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2nd Floor
San Clemente, California
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AGENDA REPORT
CITY OF SAN CLEMENTE
CITY COUNCIL MEETING
CITY OF SAN CLEMENTE
Meeting Date: October 17, 2023 Agenda Item: 7H
Department: Public Works/Utilities
Prepared By Dustin Burnside, Utilities Manager
Subject: le
CONSIDERATION OF A RESOLUTION RATIFYING AN EMERGENCY CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT WITH O’CONNELL ENGINEERING & CONSTRUCTION, INC. FOR THE RESERVOIR 13 ISOLATION VALVE REPLACEMENT, PROJECT NO. 24405 AND
AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE THE CONTRACT IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $96,800
Fiscal Impact:
Funding for this repair, in the amount of $96,800, will be provided from the Water Depreciation Reserve Fund, Valve Replacement Program, Account No. 052-466-43420-000-24405 which has a balance of $200,000 for Fiscal Year 2023-24.
Summary:
While isolating Reservoir 13 (a one million gallon partially buried reservoir) to practice the shutdown for another scheduled water main repair, staff closed the isolation valves and verified the shutdown was successful. When staff returned to open the valves and restore the reservoir to full functionality, two critical valves broke and remained in the off position. This rendered the reservoir non-operational and necessitated an emergency repair, which began on October 3, 2023 to replace the isolation valves.
Background:
The City of San Clemente has a complex water system due to its topography. Several facilities are required to operate in unison in order to store and pressurize a reliable amount of water to provide for customer demands and meet fire flow requirements. When one of the water facilities is inoperable, it becomes urgent to make repairs to restore full system redundancy.
At Reservoir 13, the depth of the isolation valves is approximately 15 feet, which results in a more complex construction that takes more time than a normal repair, due to shoring requirements.
Because of this complexity, City staff recommended utilizing a contractor to make the emergency repair. In order to complete the repairs related to Reservoir 13, Utilities staff contacted three contractors that have performed similar projects for the City to request quotes, including one local contractor under the Ordinance 1750, Local Vendor Preference. O’Connell Engineering & Construction, Inc., Ferreira Coastal Construction Co., and GCI Construction, Inc. (one of the local contractors) were contacted. Of the three, O’Connell Engineering & Construction was the low bidder. The bids amounts are shown in the table below. The City Manager has the authority to approve emergency contracts and purchases when there is a need to protect public health and safety per Section 3.40.070 of the City of San Clemente Municipal Code, and an emergency 1 Attachment 4
Meeting Date: October 17, 2023 Agenda Item: 7H
CITY OF SAN CLEMENTE
construction contract with O’Connell Engineering and Construction, Inc. for an amount not to exceed $96,800 was prepared and work commenced.
BIDDER AMOUNT
1 O’Connell Engineering & Construction $96,800.00
2 Ferreira DBA Ferreira Coastal Construction Co.. $96,956.80 3 GCI Construction, INC. $121,500.00
Council Options:
Adopt Resolution No. 23-118, which would ratify the emergency construction contract for the Reservoir 13 Isolation Valve Replacement, Project No. 24405 with O’Connell Engineering & Construction, Inc., in an amount not to exceed $96,800, and approving a 15% project contingency of $14,520.
Modify and adopt Resolution No. 23-118.
Continue the item and direct staff to provide additional information.
Environmental Review/Analysis:
Before entering into the emergency contract, staff determine that this project was categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) as it pertains to repair of already existing water facilities under Class 1 of the state CEQA Guidelines, Section 15301 – Existing Facilities. A notice of exemption was filed with the County of Orange Recorder’s Office for this project. (See Attachment 7.)
Recommended Actions:
Staff Recommendation
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt Resolution No. 23-118, which will:
1. Make a finding that an emergency existed to protect public health and safety due to the loss of redundancy in the water distribution system which required immediate action to replace isolation valves and restore normal operation of the Reservoir 13 water storage reservoir to maintain system integrity and an abundant supply of readily available potable water and to prevent or mitigate impairment to property and public services that might otherwise occur if the City were required to incur delays attributed to the competitive bidding process; and
2. Declare that the public interest and necessity demanded the immediate expenditure of public funds to safeguard public health; and
3. Ratify and authorize the City Manager’s execution of the Construction Contract (Attachment 5) with O’Connell Engineering & Construction, Inc. for the needed emergency repairs for the Reservoir 13 Isolation Valve Replacement, Project No. 24405 that have already been commenced for an amount not to exceed $96,800.
4. Approve a 15% project contingency of $14,520.
..end
2 Meeting Date: October 17, 2023 Agenda Item: 7H
CITY OF SAN CLEMENTE
Attachments:
1. Resolution No. 23-118
2. Quote from O’Connell Engineering & Construction to replace Reservoir 13 isolation valves
3. Local Vendor Quote from GCI Construction
4. Quote from Ferreira Coastal Construction Co.
5. Construction Contract with O’Connell Engineering & Construction, Inc.
6. Location Map
7. CEQA Notice of Exemption Form
Notification:
None.
3