TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Beth Beatty, City Manager
SUBJECT:
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Award of Professional Services Agreement for Construction Related Engineering Services for the Water Main and Lead Water Service Replacement Programs to Burns & McDonnell Engineering Company, Inc. in the amount of $3,818,465.98
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BACKGROUND:
On January 5, 2021, the Mayor and City Council approved Resolution No. 7613, committing to water conservation through the reduction of non-revenue water in order to comply with the allocation requirements of the Level of Lake Michigan Act, 615 ILCS 50, and the corresponding State regulations. A condition of the City’s Lake Michigan water allocation permit is completion of the City’s Non-Revenue Water Reduction Plan. A major component of this Plan is water main replacement. The water main replacement, estimated at approximately 3% per year, must be sufficient to achieve the reduction of non-revenue water from the City’s water system to not more than 10 percent by the year 2030.
The City prepared a plan to increase water main replacement to 3% per year for 2022 - 2030, however the 2024 & 2025 program was increased in scope to 5% after discussions with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR.) The IDNR manages Joliet’s Lake Michigan Water Allocation and also manages the Lake Michigan allocation for all 200+ Illinois communities that receive Lake Michigan water. IDNR requires annual submittal of a Non-Revenue Water Audit which provides an analysis of what percentage of a community’s water is not accounted for (essentially a detailed “pumped vs. billed” analysis.) Upon review of the City’s water year 2022 audit with IDNR it was decided to increase the quantity of water main replacement in 2024 and 2025 in order to more quickly reduce the City’s non-revenue water percentage. Accordingly, the 2024 Water Main Replacement Program consists of 18 contracts to replace a total of approximately 33 miles of water main, at an as-bid cost of approximately $83,500,000.
Also included in the scope of these construction projects are:
1. Lead water service line replacements. If lead water services are encountered during the project, they will be replaced, and these costs will be charged to the Phase V lead water service line replacement program for which the City has secured State Revolving Fund financing.
2. Sanitary sewer work to repair failing sewers on the streets where water main work is being completed. The sanitary sewer work will be charged to the Sewer Collection Fund.
The location of the projects is shown on the attached exhibit. Given the magnitude of the projects, construction management is a major task that requires outside resources.
Therefore, in the summer of 2023, the City published a Request for Qualifications for water system rehabilitation construction engineering for the 2024 - 2030 water main replacement program. A qualifications-based selection is required to insure reimbursement for engineering fees from potential loan funding. Eleven (11) qualifications were received, three (3) firms were interviewed, and the selection committee identified Burns & McDonnell Engineering Company, Inc. as the most qualified firm to complete the construction engineering services for the program. Burns & McDonnell Engineering Company, Inc. has successfully completed similar projects for communities in the region. They have a team of seasoned resident engineers, inspectors, and construction management professionals which has significant experience in water main replacement, lead water service line replacement management, constructability reviews, and also in fulfilling the requirements of the IEPA state revolving funds being utilized for these projects. Burns & McDonnell Engineering Company, Inc. was requested to provide a proposal for construction engineering for the 2024 water main rehabilitation projects. The Public Service Committee reviewed this memo at the January 2, 2024 meeting and recommended for approval by full Council.
CONCLUSION:
Burns & McDonnell Engineering Company, Inc. has submitted a proposal to perform construction related services for the 18 water main rehabilitation projects that comprise the 2024 water main replacement program, Phase V Lead Service Line Replacement, and for the Phase IV Lead Service Line Replacement project in the total amount of $3,818,465.98.
Due to the economy of scale of this program, our negotiations with Burns & McDonnell Engineering Company, Inc. resulted in lowering the standard billing rates to a multiplier basis, which will save the City over $300,000 compared to standard billing rates.
The Burns & McDonnell Engineering Company, inc. proposal includes five (5) different scopes of work:
1. 2024 Water Main Replacement Design Engineering. This scope of work includes managing the construction contracts from council approval to notice of award with deliverables which include issuing the notice of intent to award, preparing contracts, reviewing contract documents, reviewing IEPA funding documentation, and issuing notice of awards.
2. 2024 Water Main Replacement Construction Engineering. This scope of work includes pre-construction meetings, project layout, weekly progress meetings, schedule coordination with contractors, full time field observation, tracking quantities, reviewing pay requests, GIS support, and project closeout.
3. Phase V Lead Service Line Replacement Construction Engineering. This scope of work includes managing and overseeing proper procedural workflows of lead service line replacement, documentation of proper workflow of lead service line replacements and completion of project agreement forms with residents, coordination with the City’s lab for pre and post replacement water quality sampling, GIS updates and tracking of work in the city’s VueWorks asset management system.
4. Phase IV Lead Service Line Replacement Construction Engineering. The City’s Phase IV Lead Service Line Replacement program will also be ongoing during the duration of the 2024 Water Main Replacement Program and Burns & McDonnell Engineering Company, Inc. will be completing the construction services for this work as well. The scope of this work is very similar to the aforementioned Phase V project.
5. 2025 Water Main Replacement Design Engineering: This scope of work includes completion of constructability reviews at the 60% and 90% design stage for the 16 water main projects being designed by Baxter & Woodman Inc. These reviews will be completed by Burns & McDonnell Engineering Company, Inc. employees who work in the construction division and will identify potential issues that would impact construction feasibility and cost.
The value of the total awarded construction projects is approximately $83,500,000 which yields a construction engineering fee of 4.4% of the awarded construction cost. This cost is less than the industry average for construction engineering (which is generally 6-8%).
Section 2-438 of the City of Joliet Code of Ordinance states that purchases over $25,000.00 may be awarded without written specifications under certain circumstances. Two (2) of these circumstances apply:
(f) Purchases when authorized by a concurring vote of two-thirds (2/3) of the Mayor and City Council;
(g) Purchases of professional services.
Funds will be charged to the 2024 Water Main Replacement Fund / Professional Services (Org 53880000, Object 557200, $3,663,977.03), Lead Water Service Line Replacement Phase IV Fund (Org 53680000, Object 557200, $21,408.29), the Lead Water Service Line Replacement Phase V Fund (Org 53780000, Object 557200, $85,633.15), and the 2025 Water Main Replacement Fund / Professional Services (Org 53880000, Object 557200, $47,447.51).
RECOMMENDATION:
recommendation
Based on the above, it is recommended that the Mayor and City Council approve the Professional Services Agreement for construction related engineering services for the Water Main and Lead Service Replacement Programs, in the amount of $3,818,465.98, on behalf of Burns & McDonnell Engineering Company, Inc.
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