City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: June 25, 2024
Agenda Item: 5.E
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To: Mayor and City Council
From: Rick Valte, Public Works Director, Public Works, Water Resources Subject: Approval of First Modification to Agreement with Paul’s Welding for Water and Wastewater Portable Welding and Metal Fabrication Services Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute a first modification to Agreement #11159 (CCS) in an amount not to exceed $350,000 with Paul’s Welding for water and wastewater portable welding and metal fabrication services for the Public Works Department. This will result in a five-year amended agreement with a new total amount not to exceed $850,000, with future year funding contingent on Council budget approval; and
2. Adopt a finding of Categorical Exemption pursuant to Section 15302 of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines.
Summary
The City of Santa Monica is replacing existing water meter reading infrastructure with Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), a cloud-based system that transmits water usage data via cellular network in near real time. Implementation of the AMI project requires the replacement of aging meters and meter box lids. Paul’s Welding is the City’s sole vendor for specialized welding and metal fabrication services, which includes fabrication of custom vault lids where needed to ensure compatibility with the new advanced meters. Staff recommends increasing Paul’s Welding Agreement #11159 (CCS) in an amount not to exceed $350,000, for a new total not to exceed $850,000 to support the AMI project.
Discussion
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The Water Resources Division of the Public Works Department delivers high-quality drinking water to approximately 18,400 metered water connections citywide. In an effort to modernize the City’s water meter infrastructure and reduce the impacts of residential water leaks, the Water Resources Division began implementing the AMI project in spring 2023 to replace aging water meters with advanced meters that are capable of providing daily water usage data to each customer.
Installation of the advanced meters requires the replacement of aging non-AMI compatible water meters and the fabrication or modification of meter box lids to allow for cellular signal transmission from the advanced meters to a secure customer portal.
These specialized welding and metal fabrication services are provided by Paul’s Welding, a sole-source vendor with the certification and knowledge of welding techniques and safety protocol unique to industrial water and wastewater operations.
On May 25, 2021, Council awarded an Exception to the Competitive Bidding agreement to Paul’s Welding (Attachment A). During the last two requests for bids for welding and metal fabrication services conducted by the City in July 2016 and February 2021, 122 and 4,469 vendors were notified, respectively, and only Paul’s Welding submitted a proposal. An additional $350,000 is needed to support and complete the AMI project for the custom welding and fabrication of custom steel meter vaults that was originally not accounted for in 2021.
Environmental Review
The replacement of existing water meter lids is Categorically Exempt pursuant to Section 15302 (Replacement and Reconstruction) of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines. Section 15302 exempts Class 2 projects which “consists of replacement or reconstruction of existing structures and facilities where the new structure will be located on the same site as the structure replaced and will have substantially the same purpose and capacity as the structure replaced”. The new advanced meters and meter lids would replace existing water meters/lids with essentially the same purpose and capacity, and therefore, the meter lid fabrication services are categorically exempt from CEQA.
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Past Council Actions
Meeting Date Description
5/25/2021 (Attachment A) Original bid and Sole Source agreement with vendor for welding and metal fabrication services (May 25, 2021
Staff Report)
Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
Staff seeks authority to approve available funding from the Water Fund to increase the amount of Agreement #11159 (CCS) with Paul’s Welding for welding and metal fabrication services.
Agreement Modification Request
Agreement
#
Current
Authorized
Amount
FY 2023-24
Modified
Request
Amount
Future
Years
Amount
Account # Total
Revised
Contract
Amount
11159
(CCS)
$500,000 $50,000 $300,000 50500001.550010 $850,000
Future year funding is contingent on Council budget approval.
Prepared By: Joel Britton, Administrative Analyst
Approved Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. May 25, 2021 Staff Report
B. Paul's Welding Original Contract - CT #11159 (CCS)
C. Oaks Initiative - Paul's Welding
D. Levine Act Disclosure Form - Paul's Welding