City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: May 23, 2023
Agenda Item: 5.B
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To: Mayor and City Council
From: Rick Valte, Public Works Director, Public Works, Engineering and Street Services
Rick Valte, Public Works Director, Public Works Department Subject: Award RFP to Kennedy Jenks Consultants, Inc. for Groundwater Wells Engineering Design Services
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Adopt a finding that the groundwater recharge wells were analyzed in the adopted Olympic Arcadia Treatment Plant Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration (State Clearinghouse No. 2020070129), and a finding of categorical exemptions pursuant to Sections 15302, 15303, 15303, and 15304 of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines.
2. Award Request for Proposal #SP2678 to Kennedy/Jenks Consultants, Inc., to provide engineering design services, develop construction documents, and provide engineering support during the construction of the Groundwater Wells Project for the Public Works Department.
3. Authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute an agreement with Kennedy/Jenks Consulting, Inc., in an amount not to exceed $2,646,847 (including $240,622 contingency).
Summary
The Groundwater Wells Project (Project) would provide design services for one new drinking water production well to replace an existing well, four new monitoring wells and two new groundwater injection wells that would recharge the groundwater aquifer. The recharge wells would be used to inject advanced treated recycled water from the Sustainable Water Infrastructure Project (SWIP) and Santa Monica Urban Runoff Recycling Facility (SMURRF) into the Olympic Well Field. The monitoring wells are a regulatory requirement for injection wells. Injecting the advanced treated recycled water 2 of 6
from SWIP would help maintain the sustainable groundwater production in the Olympic Well Field and through transmission mains it would be conveyed to Arcadia Treatment Plant for treatment and distribution as drinking water. This Project, identified in the updated Sustainable Water Master Plan, is part of a long-term series of projects to become water self-sufficient, reduce our water supply energy footprint, and stabilize water rates long term. Staff recommends Kennedy/Jenks Consultants, Inc., to provide engineering design services, develop construction documents, obtain permits for the new wells and provide engineering support during the construction phase of the project for an amount not to exceed $2,646,847 including a 10% contingency.
Discussion
The City of Santa Monica recently completed the SWIP that adds a sustainable and drought-resilient water supply to diversify the City’s water supply portfolio and reduces the City’s reliance on imported water supplies. The SWIP is a key project in the City’s 2018 Sustainable Water Master Plan Update to provide a sustainable and drought resilient water supply for the community and reduces the City’s reliance on imported water supplies (Attachment A). The SWIP leverages stormwater, dry weather urban runoff, and municipal wastewater that is treated through a multi-barrier treatment process to produce purified water that exceeds drinking water standards and is used for non-potable uses (e.g., irrigation and dual-plumbed buildings) and groundwater recharge. The implementation of two additional groundwater recharge wells (SM-11i and SM-12i), and associated monitoring wells, would aim to maximize advanced treated recycled water produced at the SWIP to recharge local groundwater supplies in the Olympic Sub-basin. Each groundwater recharge well requires a monitoring well network to monitor travel time and water quality to comply with State of California’s groundwater recharge regulations.
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In addition to the two groundwater recharge wells, a groundwater production well SM-4 would be replaced to maintain groundwater production in the Olympic Well Field. The existing groundwater production well (SM-4) has been in operation for over 30 years, has exceeded its useful life, and is limited to operate at 25-30% of its original production capacity. Replacing the existing aging SM-4 groundwater production well with a new well would enable the City to maintain local groundwater production in the Olympic Subbasin. Potential locations for the injection wells SM-11i, SM-12i and the existing well SM-4 are shown in the figure below, the replacement well SM-4 would be located approximately 50 feet to the east.
Figure 1: Potential locations for the injection wells SM-11i, SM-12i and the existing well SM-4.
Vendor Selection
Bidder Recommendation
Best Qualified Person/Firm Kennedy/Jenks Consultants, Inc.
Evaluation Criteria Training/credentials/experience, competence/skill, capacity/ability to perform services promptly, sufficiency of financial/other resources, character/reputation, ability to provide future services as needed and price.
Municipal Code SMMC 2.24.190
Proposals Received
Black & Veatch GEI Consultants
Kennedy/Jenks, Consultants Inc,
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RFP Data
Posted On Posted On Advertised in (City
Charter & SMMC)
Vendors
Downloaded
Date Publicly
Opened
12/09/2022 City’s Online
Bidding Site
Santa Monica Daily
Press
50 01/30/2023
Justification to Award
The proposals were reviewed by a selection panel consisting of staff from the Engineering & Street Services and Water Resources Divisions. The proposal evaluations were based on project understanding/workplan, previous experience, references, ability to deliver, quality of product, cost, and compliance with City requirements. Staff interviewed all three firms. Based on the evaluation criteria and criteria in SMMC 2.24.190, staff recommends Kennedy/Jenks Consultants Inc., as the best qualified firm to provide engineering services for the Project based on their extensive and prior experience in developing similar projects for other California municipalities and water production agencies including Antelope Valley- East Kern Water Agency, Monterey One Water Agency, Los Angeles County Waterworks District 40, and City of Santa Monica.
Past Council Actions
Meeting Date Description
November 27, 2018
(Attachment A)
Staff Report - Sustainable Water Master Plan Update
Environmental Review
The potential environmental effects of the groundwater recharge wells were previously analyzed in the Olympic Arcadia Treatment Plant Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND) (State Clearinghouse No. 2020070129), adopted on November 24, 2020. As determined in the previously adopted IS/MND, impacts would be less than significant with the implementation of adopted mitigation measures.
The proposed four monitoring wells in the Santa Monica Basin are exempt from CEQA pursuant to Section 15303 (New Construction or Conversion of Small Structures), Section 15304 (Class 4 – Minor Alterations to Land), and Section 15306 (information Collection) of the CEQA Guidelines.
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• Section 15303 exempts the construction of new small facilities or structures, including utility structures and extensions.
• Section 15304 exempts minor alterations to land, which do not involve removal of mature or scenic trees. Activities include minor grading, trenching, and backfilling.
• Section 15306 exempts the basic data collection, research, experimental management, and resource evaluation activities which do not result in a serious or major disturbance to an environmental resource.
The groundwater monitoring wells will be drilled up to depths between 400 to 800 feet below the surface with minimal ground surface area disturbed. Upon completion, the appearance of the monitoring wells will be largely confined to a small area with each well covered by a concrete pad not larger than 4 by 4 feet. The monitoring wells will provide information and data necessary to implement long-term sustainable groundwater planning and management for the Basin. Therefore, the installation of the monitoring wells qualifies for CEQA exemption pursuant to Sections 15303, 15304, and 15306 as they consist of the new construction of small structures, involve minor alterations to land, and information collection activities. In addition, none of the exceptions specified in Section 15300.2 of CEQA Guidelines would apply that would preclude the use of the CEQA exemptions:
• The project site is not located in a sensitive environment • The project will not have a significant effect on the environment due to unusual circumstances
• The project would not damage scenic resources
• The project would not be located on a hazardous waste site based on a review of relevant databases
• The project would not cause a change to a historical resource as there are no historic resources identified within the identified site locations Replacement of the groundwater production well at the Olympic Well Field is exempt from CEQA as set forth in Section 15302 (Replacement and Reconstruction) of the CEQA Guidelines. Section 15302 exempts replacement or reconstruction of existing 6 of 6
structures and facilities where the new structure will be located in the same site as the structure replaced and will have substantially the same purpose and capacity as the structure replaced because this project would replace existing groundwater productions wells that are beyond its asset life.
Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
Staff seeks authority to approve funding from the Water Fund to award an agreement with Kennedy/Jenks Consultants, Inc. for the Project. Funding is contingent on City Council adoption of the FY 2023-24 Exception-Based CIP Budget.
Contract Request
FY 2023-24 Amount CIP Account # Total Contract Amount
$1,481,775 C5008560.689000 $1,481,775
$1,165,072 C5008570.689000 $1,165,072
$2,646,847 Total $2,646,847
Prepared By: Tom Shahbazi, Civil Engineer
Approved Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. Nov 27 2018 Staff Report
B. KJ OaksInitiative-PC
C. PowerPoint Presentation