Memorandum

City of Lawrence

Utilities Department

TO:	David L. Corliss – City Manager Cynthia Boecker - Assistant City Manager Diane Stoddard - Assistant City Manager
FROM:	John Shutak – Utilities Engineer
CC:	Dave Wagner – Director of Utilities Philip Ciesielski – Asst. Director of Utilities Mike Lawless – Asst. Director of Utilities Beth Frailey Krishtalka – Management Analyst Mark Hegeman – Water Systems Manager Dave King – Utilities Maintenance Manager
Date:	October 27, 2009
RE:	November 03, 2009 Agenda Item – Negotiate an Engineering Services Agreement for Preliminary Engineering Services for project UT0919CS, General Wastewater Pumping Station Improvements

Please include the following item on the City Commission Agenda for consideration at the November 03, 2009 meeting:

Authorize Staff to negotiate an Engineering Services Agreement with Professional Engineering Consultants (PEC) for Preliminary Engineering Services for Project UT0919CS - General Wastewater Pumping Station Improvements.

Project Description

The Department of Utilities budgets a yearly fund for the ongoing maintenance, repair, and, when necessary, replacement of existing wastewater pumping stations within the collection system.

Project Status/Details

The Department of Utilities operates a number of small (80 to 300 gpm) vac-prime wastewater lift stations to convey sewage to its wastewater treatment plant. These lift stations were installed by the development community to provide service to localized areas of development. The lift stations are typically located in utility easements adjacent to or surrounded by residential property. The existing stations are 15 to 40 years old, many have exceeded their useful lives, are unsafe to maintain as several of the lift stations are classified as confined space entry, many are no longer supported by the original manufacturer and require replacement to bring them up to current KDHE minimum design standards.

The general intent of the project is to replace a number of the existing vac-prime lift stations with rail-mounted submersible pumps, valve vault, overflow prevention, backup power connection and flow metering in order to meet current KDHE minimum design standards. Some modifications to the existing gravity lines upstream of each station may be required. The Department of Utilities will provide wet well level instrumentation, programmable logic controllers and programming.

To achieve this intent, Staff prepared a Request for Proposals for Preliminary Engineering Services. The preliminary services will consist of evaluating the existing lift stations for capacity and property requirements in order to determine replacement priority, construction budgets, and construction phasing. The vac-prime lift stations that are included as part of the General Wastewater Pumping Station Improvements are identified on the attached maps.

Per the City Commission’s September 1, 2009 authorization, Staff advertised the RFP on September 8, 2009 via demand star online service and direct mailing. A mandatory pre-proposal meeting was held September 22, 2009 to address questions regarding the RFP and the requirements of the pump station improvements. Responses were received October 9, 2009. Seven (7) proposals were received in response to the RFP advertisement. Proposals were received from Bartlett & West, BG Consultants; Burns & McDonnell; Delich, Roth, and Goodwillie; Larkin Group; Olsson Associates; and Professional Engineering Consultants.

A review committee consisting of Department of Utilities staff evaluated the proposals. Staff consistently ranked Professional Engineering Consultants as the highest qualified respondent for the project. As indicated in the RFP the following criteria were used to rate the responses:

· Project knowledge & approach

o PEC presented a detailed project approach which included specific work tasks related to the following:

§ Existing pump station site evaluations.

§ Pump station and force main evaluations including existing and full build out capacity analyses and potential for elimination.

§ Replacement constructability evaluation.

§ Individual pump station evaluations, configuration, and costs.

§ Recommended replacement methods.

§ Implementation planning including prioritization and design and construction schedules.

§ Overall cost summaries.

o Additionally, PEC presented key concepts for the project which emphasized an interactive project process, consensus development, public involvement, standardization of materials, equipment, and design criteria, as well as alternate construction methods.

· Project qualifications and firm experience with similar projects

o PEC presented significant experience working within fully developed environments specifically related to pump station reconfiguration, decommissioning and rehabilitation. Experience presented included five (5) lift station projects located in the City of Lawrence, Kansas as well as five (5) lift station projects located in Shawnee County, Kansas.

· Key project staff experience

o PEC presented a project team well qualified to perform the work requested in the RFP. Key project staff, as identified in the RFP, showed significant related experience on similar projects for the City of Lawrence. Additionally, as an engineering firm, PEC is capable of providing civil, survey, electrical, and mechanical engineering services for the project and identified a geotechnical engineer (sub-consultant) as part of the project team.

· Related local experience with the Utilities Department

o PEC presented past experience with pump stations 48, 6, 26, and 33 all within the City of Lawrence. Department of Utilities staff experience working with PEC has been consistently positive for these projects.

Each firm also provided a schedule of hourly rates with their proposal for reference. Hourly rates provided by PEC were found to be consistent with rates provided by other respondents.

Upon successful completion of the preliminary design phase, the Department of Utilities will have the option to negotiate a design and construction phase services contract for each phase of construction. These contracts would be presented for consideration at future City Commission meetings.

Project Funding:

These projects will be funded out of the 2009 Department of Utilities bonded construction fund per resolution No. 6835. Construction is anticipated to begin in 2010.

In addition, funds in the amount of $42,600 were placed in escrow by the developer of Sherylville Estates in 2005 to be applied toward the expansion of the sanitary sewer capacity provided to this area by pump station PS28. The expansion of sanitary sewer capacity to this area was included in the 2003 wastewater master plan via the expansion of PS28 in 2009. This project is included in the overall scope of the RFP. The escrow agreement requires that the project be initiated and funds expended in 2009 or the escrowed amount be returned.

Action Request: Authorize Staff to negotiate an Engineering Services Agreement with Professional Engineering Consultants (PEC) for Preliminary Engineering Services for Project UT0919CS - General Wastewater Pumping Station Improvements.

Thank you for your assistance. Please advise if you have any questions.