Mark Dolson
Three Contract Awards
The most recent regular San Lorenzo Valley Water District (SLVWD) Board meeting was on December 5th. The meeting lasted fifty minutes and was entirely devoted to three contract awards, all related to ongoing pipeline construction projects.
Consolidating Bracken Brae and Forest Springs
District Engineer Garrett Roffe updated the Board on two agenda items that were discussed more thoroughly in the previous Board meeting (and reported in my previous column). Garrett recommended that the District award a construction contract to Anderson Pacific Engineering for $3,253,580 to replace a substantial section of currently undersized pipeline in support of the pending consolidations with Bracken Brae and Forest Springs (and perhaps eventually Big Basin), and to provide a new permanent connection to Bracken Brae (which involves a somewhat problematic stream crossing). Anderson Pacific was the low bidder, and they were the contractor on numerous prior SLVWD projects, all of which have been successfully completed.
The recommended contract award exceeds the remaining DWR grant funding of $2,569,968. When all of the additional associated costs are taken into account, Staff estimates the District will contribute $1.4 million of reserves for this project.
Directors Fultz, Smolley, and Layng asked various detailed questions to confirm that the contractor would adhere to specified work hours, noise levels, and prevailing wage stipulations; that the schedule seemed reasonable; and that the District would be adequately protected from various issues that might arise over the course of the construction. Two public comments (from residents of Bracken Brae and Forest Springs) were supportive and appreciative, and the contract award was unanimously approved.
On a closely related note (involving the stream crossing), Garrett recommended that the Board approve an additional services request with Sandis Engineering for $225,000 to address the Caltrans review comments concerning the load rating of the bridge on Highway 236 with the upgraded pipeline attached (replacing the current 4” pipe with 12” pipe). Sandis plans to contract with a well-known subcontracting firm in the structural engineering community.
Director Smolley asked some detailed questions about the chosen subcontractor and was satisfied with the response. Again, there were two supportive public comments from Bracken Brae and Forest Springs, and the Board unanimously approved the contract award.
Other Business
Environmental Planner Chris Klier reminded the Board that, in October, it approved a contract with Harris & Associates for environmental review of five discrete projects to replace sections of pipeline damaged in FEMA-declared emergencies. Chris recommended that this contract be amended to include one additional project that is part of a $370,000 grant from the California Office of Emergency Services (CalOES) Hazard Mitigation Grant Program for the fire hardening of two critical water supply lines: Bennett Pipeline and Lompico Pipeline. This grant will fund the design and environmental review for burying these pipelines so as to mitigate future wildfire risk. The grant-funded work must be completed by May 13, 2025, so the District wants to prioritize the environmental review of these two projects. The Bennett Pipeline environmental review is already included in the Harris contract, but the Lompico Pipeline is not. The proposed amendment will allow Harris to complete environmental review on the Lompico Pipeline to enable the work to be performed before grant funds expire.
The total estimated cost for the scope of work in the Professional Services Agreement is $13,431, bringing the total budget for the Harris Cross-Country Pipeline Environmental Review to $72,005.83. The District will initially need to pay project costs from District funds but will be reimbursed by the grant for 90% of costs, resulting in a final estimated incremental cost to the District of $1,343.10.
Director Fultz said the previous General Manager had mentioned that burying this pipeline will be extremely difficult. Garrett agreed that it would require a lot of hand digging on steep terrain with trees. For environmental review purposes, burying the pipeline is the worst-case scenario. After the review is complete, the District will solicit bids for burying the pipeline and can then decide how to proceed (noting that the work will be 90% grant funded). There was no public comment, and the Board unanimously approved the agreement.
The next regularly scheduled public meeting of the Board of Directors will be on December 19th at 6:30 PM.