TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Rod Tonelli, Interim City Manager
SUBJECT:
title
Change Order No. 1 for the 2023 Small Water Meter Replacement Program to Calumet City Plumbing & Heating Co., Inc. in the amount of $450,000.00
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BACKGROUND:
On September 1, 2022, the City Council awarded the Small Meter Replacement project to Calumet City Plumbing & Heating Co., Inc. (CCP) to replace 5,000 water meters. The contract had an extension option to replace an additional 5,000 meters. On July 18, 2023, the City Council awarded the contract extension. Accordingly, CCP is in process of replacing a total of 10,000 water meters. The work was planned to start in October of 2022, but due to supply chain issues, the replacement project did not begin until May of 2023. CCP expects to complete all 10,000 water meter replacements by December 31, 2024.
In addition to the small water meter replacement project, City staff has been analyzing water meter reports from the Sensus Analytics software and has determined that there are over 3,000 meters sending alarms for inability to provide reads due to one or more of the following issues: batteries being expired, connection issues, radio is no long working or some other type of error that cannot be diagnosed without someone physically at the location. When water meters cannot be remotely read the billing system generates estimate bills. This estimating process creates additional administrative work sorting out the estimated read bills and causes erratic data in the City’s pumped-to-billed water loss calculations.
Having confidence in our water loss calculation is a critical requirement of our Lake Michigan water allocation permit. In 2021, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) issued an order granting the City of Joliet a Lake Michigan Water Allocation Permit. This permit allows Joliet to begin using Lake Michigan water as its source of supply in 2030 and establishes annual allocation amounts through the year 2050. As part of this allocation permit, the City of Joliet must comply with the IDNR’s regulatory water conservation/efficiency requirements, including a 10% threshold for non-revenue water. The City of Joliet has submitted an acceptable plan to comply with this requirement by 2030. The Public Service Committee reviewed this memo at the November 6, 2023 meeting and recommended for approval by full Council.
CONCLUSION:
The scope of work to complete repairs on the 3,000 non-reading water meters to return them to working order are items of work contained in the current 2023 Small Water Meter Replacement Program. City staff contacted Calumet City Plumbing to see if they would be available to complete this repair work using the existing contract pay items and current contract terms. Calumet City Plumbing & Heating Co., Inc. (CCP) provided a proposal in the amount of not-to-exceed $450,000.00, using existing contract pay items, to investigate and repair the non-reading water meters.
Funding will be charged to the Water / Sewer Improvement Fund / Meter Repair / Infrastructure (Org 50180320, Object 557200, Project 22031, $450,000.00).
RECOMMENDATION:
recommendation
Based on the above, it is recommended that the Mayor and City Council approve Change Order No. 1, a net increase in the amount of $450,000.00, to Calumet City Plumbing & Heating Co., Inc.
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