Sparks City Council Meeting 1/13/2014 2:00:00 PM

    Monday, January 13, 2014 2:00 PM
    City Council Ch;ambers, Legislative Building, 745 Fourth Street, Sparks, NV

General Business: 6.5

Title: Consideration and possible approval of the reimbursement to the City of Reno for Sparks’ share of construction costs incurred during the Capital Project phase of the Headworks Emergency at the Truckee Meadows Water Reclamation Facility (TMWRF) beginning February 25, 2013, in an amount not to exceed $2,504,812.48.
Petitioner/Presenter: Neil C. Krutz, P.E. – Deputy City Manager/Michael Drinkwater, P.E. - TMWRF Plant Manager
Recommendation: Staff recommends City Council approve Sparks’ share of the construction costs incurred during the Headworks Emergency at TMWRF.
Financial Impact: There is no impact to the General Fund. $1,698,280.51 of the emergency expense and liability was recognized in FY 2013 in Account 604090, TMWRF Construction under Project 13-6600G in Fund 1631, Sanitary Sewer Capital Project and Account 603190, Maintenance and Repairs under Project 13-6600H in Fund 1630, Sanitary Sewer Operations. Appropriations to cover reimbursements made this fiscal year will come from either existing budget re-allocation or an augmentation to Utilities Funds (16@). The City of Reno continues to administer the project. The City of Sparks will reimburse the City of Reno for its share of capital expenses based on the master agreement, ownership percentage split of TMWRF as provided in attached Table 1. Current year expenses will continue to post to either Project 13-6600G in Fund 1631, Sanitary Sewer Capital Project and Account 603190, Maintenance and Repairs under Project 13-6600H in Fund 1630, Sanitary Sewer Operations, depending on the nature of reimbursement.
Total Costs: $2,504,812.48
Fund: Sanitary Sewer Cap Proj Fund    Account: 603190
Program: TMWRF Emergency Force Main Repair (Headworks to Grit Building Pipe Leak/Rupture-FY 13) (13-6600G)
Amount: $2,504,812.48    Budget Status: Over Budget (See Budget Correction Plan)
Budget Correction Plan:
As well as 13-6600H, Program 603190
Business Impact (Per NRS 237):
     A Business Impact Statement is not required because this is not a rule.
Agenda Item Brief: Staff is asking the City Council to approve reimbursement to the City of Reno in the amount of up to $2,504,812.48 for its share of engineering and construction costs for the repairs made during the capital project phase of the headworks emergency at TMWRF, beginning on February 25, 2013. These activities were necessary to ensure continued treatment of the sewage to protect public health and the environment. The project consisted of new discharge piping, valving, valve vault and control gates as well as repairs to existing control gates and concrete surfaces to return the headworks to proper functioning. The total cost of the capital project is estimated to be $7,984,738.55. When the expenses from the operational phase are included, the total cost of the emergency is estimated to be $9,477,419.52.


Background: The City of Sparks declared an emergency on the morning of January 11th, 2013 due to the failure of the discharge piping on two of the raw sewage pumps in the headworks portion of the treatment plant. The pipe failures called into question the ability of the plant to pump sewage which would have posed an immediate threat to public health. Over the next two weeks a bypass pumping operation was installed to convey the incoming sewage around headworks to the grit chamber. A subsequent investigation of headworks revealed a number of deficiencies in headworks that required immediate repair, including failed piping, valves, flow control gates and concrete surfaces. Once the deficiencies were identified and a preliminary plan of action established, the responsibility for the emergency was transferred to the City of Reno for management of the repairs per the interlocal. This transfer occurred on February 25, 2013.

Analysis:

The failure of the pipes and valves in headworks severely limited the plant’s ability to pump the raw sewage to the treatment process. The emergency was instituted to expedite the subsequent engineering evaluation and construction to repair the failed infrastructure so as to ensure proper treatment and protect public health.

The construction consisted of new raw sewage pump discharge piping, flow control valves, a below-grade valve vault, concrete channel repair, repair of flow control gates and new flow control gates. The City of Reno entered into contracts with engineers and contractors to design and construct the necessary repairs on an emergent, not-to exceed basis. These contracts were signed by the City of Reno Manager under his authority granted by the declaration of the emergency. Consequently, these contracts were not presented to the City Council of Sparks or Reno for consideration prior to the commencement of work.

Repair work on the sanitary sewer collection system in support of the South-East Connector project for both jointly owned sewer interceptors and interceptors owned solely by the City of Reno occurred concurrently with the emergency repairs to TMWRF. This work in the collection system was able to utilize the existing bypass pump operation that was supporting the headworks emergency for some of the construction. This allowed for some sharing of the cost of the bypass pumps to the treatment plant.

The attached Table 1 below lists the contracts that Reno entered into along with the respective share of the cost for the Cities of Reno and Sparks. All contracts are not-to-exceed amounts except for Thomas Petroleum, which was not capped. The bypass pump operation, which was initiated on January 12th, began pumping on January 25th, was terminated on June 28th.

Both KG Walters and Q&D Construction, local contractors, have a relatively small amount of work left to finish before the project is closed. This work includes the installation of handrails and lights around the influent wet well and repaving the disturbed surfaces. Brown and Caldwell, the design engineer for the raw sewage pump discharge piping and valve vault, continues to perform construction inspection of the project and will prepare record drawings when construction is completed. The expected value of the remaining work is $225,000, to be shared between Reno and Sparks. This value is included in the total project estimate.

The City of Reno continues to administer all of the above listed contracts and will be reimbursed for a portion of the costs by the City of Sparks through the Sparks – Reno cost sharing agreement for TMWRF. The City of Reno and the City of Sparks share the cost for this project proportionally based upon their ownership of TMWRF.



Alternatives: Council could direct the City Manager to have staff provide other alternatives.

Recommended Motion: I move to approve the reimbursement to the City of Reno for Sparks’ share of the headworks emergency in the amounts delineated in the staff report.

Attached Files:
     Table 1 Cost Sharing between Reno and Sparks.pdf
     MD- Headworks Emergency Force Main Repairs - COR I100066, Capital Project Contracts for Staff Report.pdf
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