CITY OF SAN MATEO
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CITY OF SAN MATEO
Agenda Report
City Hall
330 W. 20th Avenue
San Mateo CA 94403
www.cityofsanmateo.org
Agenda Number: 9 Section Name: CONSENT CALENDAR Account Number: 72-4671 File ID: 25-10371 TO: City Council
FROM: Alex Khojikian, City Manager
PREPARED BY: Public Works Department
MEETING DATE: October 06, 2025
SUBJECT:
Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrade and Expansion Project – Contingency Reserve Increase RECOMMENDATION:
Approve an increase to the contingency reserve to the construction agreement with Sundt Construction, Inc. for the Wastewater Treatment Plant Nutrient Removal and Wet Weather Flow Management Upgrade and Expansion Project in the amount of $773,702, for a total contingency amount of $61,193,702; and authorize the Public Works Director to issue change orders within the contingency amount.
BACKGROUND:
The City is currently under a Regional Water Quality Control Board Cease and Desist Order requiring improvements to its sewer collection system and Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) to eliminate sanitary sewer overflows and unauthorized discharges of untreated or partially treated wastewater to San Francisco Bay. The Clean Water Program (CWP) includes several capital improvement projects that are currently under construction and intended to comply with the Cease-and-Desist Order. The Wastewater Treatment Plant Nutrient Removal and Wet Weather Flow Management Upgrade and Expansion Project (GMP) is one of these projects, which will result in a new treatment plant for processing wastewater.
Due to the size and complexity of the project and construction demand in the Bay Area, a Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) delivery approach was selected and approved by City Council on May 16, 2016. Sundt Construction, Inc. (Sundt) was the selected CMAR for the project.
Construction of the project by Sundt has been underway since May 2019. Three construction packages were awarded:
Package 1 - Site preparation: Work was substantially completed in July 2022. Package 2 - Foundation piles: Work was substantially completed in January 2022. Package 3 - WWTP process facilities, Administration Building, and Maintenance Warehouse: In progress.
The current budget and contingency as of City Councill’s latest action of July 28, 2025, is as follows:
Package # - General
Description Award Date Awarded
Contract Amount
Council
Authorized
Contingency
1 – Site Preparation May 2019 $33,098,178 $1,725,000
2 – Foundation May 2020 $17,716,049 $1,645,000
3 – Process Facilities Sep 2020 $379,880,747 $57,050,000 TOTALS $430,694,974 $60,420,000
CITY OF SAN MATEO
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The 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 Project “3 Water Pumping Improvements and Ferric Chloride to Combine Sludge Line Project (AMC-NSI-06.3)” will be constructing improvements to the WWTP 3- Water system, Storm Drain Retention System, and Ferric Chloride Chemical System.
As part of the AMC-NSI-06.3 project, the project will be replacing the existing ferric chloride chemical tank with a smaller day tank, installing a new transfer pump in the recently constructed Area 70 (Chemical Area) of the new plant and constructing a new utility trench connecting Area 70 to the new day tank. If this new utility trench is constructed under this AMC project, it will occur after the completion of GMP-3. This would require cutting through brand new paving and landscaping installed under the GMP project. To prevent this future disruption, staff recommends for the utility trench to be removed from the scope of the AMC project, and to be installed as part of the scope of the GMP project prior to the paving and installation of landscaping in this area.
Increasing the contingency reserve in the amount of $773,702 associated with the Sundt contract will allow the utility trench work to be completed in alignment with the timeline of construction work currently underway in that location.
BUDGET IMPACT:
Sufficient funds are not available in the Wastewater Treatment Plant Nutrient Removal and Wet Weather Flow Management Upgrade and Expansion (GMP (46t003)) project budget to fund this contingency increase to the agreement with Sundt. Funding for the AMC-NSI-06.3 project is budgeted in the CWP AMC Projects (AMC-NSI-06.3 (46t090)) and sufficient funds are available in this project to fund the contingency increase to the contract for the utility trench work associated with the project. The awarded contract amount with Sundt for construction was in the amount of $430,694,974. The contingency reserve established was $60,420,000 and this request increases the contingency by $773,702 to a total of $61,193,702. This increase brings the potential total contract cost to $491,888,676.
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION:
The City prepared a Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Report (Final PEIR) in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) (SCH No. 2015032006). Council on June 6, 2016, certified the PEIR. In accordance with CEQA, the Final PEIR serves as the primary environmental compliance document for the implementation of the Clean Water Program. The City prepared Addenda to the Final PEIR that was approved on July 16, 2018 (Addendum 1) and April 15, 2019 (Addendum 2). This work is within the scope of the Project evaluated in the PEIR and Addendum.
NOTICE PROVIDED
All meeting noticing requirements were met.
ATTACHMENTS
None
STAFF CONTACT
Thomas Ruark, Senior Project Manager
[email protected]
650-522-7280
Tom Williams, Engineering Manager
[email protected]
650-522-7307
James O’Connell, Public Works Deputy Director
[email protected]
650-522-7304