City Council Memorandum
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL DATE: NOVEMBER 18, 2025 FROM: PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT WARDS: ALL SUBJECT: AWARD BID NO. 8198 FOR THE RIVERSIDE REGIONAL WATER QUALITY CONTROL PLANT HEADWORKS BAR SCREENS REPLACEMENT TO GSE CONSTRUCTION COMPANY, INC., OF LIVERMORE, CALIFORNIA, IN THE AMOUNT OF $427,309 ISSUE:
Award Bid No. 8198 for the Riverside Regional Water Quality Control Plant Headworks Bar Screens Replacement to GSE Construction Company, Inc., of Livermore, California, in the amount of $427,309.00.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
That the City Council:
Award Bid No. 8198 for the Riverside Regional Water Quality Control Plant Headworks Bar Screens Replacement to GSE Construction Company, Inc., of Livermore, California, in the amount of $427,309; and Authorize the City Manager, or designee, to execute the construction contract with GSE Construction Company Inc., including making minor and non-substantive changes.
BACKGROUND:
The Riverside Water Quality Control Plant (RWQCP) treats wastewater generated within the City of Riverside and the communities of Edgemont, Highgrove, Jurupa, and Rubidoux. The RWQCP has a wastewater treatment capacity of approximately 52 million gallons per day (MGD).
The liquid handling facilities include preliminary, primary, secondary, and tertiary treatment processes. At the preliminary stage, sewer flow passes through headworks, which comprises of four bar screens and two vortex grit chambers. The purpose of the bar screens is to remove large objects such as diaper wipes, feminine products, rags, rocks, tree branches, and plastic bags from wastewater. The bar screens not only allow downstream processes to be more efficient but also protect and extend the service life of downstream equipment, which leads to significant cost savings for the City.
The current Headworks Facility at the RWQCP was constructed in 1999, which consists of four bar screens. However, two of them have reached the end of their useful life and need to be replaced. The lack of spare parts due to long lead times has caused the existing bar screens to be inoperable for extended time periods and impact the treatment capacity.
On July 16, 2024, the City Council approved Bid No. 8062 for the purchase of two (2) Duperon Flexrake Bar Screens Model FR-IQ with Control Panel from JBI Water and Wastewater Equipment of El Dorado Hills, California, in the amount of $995,785 to replace the dilapidated equipment. It is anticipated that the purchased equipment will be manufactured and delivered to the RWQCP by the end of this year.
DISCUSSION:
On August 6, 2025, the Purchasing Division posted Bid No. 8198 — Riverside Water Quality Control Plant Headworks Bar Screens Replacement on PlanetBids (the City’s formal bidding platform) to replace two (2) existing bar screens with the City’s pre-purchased equipment. The notification summary is provided in the following table:
Table 1 - Notification Summary (Bid No. 8198)
Action
Number of Vendors
City of Riverside Vendors Notified
479
Vendors Who Downloaded the Bid
36 Proposals Received
3 On August 20, 2025, a mandatory Pre-Bid Meeting was held at the RWQCP with eight (8) contractors in attendance. During the bidding process, three (3) questions were submitted from the prospective bidders, and no addendum was issued by the City for this advertisement.
On September 18, 2025, three (3) responsive bids were received in response to Bid 8198, and the results are summarized in the table below:
Table 2 - Bid Summary (Bid No. 8198)
Vendors
Location
Bid Amount
Rank
GSE Construction Company Inc.
Livermore, CA
$427,309.00
1 C.P. Construction Co., Inc.
Ontario, CA
$490,000.00
2 SCW Contracting Corp.
Fallbrook, CA
$543,607.00
3 Engineer’s Estimate: $150,000.00
The lowest responsive and responsible bid was received from GSE Construction Company, Inc., in the amount of $427,309, which is 69.39% over the Engineer’s Estimate. All bids are over the Engineer’s Estimate due to unanticipated electrical work required to remove and replace antiquated equipment, custom modifications necessary to fit the new equipment into the existing footprint, and logistical construction phasing to keep all the processes at headworks functioning as the installation and customization are taking place.
Purchasing Resolution 24101, Article Five, Section 508 states, “Contracts procured through Formal Procurement shall be awarded by the Awarding Entity to the Lowest Responsive and Responsible Bidder.” The Purchasing Manager concurs that the recommended actions comply with Purchasing Resolution 24101, Section 508.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The total fiscal impact of this action is $427,309. The estimated total project cost including construction, contingencies, and construction engineering and inspection is $512,769 and itemized in Table 3. Sufficient funds are budgeted and available in the Sewer Fund, WQCP Headworks Area Rehabilitation project account 9911723-440301.
Table 3 – Project Costs
Task
Amount
Construction Contract (GSE Construction Company, California) $427,309
Construction Contingencies (10%)
$42,730
Construction Engineering and Inspection (In House) (10%) $42,730
Total
$512,769
.
Prepared by: Usha Kademani, Associate Engineer
Approved by: Gilbert Hernandez, Public Works Director
Certified as to
availability of funds: Kristie Thomas, Finance Director/Assistant Chief Financial Officer Approved by: Kris Martinez, Assistant City Manager
Approved as to form: Rebecca McKee-Reimbold, Interim City Attorney Attachment: Bid Award Recommendation
Bid No. 8198 – Installation of two Bar Screens at the RWQCP ● Page 2