Public Works Agency
www.santa-ana.org/pw
Item # 22
City of Santa Ana
20 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana, CA 92701
Staff Report
September 16, 2025
TOPIC: On-Call Programmable Logic Controller Programming and Consulting Services
AGENDA TITLE
Aggregate Agreement with Industrial Control Systems Online, LLC, DBA ICS Online; KDC Inc., DBA KDC Systems; and Partners in Control, Inc. DBA Enterprise Automation for Programmable Logic Controller Programming and Consulting Services (Non-General Fund)
RECOMMENDED ACTION
Authorize the City Manager to execute agreements with ICS Online, KDC Systems, and Enterprise Automation to provide Programmable Logic Control programming and consulting services for a total aggregate amount not to exceed $2,500,000, for a three- year term beginning September 16, 2025 and expiring September 15, 2028, with provisions for two, one-year extensions (Core Agreement No. A-2025-XXX).
GOVERNMENT CODE §84308 APPLIES: Yes
DISCUSSION
The Public Works Agency (PWA) Water Resources Division oversees and maintains the daily operations of the City’s water and sanitary sewer systems. The water system is comprised of approximately 480 miles of water main, 21 groundwater wells, seven pump stations, 10 reservoirs with a storage capacity of 49 million gallons, four pressure regulating stations, and seven connection points to the Metropolitan Water District (MWD). The system has an average daily demand of 30 million gallons from its roughly 45,150 metered service connections.
PWA operates a sophisticated Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system to oversee and manage its water infrastructure. This SCADA system collects real-time data from field devices such as sensors and programmable logic controllers (PLC), allowing water operators to monitor citywide system performance and respond swiftly to changing conditions.
PLCs, which are specialized industrial computers, serve as the primary controllers of the water system. They interpret signals from sensors (e.g., flow, pressure, turbidity, and pH) and automatically control equipment such as pumps and valves based on programmed code and logic. This enables precise, real-time adjustments to efficiently
On-Call Programmable Logic Controller Programming and Consulting Services September 16, 2025
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optimize operations, such as maintaining consistent water pressure or flow rates throughout the distribution network.
PLC programming and consulting services are critical to the successful operation of the City’s water infrastructure. Through automation and continuous monitoring, PLCs enhance system reliability, improve operational efficiency, and reduce the risk of human error. They are instrumental in identifying equipment malfunctions or irregularities early, triggering alarms, and initiating corrective actions to minimize service disruptions and ensure uninterrupted delivery of safe, high-quality water.
Furthermore, PLC programming plays a vital role in regulatory compliance by precisely controlling chemical dosing, treatment durations, and other process parameters that directly affect water quality. In short, these services are not only efficient, they are foundational to the safe, efficient, and compliant operation of the City’s water systems.
The City has historically maintained a professional services contract for PLC programming and automation consulting services to support the daily operation of its water and wastewater systems. In recent years, the City has invested approximately $500,000 to $700,000 annually into these services. These expenditures have consistently provided value by ensuring uninterrupted operations, timely troubleshooting, and successful integration of automation into new and existing infrastructure.
Maintaining an on-call contract for automation consulting and PLC programming support is also critical to supporting maintenance and improvement projects. Nearly every water project, whether drilling a new well, constructing a booster pump station, or upgrading a water treatment facility, requires specialized programming and integration with the City’s SCADA system. By having contract support readily available, the City can seamlessly incorporate automation into these projects without delaying construction schedules or incurring costly change orders.
This on-call model ensures that automation specialists are engaged early in project design, remain available during construction, and provide rapid support during commissioning and startup. As a result, projects are delivered more efficiently, with fewer disruptions, and with programming that is fully aligned with the City’s established standards, functional specifications, and operational practices.
In short, the establishment and continuation of a PLC programming contract is not only about maintaining daily operations, it is also a cornerstone of delivering projects on time, within budget, and with the reliability needed to serve the community.
On April 24, 2025, PWA released Request for Proposal (RFP) No. 25-046 (Exhibit 1), by which it sought the services of qualified consulting firms to provide PLC programming and consulting services. The RFP was advertised on PlanetBids and proposals were received electronically via PlanetBids on May 29, 2025.
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The City notified a total of 838 regional vendors via PlanetBids, with 31 vendors downloading bidding documents. Six proposals were received and evaluated by a selection committee. Based on criteria outlined in the RFP, the following summarizes the responding firms and their ranking:
Firm City Rank
Industrial Control Systems Online, LLC
DBA ICS Online
Ripon, CA
1 KDC Inc. DBA KDC Systems Los Alamitos, CA 2
Partners in Control, Inc. DBA Enterprise
Automation
Irvine, CA
3 Aspect Engineering Group Bakersfield, CA 4
SOAP Engineering, LLC Houston, TX 5
South Coast Controls Anaheim, CA DQ
Staff recommends awarding agreements to Industrial Control Systems Online, LLC, DBA ICS Online, KDC Inc. DBA KDC Systems, and Partners in Control, Inc. DBA Enterprise Automation to provide PLC programming and consulting services on an as- needed basis (Exhibits 2-4).
Industrial Control Systems Online, LLC DBA ICS Online has served as a subcontractor for the City of Santa Ana within the past five years. Their work included providing PLC programming on the San Lorenzo Sewer Lift Station Project (Project No. 06-3510), the Well 32 Rehabilitation Project (Project No. 13-6433), and the Well 29 Improvements Project (Project No. 18-6491).
KDC Inc. DBA KDC Systems has served as both a prime contractor and a subcontractor for the City of Santa Ana within the past five years. Their projects included providing PLC programming on the SA-5 Vault Modification project, the magnetic flowmeter integration project at Well 33, and level transmitter and system integration projects at East, West, South, and Garthe Reservoir Pump Stations.
Partners in Control, Inc. DBA Enterprise Automation has served as both a prime contractor and a subcontractor for the City of Santa Ana within the past five years. Their projects included providing PLC programming and automation consulting services on the City’s PFAS Water Treatment Plant Projects at Well 40 (SA-2021-1), Well 38 (SA- 2022-1), Well 31 (SA-2023-2), and Wells 27 and 28 (SA-2023-1).
The proposals demonstrated the firms have the necessary capacity and expertise to complete the required services. The firms’ rates are reasonable and within industry standard, the teams’ qualifications are appropriate, and the proposals were determined to provide the best value for the City.
On-Call Programmable Logic Controller Programming and Consulting Services September 16, 2025
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All firms selected for this award are currently under agreement with the City for other consulting services and have performed quality work for the City.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
There is no environmental impact associated with the action.
FISCAL IMPACT
Funds are budgeted and available in the following accounts for Fiscal Year 2025-2026 and funding for subsequent fiscal years will be included in the proposed budgets for City Council consideration.
Fiscal
Year
Accounting
Unit -
Account #
Fund
Description Accounting Unit, Account
Description Amount
Contract (3-Year Term)
2025-
26 06017640-
62300 Water
Water Uty Prod & Supply,
Contract Services-
Professional
$500,000
2026-
27 06017640-
62300 Water
Water Uty Prod & Supply,
Contract Services-
Professional
$500,000
2027-
28 06017640-
62300 Water
Water Uty Prod & Supply,
Contract Services-
Professional
$500,000
Optional Two-Year Extension
2028-
29 06017640-
62300 Water
Water Uty Prod & Supply,
Contract Services-
Professional
$500,000
2029-
30 06017640-
62300 Water
Water Uty Prod & Supply,
Contract Services-
Professional
$500,000
Total: $2,500,000
EXHIBIT(S)
1. RFP No. 25-046
2. Agreement with ICS Online
3. Agreement with KDC Systems
4. Agreement with Enterprise Automation
Submitted By: Rodolfo Rosas, P.E. Acting Executive Director – Public Works Agency Approved By: Alvaro Nuñez, City Manager