HomeMy WebLinkAbout1RCITY COUNCIL STAFF REPORT
DATE: January 13, 2022 CONSENT CALENDAR
SUBJECT: APPROVAL OF PLANS, SPECIFICATIONS AND ESTIMATE (PS&E) AND
AUTHORIZATION TO BID THE WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT
(WWTP) DIGESTER NO. 2, GAS FLARE, AND FILTRATE PUMP
STATION, CITY PROJECTS 20-25 AND 21-07
FROM: Justin Clifton, City Manager
BY: Development Services Department
SUMMARY:
The construction documents (Plans, Specifications and Estimate) for the subject project
are completed and in accordance with Section 7.03.040 of the Procurement and
Contracting Code, the City Council shall approve and adopt the plans, specifications, and
work details, and authorize the bid request for all public projects that are more than
$200,000. Approval of this item will allow Staff to proceed with the bidding for the
construction of the Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) Digester No. 2 and Gas Flare,
City Project 20-25 and the Filtrate Pump Station, City Project 21-07, with a combined
estimated cost of $18,200,000.
RECOMMENDATION:
Approve the plans, specifications, and estimate; and authorize Staff to advertise and
solicit bids for the WWTP Digester No. 2, Gas Flare and Filtrate Pump Station, City
Projects 20-25 and 21-07 (“Project”).
BACKGROUND:
On April 21, 2010, the City Council approved the Wastewater Treatment Plant Capital
Repair and Rehabilitation Plan. Staff identified 30 capital projects required at the City’s
WWTP at a projected cost of $67 million. The City Council authorized staff to proceed
with five projects considered top priority. This was the Digester No. 1 Rehabilitation
Project, Plant Reclaimed Water Upgrades, Gravity Thickener Upgrades, New Perimeter
Security Fence, and Electrical System Update. The total for these projects was $8 million.
On December 7, 2016, the City Council awarded a construction contract for the WWTP
Upgrades Project. This included many of the remaining projects considered top priority,
which were the new Headworks, Primary Clarifiers, Influent Pump Station, and Sludge
Centrifuge. The project was completed in 2018 at a total cost of $31.4 million.
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City Council Staff Report
January 13, 2022 -- Page 2
City Projects 20-25 and 21-07
On November 14, 2018, the City Council authorized a Purchase Order to MWH
Constructors, Inc., (now Stantec) to update the prior 2010 Wastewater Treatment Plant
Capital Repair and Rehabilitation Plan and complete a rate study.
On April 22, 2021, the City Council reviewed and approved the 2021 Wastewater Capital
Rehabilitation and Repair Plan. The 2021 Plan included a 5-Year Capital Improvement
Program (CIP) for the WWTP, identifying 14 projects totaling approximately $80 million,
with no increases to the rate payers for the next five years. The WWTP Digester No. 2
and Gas Flare Project and the Filtrate Pump Station Project are priorities of the CIP.
STAFF ANALYSIS:
This Project will replace the existing 60-year-old Digester No. 2, replace the existing 40-
year-old gas flare, and construct a new filtrate pump station to replace the existing pump
station at the City’s Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The existing Digester No. 2 has been placed out of service since June 2020 because the
digester needs costly repairs. The digester is also not in compliance with current seismic
codes and is at risk of failure should a strong earthquake affect the facility. The City’s
consultants did an analysis of several options of repair or replacement of the digester
considering the cost, footprint, robustness, reliability, and ease of operation. Staff
selected a replacement of the digester as it will provide the longest design life, have the
least risk during seismic events, will bring the facility up to current wind, seismic and
building codes, and can be achieved without interrupting the current operation of the
WWTP.
Biogas is formed during a process that occurs in the digesters. The biogas collected from
the digesters gets piped to a boiler room and the remaining gas goes to a waste gas flare.
The existing gas flare needs to be upgraded due to new air quality regulations. The new
flare will need to be under construction in 2022 to meet compliance deadlines.
The filtrate pump station currently takes the residual fluid or “filtrate” from several different
processes at the WWTP and pumps it back to the start to get reprocessed. The current
pumps were already upsized once and are still not able to keep up with high flows that
occur when several of the processes are running at the same time. This Project will
replace the existing filtrate pump well and turn it into a junction structure to collect the
filtrate from the various processes. Then a new filtrate pump station, with pumps that are
adequately sized for the upcoming planned upgrades at the WWTP, will be built next to
it.
By building the Filtrate Pump Station Project together with the Digester No. 2 and Gas
Flare Project, the City can remove redundant tasks between the projects. This will be a
significant cost savings to the City. Staff, the plant operators, and the design team
recommend constructing them at the same time. Stantec has completed the preparation
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City Council Staff Report
January 13, 2022 -- Page 3
City Projects 20-25 and 21-07
of plans and specifications for the Project. The contract documents prepared by Stantec
have been reviewed and approved by the City’s Engineering Division.
With City Council approval, Staff will advertise the Project in The Desert Sun and post the
Project on the City’s on-line bid management system. Copies of the contract documents
are on file with the Engineering Division. The following tentative schedule has been
identified for the bid process:
Notice Inviting Bids to be posted: January 18, 2022
Deadline for receipt of bids: February 24, 2022
Contract awarded by City Council: March 24, 2022
Staff recommends that the City Council approve the contract documents and authorize
Staff to formally solicit construction bids for the Project.
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT:
In accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) Guidelines Section
15302 “Replacement or Reconstruction”, Class 2 projects consist 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. Therefore, Staff has determined that the City of
Palm Springs Wastewater Treatment Plant Digester No. 2, Gas Flare and Filtrate Pump
Station Improvement Project, City Projects No. 20-25 and 21-07, is considered
categorically exempt from CEQA.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Sufficient funds are budgeted and available in the Wastewater Fund. The Project is a part
of the 2021 Wastewater Capital Rehabilitation and Repair Plan, which identifies capital
projects directly related to the City’s WWTP or sanitary sewer collection system. Projects
identified in the plan are paid for by sewer fees collected by the City.
REVIEWED BY:
Department Director: Flinn Fagg
City Manager: Justin Clifton
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