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: 12 Section Name: CONSENT CALENDAR Account Number: 72-4674 File ID: 25-10627 TO: City Council
FROM: Alex Khojikian, City Manager
PREPARED BY: Public Works Department
MEETING DATE: December 01, 2025
SUBJECT:
Basin C Sanitary Sewer Rehabilitation Project — Contingency Increase RECOMMENDATION:
Authorize an increase to the contingency reserve associated with the construction agreement with Westland Contractors, Inc. for the Basin C Sanitary Sewer Rehabilitation Project in the amount of $500,000; and authorize the Public Works Director to issue change orders within the contingency amount.
BACKGROUND:
The City is currently under a Cease-and-Desist Order issued by the Regional Water Quality Control Board to eliminate sanitary sewer overflows and unauthorized discharges of untreated or partially treated wastewater to San Francisco Bay.
The Clean Water Program (CWP) is improving the City’s sanitary sewer system to prevent sanitary sewer overflows and unauthorized discharge of sewage. As part of the CWP, the annual sanitary sewer rehabilitation projects proactively upgrade and rehabilitate aging sewer pipes to reduce inflow and infiltration.
Basin C includes those City areas East of Highway 101, South of J Hart Clinton Drive, and North of Foster City and Belmont.
All Basin C sewers were evaluated using video inspection, with identified defects included in the project for repair. This work will ensure proper operation of the sewer collection system, reduce infiltration and inflow, and repair defects to prevent potential sanitary sewer overflows. The project includes the following sewer work: pipe spot repairs, full segment pipe replacements, rehabilitation and replacement of manholes, trenchless cured-in-place pipe spot repairs, pre- and post- installation video inspections, and site restorations.
On January 13, 2025, City Council awarded the Basin C construction contract to Westland Contractors, Inc. in an amount not to exceed $5,953,822 with a contingency reserve of $900,000 to address any unanticipated items that may arise during construction. Construction commenced on February 10, 2025, and is estimated to be completed by Spring 2026.
Caltrans has an upcoming construction project which involves new paving of the public roadway on El Camino Real; the paving is estimated to begin in early 2026. Once El Camino Real is paved, the right of way will be under a paving moratorium which limits underground repair work. City staff accelerated the review of sanitary sewer video investigations within the Caltrans El Camino Real construction limits. As a result, several sanitary sewer main defects were identified which need to be repaired before Caltrans completes its paving work. This work would have normally been addressed in the El Camino Real and Large Diameter project, but given the timing urgency, staff evaluated whether it could be added to the Basin C contract.
After reviewing the proposed sewer repair work with the construction management team, City staff, contractor, and Basin C designer, staff executed a Change Order to use approximately $500,000 of the project contingency to complete the identified repairs in the El Camino Real right of way. The scope added to the Basin C project will be removed from the El
CITY OF SAN MATEO
Camino Real & Large Diameter project. Both projects are within the same overall CWP Annual Citywide Sanitary Sewer Rehabilitation Project (46s091).
To date, approximately $758,614 of the original $900,000 contingency reserve has been used for approved change orders, with an additional $74,183 contingency reserve identified for upcoming change orders. To mitigate risks associated with potential delays, streamline project timelines, and to provide flexibility for staff to negotiate and execute contract change orders in a timely manner, staff recommends increasing the Basin C contingency reserve by $500,000 to offset the added work on El Camino Real to allow staff to issue change orders necessary to complete the Basin C project.
BUDGET IMPACT:
Sufficient funds are available in the CWP Annual Citywide Sanitary Sewer Rehabilitation Project (46s091) to increase the contingency by the requested amount.
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION:
The work addressed by this administrative report is being undertaken to support the Clean Water Program. This project is subject to the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the general components of which are included as part of the Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Report (Final PEIR) (SCH No. 201532006) that was prepared for the Clean Water Program. The Final PEIR was certified by City Council on June 6, 2016. 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
Laura Webb, Senior Engineer
[email protected]
(650) 522-7322
Thomas Williams, Engineering Manager
[email protected]
(650) 522-7307