The Truckee Meadows Water Reclamation Facility treats the majority of the municipal wastewater for the Truckee Meadows and all of the wastewater for the City of Sparks. The facility is regulated on 20 different discharge limits for the treatment plant effluent that is returned to the Truckee River. The facility has not prepared a comprehensive facility plan in more than 20 years. The facility plan is a necessary tool used to evaluate the condition of the existing facility infrastructure, effectiveness of treatment processes, potential process changes and adequacy of support facilities such as the maintenance department and plant laboratory. Given the considerable investment in TMWRF over the last 5 years as well as the anticipated continued investment, the facility plan will help ensure that this investment is being directed at those components with the most need.

The facility plan will evaluate the existing treatment reactors, buildings, process and ancillary equipment to estimate remaining service life and ability to meet anticipated flows and loads. It will then evaluate multiple treatment process options to determine the most effective alternative. Finally, it will evaluate the existing TMWRF capital improvement plan against the identified needs to either validate the current CIP priorities or suggest new priorities.

 A request for proposals was published inviting all qualified engineering firms to submit statements of qualifications for the proposed work. Four such statements were received and all four submitting firms were invited to an interview held at TMWRF. The team evaluating the proposals included engineering staff from Sparks, Reno and Washoe County, as well as TMWRF Staff. Brown and Caldwell was identified as the most qualified firm to conduct the work.

Subsequently, a detailed scope of work and fee was negotiated with Brown and Caldwell.  Staff believes the proposed scope of work is sufficient and necessary to provide the desired information to help guide the future development of TMWRF.

If approved, the project will be managed by TMWRF staff with input from Reno and Washoe County staff as necessary. The proposed work is expected to take 13 months to be fully complete. Costs for the project will be allocated to Reno and Sparks through the TMWRF Operating budget, with the current cost split of 32.33% to Sparks and 67.67% to Reno. Based on these percentages, the City of Sparks’ share will be $400,963.45.

1. The City Council could approve the contract as presented by staff
2. The City Council could reject the contract and provide direction to the City Manager

I move to approve the contract (AC-5550) with Brown and Caldwell, Inc. to prepare a facility plan for the Truckee Meadows Water Reclamation Facility for an amount not to exceed $1,240,231.00, with the City of Sparks’ share of $400,963.45.