TO:
Honorable Mayor Powell and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
David N. Carmany, City Manager
FROM:
Jim Arndt, Director of Public Works
Raul Saenz, Utilities Manager
Brian Wright, Water Utility Supervisor
SUBJECT: Title
Resolution Delegating to the City Manager Authority to Take Action in Emergencies Without Competitive Bids Pursuant to California Public Contract Code Section 22050, Declaring an Emergency, and Ratifying the Replacement and Installation of Two Booster Pump Motors at the Peck Reservoir Booster Station and Approval of Payment of $88,710.92 to General Pump Company, Inc.
ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 12-6422, APPROVE
Body
____________________________________________________________________
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council:
a) Adopt Resolution 12-6422 Delegating to the City Manager Authority to Take Action in Emergencies Without Competitive Bids Pursuant to California Public Contract Code Section 22050, Declaring an Emergency, and Authorizing Replacement and Installation of Two Booster Pump Motors at the Peck Reservoir Booster Station; and
b) Approve payments of $88,710.92 to General Pump Company, Inc.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
There are adequate funds in the Fiscal Year 2012-2013 Budget for this emergency replacement of the Peck Reservoir booster pump motors.
BACKGROUND:
The City operates four submersible booster pumps located at the Peck Reservoir Booster Station. Each of these pumps are driven by four 125 horsepower electric submersible pump motors. Any two of these booster pumps are sufficient in capacity to maintain the City's water distribution system pressure to satisfy potable water demands and provide emergency fire suppression. Peck Reservoir Booster Station is a primary water pumping facility in addition to the Block 35 Reservoir Booster Station as redundant backup, capable of providing sufficient pumping capacities in the event of multiple pump failures.
On August 13, 2012, two of the four booster pump motors failed following a SCE electrical voltage surge at the Peck Reservoir Facility. Inspection and test results indicated that each of the two booster pump motors were damaged beyond repair by the voltage surge.
On June 19, 2012, City Council awarded a construction contract to Total Concept Sales, Inc. to furnish and install transient voltage suppression devices at each of the City's water and wastewater facilities to prevent just such an incident. While it is unfortunate that project completion on September 24, 2012 was not in time to prevent the above referenced voltage surge, critical water and wastewater facilities will be protected from similar events in the future.
While, replacing and installing submersible pump motors to specification requires 4 to 6 weeks, the normal engineering bidding process can delay the restoration of water pumping capacity up to 6 months, leaving the system especially vulnerable in the event of an emergency and/or additional pump failures; therefore staff proceeded to have both pumps repaired on an emergency basis.
Staff determined that the replacement and installation of the two new submersible booster pump motors would be most effectively accomplished by an experienced water well and pump contractor. Staff contacted General Pump Company, Inc. to furnish and install the two new 125 horsepower submersible pump motors. The City's past experience with this contractor has been positive; they have consistently performed at a fair and reasonable cost. Due to the immediate repair needs, staff proceeded with the purchase of parts and labor for repairs to the booster pump station, and is now seeking Council ratification of the expenditure.
DISCUSSION:
California Public Contract Code Sections 20168 and 22050 provides that the City Council may authorize the City staff to repair public facilities without advertising for bids in case of an emergency, provided it adopts, by a 4/5th vote, a resolution declaring that the public interest and necessity demand the immediate expenditure of public money to safeguard life, health or property and containing the findings set forth in Section 3 of the attached resolution.
Staff is satisfied that the charges by General Pump Company, Inc. to perform the emergency booster pump motor replacements are fair, reasonable and consistent with industry standards. As such, Staff recommends that General Pump Company, Inc. be paid $88,710.92 for their services.
CONCLUSION:
Staff recommends that the City Council:
a) Adopt Resolution 12-6422 Delegating to the City Manager Authority to Take Action in Emergencies Without Competitive Bids Pursuant to California Public Contract Code Section 22050, Declaring an Emergency, and Authorizing Replacement and Installation of Two Booster Pump Motors at the Peck Reservoir Booster Station; and
b) Approve payments of $88,710.92 to General Pump Company, Inc.
Attachment:
1. Resolution No. 12-6422