SLVWD Board Meeting Summary
March 21, 2024
Mark Dolson
Highlights:
2021 CIP Pipeline Replacement Project Change Orders
Lyon and Big Steel Pipeline Improvement Project Change Orders
Next Board meeting is at 6:30 PM on April 4, 2024
Preliminaries
Director Ackemann was not present due to an excused absence.
There was nothing to report from Closed Session.
New Business
2021 CIP Pipeline Replacement Project Change Orders
District Engineer Garrett Roffe introduced this agenda item. In August of 2022, the Board awarded the 2021 CIP Pipeline Project to JMB Construction for $5,023,380 (which included a ten percent contingency). The project replaces approximately 8,500 linear feet of water pipeline spread across four locations in the District. The new pipelines are installed along both privately owned right-of-way (ROW) and publicly maintained ROW (maintained by the County of Santa Cruz) in addition to a small portion of the pipeline requiring installation within Caltrans ROW (State Highway 9). The project also replaces an aging 40,000-gallon redwood tank with a new 160,000-gallon tank fitted with level monitoring instrumentation that will tie into the District’s Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system.
For a project of this nature, it is inevitable that contractors will submit change orders in response to unanticipated developments. To date, the District has accepted six Contract Change Orders (CCOs) totaling $398,212 and two no-cost CCOs for additional contract time (CCOs 1 through 8). Staff recommended approval of eight additional CCOs (9 through 16) for payment to JMB Construction Inc. ($178,223), an Amended and Restated Agreement with 360PSM for certified payroll monitoring (16,974), an Amended and Restated Agreement with Sandis Civil Engineers Surveyors Planners (Sandis) for construction phase services ($35,027), and an Agreement with MME Civil + Structural Engineering Inc. (MME) for construction management services for the Blue Ridge Tank ($25,312). The total of all change orders, amended and restated agreements, and new agreements was $255,536.
JMB Construction, Inc. has submitted pricing for an additional eleven requested change orders for District consideration and response totaling $260,630. Of these, the District has rejected COP #17 – Oak Avenue Roadway Rebuilding for $22,600.
President Hill noted that there were a number of surprises involving actual pipeline locations, and he asked how the District was validating its infrastructure in the planning stage. Garrett said the District made its records available to the consultant. He didn’t know whether the County got involved.
Director Fultz and Director Smolley each asked a handful of detailed questions to better understand the origins of the various unexpected developments. Director Fultz noted that the change orders exceeded the built-in 10% contingency, and he checked with Director Smolley who felt that a 15% overrun wasn’t unusual in this kind of environment. Interim General Manager agreed, saying that he had seen change orders much larger than this. He added that mistakes were inevitable but that consultants still ultimately expected to be paid by the hour. He said the District fought change orders when it had grounds to do so, but his primary focus was on learning how to reduce surprises in the future.
Director Smolley moved to approve the change orders, and Director Mahood seconded. There was no public comment.
The motion passed 4-0.
Lyon and Big Steel Pipeline Improvement Project Change Orders
District Engineer Garrett Roffe introduced this agenda item. On February 2, 2023, the Board directed the District Manager to enter into a contract with Monterey Peninsula Engineering (MPE) for activities related to the Lyon and Big Steel Pipeline Improvement project in conformance with MPE’s bid for $6,233,100. The project replaces approximately 12,000 lineal feet of water pipeline that is undersized or no longer effective due to age. The replacement main is a 12-inch ductile iron pipe installed in privately owned and public right-of-way. The project also includes improvements to the District’s current system by eliminating an aerial river crossing, adding additional pressure-reducing valves (PRV), and reconfiguring pressure zones. This additional work will improve service to the District’s ratepayers as well as reduce maintenance requirements.
Staff has reviewed six Contract Change Orders from MPE. Staff is still in negotiation on two of these, but it recommended that the Board approve payment for CCOs 1, 2, 4, and 5 for a total of $70,334.
Again, Directors Smolley and Fultz had some detailed questions, but they were satisfied with Garrett’s responses, and they praised his memo in the Board Packet.
Director Smolley moved to approve the change orders, and President Hill seconded.
There was one public comment. Bruce Holloway of Boulder Creek observed that neither agenda item had cited any committee action, so he continued to not understand what the committees are for.
The motion passed 4-0.
Consent Agenda
The Consent Agenda had two items (either of which could be moved to the regular agenda upon request from a Director):
a. Conflict of Interest Policy
b. Board Meeting Minutes 3.7.24
No items were pulled. Director Mahood moved to approve the items on the Consent Agenda, and Director Smolley seconded. There was no public comment.
The motion passed 4-0.
The meeting adjourned at 7:05 PM.