June 16, 2026
Public Works
DATE: June 16, 2026
TO: Mayor Martinez and Members of the City Council
FROM:
Daniel Chavarria, PE, Director of Public Works
Subject:
Task Authorization to Veolia for Fiscal Year 2025-26
Grade 5 Risk Assessment Analysis Sewer Rehabilitation
Work
FINANCIAL IMPACT: The proposed $5,441,812 expenditure is included within the approved Fiscal Year 2025–2026 Wastewater
Enterprise Fund budget (Account String:
40322931-400708-22230). There is no impact on the
General Fund.
PREVIOUS COUNCIL
ACTION:
None.
STATEMENT OF THE
ISSUE:
City staff is recommending City Council approval of a
resolution for Veolia to issue subcontracts to Glosage
Engineering, Inc., V.W. Housen & Associates, Questa
Engineering and J Majors & Associates for the work
associated with the Fiscal Year 2025-26 Grade 5 Risk
Assessment Analysis (RAA) project.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
ADOPT a resolution to AUTHORIZE the issuance of a
Task Authorization to Veolia Water West Operating
Services, Inc. for the Fiscal Year 2025-26 Grade 5 Risk Assessment Analysis Project to repair and/or rehabilitate two miles of sanitary sewer pipes, in an amount not to
exceed $5,441,812, including a base amount of
$4,534,843 and a 20 percent contingency - Public Works
Department (Tawfic Halaby/ 510-620-5482).
DISCUSSION:
AGENDA
REPORT
June 16, 2026
The 2018 Settlement Agreement with San Francisco Baykeeper requires the City of Richmond to repair or replace at least two miles of Grade 5 gravity sewer per year, based on a five-year rolling average, pursuant to Paragraph 31.c (Attachment 1). To achieve this goal, the City must allocate annual capital funding to cover the cost of these mandated repairs.
Veolia identified 10,560 lineal feet of sanitary sewer pipeline meeting the Settlement Agreement criteria, that are proposed to be replaced or rehabilitated on this project. On March 2, 2026, a request for bids was posted to BidsOnline, and 29 prospective bidders downloaded the bid information (Attachment 2). On April 13, 2026, five bids were received from (in alphabetical order): APB General Engineering, Cratus Inc, Glosage Engineering Inc, JDB & Sons Construction, Inc. and W.R. Forde Associates, Inc (Attachment 3).
The bids received were as follows, in increasing bid amount:
Glosage Engineering Inc $3,653,769.00
Cratus Inc $4,064,000.00
APB General Engineering $4,650,000.00
W.R. Forde Associates, Inc $4,858,337.00
JDB & Sons Construction, Inc $6,994,250.00
City and Veolia staff have reviewed the bids and have determined that Glosage Engineering Inc is the lowest responsive bid and is responsible.
Two technical firms (V.W. Housen & Associates and Questa Engineering) also submitted proposals to Veolia to provide engineering services and compaction testing, respectively, during the construction. Additionally, J Majors & Associates, was selected to provide community outreach support throughout the duration of the project.
While staff typically recommends a 10 to15 percent contingency for capital projects, the contingency for the Grade 5 Sewer Replacement projects is historically higher, thus a 20 percent contingency is proposed for this project. This is due to the nature of older pipelines, which often present unforeseen challenges once they are uncovered. The additional contingency will provide a buffer to address potential issues and/or unforeseen conditions such as unexpected deterioration, uncharted underground utilities, and necessary modifications to ensure compliance with current standards. This approach aims to mitigate risks and ensure the project can be completed without significant delays or additional funding requests.
In accordance to the City’s contract with Veolia, Veolia is responsible for the construction management of City Water Resource projects at a charge of 16.5 percent of the construction cost and 9 percent of any contingencies.
For this project, in addition to the fee for Glosage Engineering Inc, Veolia’s 16.5 percent charge will also apply to the fees for V.W. Housen ($90,300), Questa ($88,500) and J Majors & Associates ($60,000). The markup will be applied to any contingency work
June 16, 2026
that the City directs Glosage Engineering Inc, V.W. Housen & Associates, Questa Engineering and J Majors & Associates to perform. These combined costs are reflected in the table below as the total project cost (Attachment 4).
The total estimated cost of this project, if awarded to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder, is as follows:
Glosage Engineering, Inc. $3,653,769
V.W. Housen & Associates $90,300
Questa Engineering $88,500
J Majors & Associates $60,000
Subtotal $3,892,569
Veolia Markup (16.5%) $642,274
Total Construction Cost $4,534,843
Contingency (with Veolia Markup) $906,969
Total Project Cost $5,441,812
City staff is requesting City Council adopt the resolution to authorize issuing the Task Authorization to Veolia for the 2025-26 Grade 5 Risk Assessment Analysis (RAA) project with a total project cost not-to-exceed $5,441,812 without prior City Council approval (Attachment 5).
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
Attachment 1 – Baykeeper Settlement Agreement
Attachment 2 – RFP
Attachment 3 – BidSummary Report
Attachment 4 – Task Authorization
Attachment 5 – Resolution