Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-01-30 - MinutesCity Council Water & Sewer Meeting Minutes January 30, 2007 Page I of 5 Member Aldermen Mayor Dan Coady Ward 1 Position 1 — Adella Gray V10 Ward 2 Position l - Kyle rt Cook CityAttorney Kit Williams � 1 Ward 3 Position 2—Robert Ferrell Ward 4 Position 2 - Lioneld Jordan City Clerk Sondra Smith ARKANSAS City of Fayetteville Arkansas City Council Water & Sewer Committee Meeting Minutes January 30, 2007 A meeting of the Fayetteville City Council Water & Sewer Committee was held on January 30, 2007 at 5:30 p.m. in Room 326 of the City Administration Building located at 113 West Mountain Street, Fayetteville, Arkansas. MEMBERS PRESENT: Alderman Kyle Cook, Chair; Alderwoman Adella Gray; Alderman Robert Ferrell; Alderman Lioneld Jordan Staff Present: David Jurgens, Gary Dumas, Ron Petrie, Tim Conklin, Susan Thomas, Others Present: Billy Ammons, OMI; Stan Williams, OMI; Lane Crider, McGoodwin, Williams and Yates. Chairman Kyle Cook called the meeting to order. He welcomed Alderwoman Adella Gray as the newest member of the Water & Sewer Committee. 1. Approval of the Minutes Alderman Ferrell moved that the minutes of the Water & Sewer Committee meeting held on December 28, 2006 be approved as submitted Alderman Jordan seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. 2. WSIP Update David Jurgens said the WSIP projects are moving forward very well. We had some good information published in the newspaper over the weekend. At this point everything is coming in within contract and contingency and with a great deal to spare. Staff will be trying to set up a tour of the plant site next week. He said WL -7, which is the last major component on the west side, has been advertised and bids will be opened in March. a. Subproject EP -2, Noland WWTP Renovation David Jurgens said Subproject EP -2 is currently underway with Archer Western as the contractor. There has been a little delay in getting some parts associated with the bar screen so the project is now coming in on schedule rather than ahead of schedule. The contractor knows that if he doesn't meet the deadline, the City will enforce the $1000 per day liquidated damages 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Water & Sewer Meeting Minutes January 30, 2007 Page 2 of 5 allowed in the contract. Mr. Jurgens doesn't believe the project will be delayed past the deadline. b. Subproject EP -1, Noland WWTP Wet Weather Improvements David Jurgens said this project has been moved up about six months. The project involves lining the wet weather storage basin at the Noland Plant. This sequences the construction on that basin so they will be able to work on it during the driest time of the summer and it moves the project almost a full year ahead of schedule. This allows us to store wet weather high flows coming into the plant. Right now we use the ponds simply for effluent that has been treated. This gives us a great deal more flexibility and should reduce both volume and frequency of sewer overflows. c. Beaver Lake Watershed Nutrient Reduction Study David Jurgens said we are still in negotiations on this contract. He expects the contract to come to the Council in March. The purpose is to study what can be done within the City to reduce the phosphorous loading going into the White River. d. WSIP Farmington Area Work David Jurgens said Value Engineering comments are still being evaluated from Farmington. The easement acquisition process is underway. Farmington is fully responsible for all of the easement acquisition. Alderman Cook commented that the article published in the paper was very good. 3. Farmington Wastewater Service Agreement David Jurgens said Farmington has accepted the language changes proposed in the contract. We are now at the point of legal review by the city attorneys. In response to a question from Alderman Cook, David Jurgens said Farmington's time frame refers to the financing of the project. There is a meeting every 30 days and every quarter. He also said that Arkansas Natural Resources published a 90 -day reduction in interest rates and Farmington will be proceeding with the initial stages of borrowing the money. They won't be able to execute without the signed contract but will proceed anyway. 4. Sanitary Sewer Rehabilitation Project Update a. Basins 1-5, 18 & 19 Sewer Rehab David Jurgens said we are waiting for the highway permit and negotiations are underway with the owner of the Doc Murdock's building. b. Farmington Area David Jurgens said the documents have been submitted to Arkansas Natural Resources for review. We are currently waiting on the approval of the Categorical Exclusion. He explained that 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Water & Sewer Meeting Minutes January 30, 2007 Page 3 of 5 this has to come from EPA Region 6 and is where we publish what we are going to be doing on this job and all the other agencies get the opportunity to object. We have not received any comments. We are awaiting a letter from Region 6 saying no comments have been received and we can go ahead. If we receive comments, that could force us into doing an environmental assessment. 5. 36" Water Transmission Main Rehabilitation David Jurgens said we are continuing to work on painting the surge tank. Painting depends on the temperature (you can't paint if it is too cold) so not much has been done in the past month. 6. Sewer Pump Station Design Standards David Jurgens said that years ago the Council wanted to review design criteria and specifications for water & sewer, streets, etc. when we do standard specifications. He said it makes things easier for developers, City inspection staff and other staff and contractors working for the City to have design standards and standard criteria for construction. The design standards for sewer pump stations are the first small piece of the design criteria to be developed. Once these are compiled, he would like to bring them forward to this Committee for approval and not have to go to the full City Council. In response to a question from Alderman Cook, David Jurgens said these design standards were developed by staff and reviewed by OMI. They answer most of the questions and problems we have had with the smaller package lift stations the developers put in. One of the biggest changes was implemented last summer and is the requirement for backup power on all sewer lift stations. That is a specific requirement in our NPDES permit and we have put it into the standard specifications. We are doing this on all of our larger pump stations. We have it programmed as a long-term CIP project so it will take awhile. But we don't want to accept any new lift stations that don't meet this requirement. Alderman Cook said that although he likes looking at the design standards and being aware of what is required, he feels the staff should make the decision regarding those standards. David Jurgens said there is value in having approval from the Council level so everyone knows the standards have the backing of the elected officials. Alderman Cook said the Committee could discuss these standards at the next meeting, after having the opportunity to review them. 7. Scheduling the Next Water/Sewer Committee Meeting The next meeting of the Water/Sewer Committee was scheduled for February 27, 2007 at 6:30 p.m. If an Equipment Committee meeting scheduled for 5:30 on that date is cancelled, the Water/Sewer Committee meeting will be moved to immediately follow the Council Agenda Session. David Jurgens informed the Committee that he has a couple of items (information requested by the Committee) to add to the end of this agenda. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Water & Sewer Meeting Minutes January 30, 2007 Page 4 of 5 SUPPLEMENTAL AGENDA ITEMS: 1. WP -2 West Side WWTP Change Order Number 1 David Jurgens said he mentioned this at the last meeting. Some of the items on the change order are recommended by the contractor as savings. He said the biggest item is the exact grade at which they had to excavate to build the structure. In the contract a specific grade was set (to within 1/10 of a foot of what it was expected they would have to excavate) and there was an allowance per yard if they had to go any deeper. They did have to go deeper in some places. The details of the changes were listed on a handout distributed to the Committee. He said that backup information was available if requested. He said that savings have resulted because of the ruling from the Ark. Finance & Administration Dept. issued after this contract was awarded regarding sales tax as it applies to certain components of a wastewater treatment plant. Also, the City opted to pull the fuel cost out of the contract which allowed for savings. These changes make this a "no cost' change order. Alderman Ferrell clarified that there is a cost but that the cost is being offset by the reduction of the taxes and eliminating the fuel cost from the contract. In reality the cost is $451,405 more than was anticipated, but that cost is being offset by savings. David Jurgens agreed and said for the total job cost, it is awash. He said we still have a balance of almost $300,000 in savings estimated because of the sales tax and the fuel savings. It should be remembered that the additional quarter cent sales tax that went into affect in January will increase the sales tax paid on everything that requires sales tax. Alderman Ferrell asked if he understood right that the entire project is 31% complete and that the Noland WWTP plant is 70% complete. David Jurgens said that the Noland plant is at 79% completion for the construction project with Archer Western. The total project dollars spent is approximately $59 million. So we are about 30% complete on dollars spent. We are actually a little ahead of that on work performed because the checks are always cut after the invoice is received for work done. In response to a question from Alderman Ferrell, David Jurgens said we are on schedule. He said the west plant will have water flowing through it in May 2008. 2. Real Estate Transfer Tax Issues David Jurgens said staff is greatly concerned about the language of paragraph B of the proposed Real Estate Transfer Tax. The paragraph deals with any fees collected by a city on any new development or redevelopment. According to this language any fees assessed by the City would require a vote of the people and this could create a real problem. He just wanted to bring that paragraph to the attention of the Committee. 3. WSIP Construction Schedule and Cost Update David Jurgens reviewed the information on the updated schedule. He said that when a contract is awarded, it is moved from the center column (estimated cost) over to the left column (actual contract cost). At that point, the number in the right column becomes the actual contingency that 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Water & Sewer Meeting Minutes January 30, 2007 Page 5 of 5 the City Council approves. He said there are some projects that have been repackaged - separating out some jobs where it makes more sense and re -sequencing and shuffling some jobs where it saves money to do one job earlier. Alderman Cook asked, with the rate at which construction prices change, if staff is still comfortable with the $38 million estimated. David Jurgens said he is comfortable with the number, with the caveat that we don't control the market. He feels we have a good contingency on the project. There is a contingency with each job as well as an overall contingency amount for the entire project. As a job is completed, any contingency amount not spent goes back into the overall project contingency. He said that sequencing the projects intelligently so that one project is closing out at the same time we have others starting allows us to release contingencies and enables him to feel comfortable with the numbers. He feels the numbers for all the projects are based off good estimates. In response to a question from Alderman Cook, David Jurgens said all the letters have gone out in regard to easements on the east side. We have two unresolved easement issues on the west side. One looks like it will go to court. On the other, both parties have agreed to a settlement that should be coming to the Council at the second meeting in February. David Jurgens talked about the Farmington part of the schedule. He said the scope of work on this has been changed and that the schedule reflects the changes in costs. He said the Fayetteville Area Project total cost, the only part of this over which we have complete control, has not changed. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org