CITY OF SAN MATEO
CITY OF SAN MATEO
Agenda Report
City Hall
330 W. 20th Avenue
San Mateo CA 94403
www.cityofsanmateo.org
Agenda Number: 20 Section Name: {{section.name}} Account Number: 72-4671 File ID: {{item.tracking_number}} TO: City Council
FROM: Alex Khojikian, City Manager
PREPARED BY: Public Works Department
MEETING DATE: June 02, 2025
SUBJECT:
Wastewater Treatment Plant, Digester 2 Coating Project — Agreement RECOMMENDATION:
Adopt a Resolution to approve an alternative purchasing procedure and approve an Agreement with Brand Energy Services of California, Inc. to conduct Wastewater Treatment Plant Digester 2 Coatings in an amount not to exceed $406,881.35; approve a contingency of $82,000.00; and authorize the Public Works Director to execute the agreement in substantially the form presented and approve any necessary change orders within the approved contingency amount.
BACKGROUND:
This item was presented to the City Council and approved as a consent item on May 19, 2025. Unfortunately, the name of the company on the agreement and in the agenda report (Brand Safway) was not the correct legal name of the company (Brand Energy Services of California, Inc.). City Council’s approval of the attached proposed agreement will correct this error.
The Clean Water Program (CWP) Annual Major Components (AMC) Projects includes several capital improvement projects that are currently under development or under construction and are intended to upgrade or rehabilitate aging infrastructure in the City’s sewer collection system and Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). The AMC includes the WWTP Biogas and Biosolids Evaluation project which is being conducted by Brown and Caldwell (B&C). The scope includes the condition assessment and inspection of both digesters. An initial condition assessment of Digester 2 was recently completed and revealed that the coatings of the draft tube and interior of Digester 2 need repair. This will help prevent wear and tear related issues caused by the composition of digester sludge and gas.
Digester 2 is currently offline due to the mixer failure in 2022, which has been repaired off site and is ready to be reinstalled. The WWTP is currently operating with only Digester 1, which is the older of the two Digesters, and there is concern about its current condition. It is in the City’s best interest to bring Digester 2 online as soon as possible. Operating the plant with only Digester 1 causes an increase in the liquid content in the off-haul material. This has increased the operational cost of hauling the material by $26,000 per month.
With Digester 2 offline, the City performed a cleaning and condition assessment of Digester 2 in the second week of March. To perform the condition assessment, an internal temporary scaffold was installed. Because the digester is egg shaped, the scaffold is complex and is costly to install. After the inspection and preliminary evaluation was performed, it was recommended to re-coat the digester and draft tube because the existing coating has worn off. Without the coating, the interior of the digester would be subject to corrosion which can cause issues with Digester 2 condition and performance. Given the results of this evaluation, the City deems it is most cost effective to re-coat the interior of the digester and draft tube while Digester 2 is currently offline, and the scaffolding is in place. This avoids the costs of dismantling and installing the scaffolding and recleaning the digester if the recoating is not performed while the digester is
CITY OF SAN MATEO
currently offline. In addition, taking a digester offline is not a simple process as it involves ensuring the gases are purged, which takes significant effort from the WWTP operations and maintenance staff.
San Mateo Municipal Code Section 3.60.070(h)(3) provides that the City may use any purchasing procedures approved by the City Council if the City Council makes a finding concurrent with the award of the contract that the procedures are in the best interest of the City. As mentioned above, the Wastewater Treatment plant is currently operating with only Digester 1, which causes an increase in the cost of off haul per month by $26,000. In addition, specialized scaffolding is currently installed in Digester 2 for the condition assessment of the Digester. The scaffolding is needed to remain in place to coat the digester. The cost to rent the scaffolding is $15,000 per month. The mixer for Digester 2 has been repaired and is ready to be reinstalled. It is cost effective to coat the interior of the digester prior to reinstalling the mixer. To minimize the additional costs of the off-hauling material, and the rental of the scaffolding, as well as to bring Digester 2 back into operations as quickly as possible; it is in the best interest of the City to obtain quotes rather than a sealed bid procedure that may delay this process by several weeks. Obtaining three quotes, avoids costs and time normally associated with the development of highly technical bid specifications, while assuring that competitive prices were received.
In April 2025, the City obtained three proposals from three local coating vendors – JeffCo, Brand Energy Services of California (which owns National Coatings), and Redwood. City staff evaluated the proposals and determined Brand Energy Services of California as the lowest bidder to perform the work. They also demonstrated experience with this scope. The base amount for this project is $406,881.35, which includes labor, material, coating per manufacturer specifications, decontamination, dehumidification, and onsite power. In addition, staff recommend that $82,000 be authorized as a contingency amount for any potential changes that may arise due to the nature of this work. The approximate duration of this work is 27 working days.
Based on the above, staff recommends for Council to adopt a resolution approving an alternative purchasing procedure to award an agreement to Brand Energy Services of California, Inc. to conduct Wastewater Treatment Plant Digester 2 coatings in an amount not to exceed $406,881.35 with a contingency reserve in the amount of $82,000.00.
BUDGET IMPACT:
There are sufficient funds available in the CWP WWTP Annual Major Components Project (46T090) to fund this agreement and the proposed contingency reserve.
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION:
This project is categorically exempt from CEQA as an “existing facility,” because it consists of the operation, repair, maintenance, permitting, leasing, licensing, or minor alteration of existing public or private structures, facilities, mechanical equipment, or topographical features, involving negligible or no expansion of existing or former use. (CEQA Guidelines Section 15301.)
NOTICE PROVIDED
All meeting noticing requirements were met.
ATTACHMENTS
Att. 1 – Proposed Resolution
Att. 2 – Agreement
STAFF CONTACT
Thomas Ruark, Senior Project Manager
[email protected]
650-522-7280
Deryk Daquigan, Deputy Director of Public Works
[email protected]
CITY OF SAN MATEO
(650)522-7287
Matthew Fabry, Director of Public Works
[email protected]
(650)522-7303