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Sparks City Council Meeting 11/13/2012 2:00:00 PM
Tuesday, November 13, 2012 2:00 PMSparks Legislative Building, 745 E. 4th Street, Sparks, NV 89431
Consent Items: 5.12
Title: Consideration and possible ratification of a purchase order in the amount not to exceed $774,100.87 to Auburn Constructors Inc. for supplying emergency generation services to Truckee Meadows Water Reclamation Facility (TMWRF).
Petitioner/Presenter: Neil C. Krutz, P.E. – Deputy City Manager/Kim Laber – Acting Plant Manager
Recommendation: Staff recommends City Council ratify the emergency generation services provided by Auburn Constructors Inc. in the amount not to exceed $774,100.87.
Financial Impact: This does not impact the General Fund. This unplanned expense, secured by purchase requisition number 160006163, is essential to TMWRF operations. Appropriations will be re-allocated from either the existing or the contingency budget in Fund 5605. Expenses will be charged to Account 603242, Professional Services- Other using Program 131505, TMWRF Operations. Following quarterly reconciliation of TMWRF’s operating expenses, affecting the Sanitary Sewer Operations fund (1630), Sparks is expecting reimbursement from the City of Reno based on actual flow splits provided by ADS Environmental as outlined in the inter local agreement for the operations of the facility, for the actual cost of this contract. The flow split for the most recent quarter, ending June 30, 2012, was 32.20% / 67.80% for the Cities of Sparks and Reno respectively and the approximate split is outlined in Table 1 (See Attachment-Table 1).
Total Costs: $774,100.87
Total Costs: $774,100.87|
Fund: Joint Treatment Plant Account: 603242 Program: TMWRF Operations (131505) Amount: $774,100.87 Budget Status: Budget Exists |
Business Impact (Per NRS 237):
A Business Impact Statement is not required because this is not a rule.
A Business Impact Statement is not required because this is not a rule.
Agenda Item Brief: City staff is asking that City Council ratify a purchase order with Auburn Constructors Inc. in the amount not to exceed $774,100.87 for the Truckee Meadows Water Reclamation Facility for supplying emergency generation.
Background: The Truckee Meadow Water Reclamation Facility (TMWRF) has two 25,000 volt incoming sources of power to the plant identified. These redundant power sources are a requirement of TMWRF’S permit as issued by the Nevada Department of Environmental Protection in order to ensure that the TMWRF plant always has power available to operate the facility. Electrical improvements are currently being performed at TMWRF by Auburn Constructors. During the course of these upgrades additional equipment was determined to be faulty and unsafe to use. The faulty equipment is identified at the plant as incoming 2400 volt Source “A” and Source “B”. One of the two 2400 volt, 3000 amp breakers and busses (Source B) were found to be defective and continued use could jeopardize the facility and personnel. The plant transferred the entire plant electrical load to the remaining 2400 volt breaker (Source A) until equipment could be procured and repairs made to the defective breaker and buss on Source B. On September 12, 2012 plant staff observed melting plastic dripping from the buss bars on the remaining 2400 volt power Source A. Continued use of this breaker carrying the entire plant load would have put the plant at risk for a catastrophic ARC Flash. An ARC Flash with loads of 2400 volts and 3000 amps would have the potential of destroying the entire switch gear contained within the building and putting the plant off line for an extended period. A power loss in excess of 8 -10 hours would most likely result in permit violations and discharges from manholes. Plant management determined that the best plan to handle the emergency and to ensure continued operation of the facility was to bring in the necessary generators to be able to run the entire plant in the event of a total loss of utility power. For the short run Auburn Constructors was contracted to bring in three (3) generators to take approximately 30% of the load off of the remaining breaker to reduce the risk of an ARC Flash on the 2400 volt breaker and busses. Once the plant was stabilized with the three (3) generators an additional eight (8) generators were sourced to handle the remaining load of the plant in the event of a failure of the remaining breaker. Locating, logistics and installation of the eight (8) additional generators and electric cables took nearly one week to accomplish. Also during this time Auburn Constructors contracted with Eaton Electric to come and assess the damage to the busses and breaker on the remaining power source. During the inspection Eaton was able to salvage enough parts from both incoming power sources to leave the plant with one breaker and buss that was determined to be able to handle approximately 80% of the load of the plant. In order to handle the rest of the load and give a margin of error the plant continued to operate three of the generators 24 hours a day until parts for both incoming sources A and B could be sourced and installed on October 24 and 25, 2012. Long term plans to address the condition of the incoming switch gear include an engineering study to address the replacement of the entire switch gear sources A and B due to age, condition and non-availability of replacement parts.
Analysis: Due to the mission-critical, emergency nature of this equipment, staff has already initiated the emergency rental of the required equipment with the authorization of the City Manager. This purchase order was sole sourced to Auburn Constructors Inc. This decision was based on the fact that Auburn Constructors was already onsite performing electrical upgrades to plant infrastructure under a separate contract and had the necessary equipment, personnel and technical knowledge to ensure that TMWRF did not lose power and jeopardize its permit. This staff report is written in order to ratify that action as the total cost is in excess of $25,000.00. The following table presents the total cost of the City’s response to the electrical emergency, including the $774,100.87 ratification here. (See Attachment-Table 2)
Alternatives: Council could direct staff to provide other alternatives.
Recommended Motion: I move to ratify the purchase order with Auburn Constructors Inc. in the amount of $774,100.87 with the City of Sparks share being approximately $249,260.48.
Attached Files:
Table 1.pdf Table 2.pdf Auburn Constructors Quote.pdf
