implement existing Capital Improvement Project List (Keller Beach Sanitary Sewer Line).
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
Attachment 1 – Resolution – BKF Contract
Attachment 2 – Canvass of Bidders
Attachment 3 – Proposed Contract (BKF Engineers)
Attachment 4 – Baykeeper 2018 Settlement Agreement
Attachment 5 – Resolution 8-22 Keller Beach Sewer Report Attachment 6 – Coastland Feasibility Study
Attachment 7 – Resolution 111-22 Keller Beach Feasibility Study Attachment 8 – Ordinance 06-25 Keller Beach 45-day Moratorium Attachment 9 – Ordinance 10-25 Keller Beach Moratorium Extension