City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: January 23, 2024
Agenda Item: 5.B
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To: Mayor and City Council
From: Rick Valte, Public Works Director, Public Works, Water Resources Subject: Award Professional Services Contract to Vertech for Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) Network and Server Infrastructure Upgrades for Remote Monitoring, Operating, and Data Collection of Water and Wastewater Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Adopt a finding of categorical exemptions pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) and Section 15301 (Existing Facilities) of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines.
2. Award RFP #347 to Vertech to provide professional services for SCADA Network and Server Infrastructure Upgrades for the Public Works Department.
3. Authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute an agreement with Vertech in an amount not to exceed $364,000 (including a 10% contingency) over a three-year period, with future year funding contingent on Council budget approval.
Summary
The City of Santa Monica’s Water Resources Division within the Public Works Department provides safe, reliable, and high-quality drinking water, wastewater collection services, stormwater management, and recycled water to over 93,000 residents and over 2,700 businesses in the city. To support these services and maintain reliable operations, the Water Resources Division utilizes a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system for remote monitoring, operating, and data collection for critical water and wastewater infrastructure throughout the city. The SCADA system requires robust network and server infrastructure to run reliably and securely, execute all required operational and process data computations, and maintain compliance with applicable water and wastewater regulations. Staff recommends awarding a contract to 2 of 5
Vertech in an amount not to exceed $364,000 (including 10% contingency) over a threeyear period for professional services to upgrade the SCADA network and server infrastructure for the City’s Water Resources Division.
Discussion
Over the past decade, the Water Resources Division has been rapidly expanding its water and wastewater infrastructure to increase local water supplies, enhance drought resiliency, and reduce the City’s reliance on imported water supplies. The projects include the Clean Beaches Tank to harvest stormwater and urban runoff in the Pier drainage area, the Sustainable Water Infrastructure Project (SWIP) to increase water recycling, the Olympic Well Field Restoration and Arcadia Water Treatment Plant Expansion Project to increase local potable water production.
As the city’s water and wastewater infrastructure has expanded and increased in complexity, the SCADA System has also advanced from a software and hardware standpoint to support these innovative and industry leading water infrastructure projects as well as ensuring the system’s resilience to natural disasters, cyberattacks, and industrial process inefficiencies that can create downtime, service outages, or even failures if not managed proactively. Routine and proactive enhancements to maintain a modern SCADA system provide diagnostics and user-friendly means of controlling plant processes, helping achieve optimal plant performance and inform operational decisionmaking to support reliable and uninterrupted water and wastewater services for the community.
To meet these and other needs, the consultant would provide new and replacement network and server infrastructure at the City’s Arcadia Water Treatment Plant, Charnock Wells Pretreatment Facility, Moss Avenue Pump Station (MAPS), Santa Monica Urban Runoff Reclamation Facility (SMURRF), remote pump stations, wells, and four water storage reservoirs. Each of these facilities contain critical industrial control system (ICS) equipment and the IT devices to ensure enterprise-wide connectivity, both via an internal network and external virtual private network (VPN) connection to authorized personnel. These devices facilitate automated process control, communication, status 3 of 5
monitoring, data reporting, and other functions that are critical for maintaining water and wastewater treatment, distribution, and collections operations around the clock.
Specifically, the consultant would:
• Define network requirements including redundant network and SCADA server hardware.
• Develop a network diagram depicting all SCADA network assets. • Purchase, configure, license, and install various hardware and software, as required, at the Arcadia Water Treatment Plant, Charnock Wells Pretreatment Facility, MAPS, SMURRF, remote pump stations, wells, and reservoirs.
Staff recommends awarding an agreement to Vertech for these services to increase the City’s SCADA system reliability and ensure uninterrupted water and wastewater treatment, distribution, and collections operations.
Consultant Selection
Bidder Recommendation
Best Qualified Firm Vertech
Evaluation Criteria Experience and Technical Competence; Ability to Meet Work Plan/Timelines; Quality Control; Cost of Services;
Stability/References; Value Add/Breadth of Service.
Municipal Code SMMC 2.24.190
RFPs Received
GHD Inc. KDC Systems Soffa Electric, Inc. Vertech
RFP Data
Posted On Posted On
Advertised In
(City Charter & SMMC)
Vendors
Downloaded
Date Publicly
Opened
03/07/23 City's Online
Bidding Site
Santa Monica Daily
Press
56 04/04/23
Justification to Award
4 of 5
The proposals were reviewed by a selection panel consisting of staff from the Water Resources Division of the Public Works Department and from the Information Services Department. The selection panel selected Vertech as the best qualified firm (based on experience/technical competence, familiarity with the City’s water/wastewater network infrastructure, cost of services, ability to meet project work plan, and stability/references) to provide professional services for SCADA Network and Server Infrastructure Upgrades as Vertech has vast experience with providing the required professional services, including other projects for the City of Santa Monica, as well as for other leading water/wastewater utilities in Southern California. These utilities include Irvine Ranch Water District, the City of Westminster, the City of Oxnard, and Orange County Water District.
Environmental Review
Professional services for SCADA Systems Integration and On-Call Support is exempt from CEQA pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of the CEQA Guidelines and Section 15301 of the CEQA Guidelines. The agreement is covered by the commonsense exemption which states that CEQA does not apply, “where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment.” Section 15301 (Class 1 – Existing Facilities) provides exemption for the operation, repair, maintenance, permitting, or minor alteration of existing public or private structures, facilities, mechanical equipment, or topographical features, involving negligible or no expansion of use beyond that existing at the time of the lead agency's determination. The agreement would continue the City’s maintenance and integration of the SCADA System for its existing water and wastewater infrastructure. Therefore, it can be seen with certainty that the agreement would not result in adverse physical impacts on the environment, and as such, is categorically exempt from CEQA.
Financial Impacts & Budget Actions
Staff seeks authority to approve available funding from the Water and Wastewater Fund to award a professional services agreement with Vertech to provide professional 5 of 5
services for SCADA Network and Server Infrastructure Upgrades. Future year funding is contingent on Council budget approval.
Agreement Request – Vertech
FY 2023-24 Budget
Request Amount
Department
Account #
Future Years
Amount
Total Contract
Amount
$150,000 50500001.537000 $32,000 $182,000
$150,000 51500001.537000 $32,000 $182,000
$300,000 $64,000 $364,000
Prepared By: Sunny Wang, Water Resources Manager
Approved Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. Oaks Initiative Form - Vertech