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HomeMy Public PortalAboutResolution 00-13 Water Treatment PlantRESOLUTION 00-13 Whereas, the City of McCall is subject to the regulations of the Safe Drinking Water Act, and in particular, the Surface Water Treatment Rule; and Whereas, the City of McCall retained James M. Montgomery Engineering, Inc. now Montgomery Watson Americas ("Montgomery") as its expert and professional advisor in water treatment to select a method of compliance with the Surface Water Treatment Rule, and to provide the City of McCall with a Water System Master Plan to establish a plan and budget for achieving compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Surface Water Treatment Rule; and Whereas, in June 1993, Montgomery prepared a Water System Master Plan - 1993 Revision, and presented its cost estimate and William Lynard's (Montgomery's Project Manager) representation and assurance to the City of McCall that a water treatment plant which would achieve compliance with the Surface Water Treatment Rule would have a maximum possible cost of 3.3 Million Dollars; and Whereas, the City of McCall, relying on Montgomery's cost estimate and representation, adopted the Water Master Plan - 1993 Revision, and adopted an Ordinance calling for a Revenue bond election to raise the necessary funds required for the construction of the water treatment plant based upon Montgomery's cost estimate and representation; and Whereas, the Citizens of the City of McCall passed the bond, and Montgomery was paid approximately $1.1 Million for professional engineering services directed toward the completion of the design of the water treatment plant for purposes of bidding; and Whereas, the water treatment plant project was put out for bids, competitive bids were received, and Contractor's Northwest, Inc. was the low bidder at a price of $6,752,500, or more than double the amount of Montgomery's estimate; and Whereas, as a direct and proximate result of Montgomery's mis-estimate of construction costs, the City of McCall's Master Plan was rendered unuseable; and Whereas, based upon Montgomery's Master Plan advice and representations, the City of McCall had entered into a Voluntary Consent Order to build the water treatment plant, and were under Order from the Idaho Department of Page 1 of 4 July 19, 2000 Resolution No. 00-13 Environmental Quality ("DEQ") to build the water treatment plant; and Whereas, following the bid opening, and based again upon Montgomery's professional engineering advice and recommendation, the water treatment plant construction project was split into phases, a contract was entered into for the construction of Phase I of the water treatment plant by Contractor's Northwest, Inc., and Phase I of the plant was completed in 1997; and Whereas, the City of McCall initiated a lawsuit against Montgomery in which Montgomery was found liable for having breached its professional responsibility by negligently mis- estimating the cost of the water treatment plant; and Whereas, the City of McCall is advised that the total project cost, including construction administration and engineering for phase II of the water treatment plant, will be approximately $8,000,000; and Whereas, The City of McCall formed a Citizen's Advisory Committee to study alternatives for the City's compliance with the rules and regulations, including the study of in - line gravity filtration, membrane filtration, and groundwater resources; and Whereas, the Committee recommended and the City did in fact put out a request for proposals to the engineering (water) community for an engineer to provide services for a cost- effective analysis of alternatives and the Committee received no responses to said request; and Whereas, thereafter the Committee recommended and the City did in fact put out a request for proposals to the design - build engineering -construction community to provide the City with a guaranteed maximum price proposal for the construction of a solution which would achieve compliance with the applicable regulations and the City did not receive any qualified proposals; and Whereas, thereafter the Committee interviewed a qualified and knowledgeable hydrologist to determine the practical feasibility of locating groundwater resources within a reasonable proximity to the City and the Committee, based upon the interview and the history of City research on groundwater resources, has concluded that groundwater is not a cost-effective alternative solution for the City's drinking water needs; and Page 2 of 4 July 19, 2000 Resolution No. 00-13 Whereas, the Committee has formally and unanimously resolved to recommend to the City Council and City Manager, to adopt a resolution to undertake completion of the Phase II construction of the water treatment plant in accord with the Voluntary Consent Order entered into between the City and the DEQ dated February 21, 1997; and Whereas, the City Council has further studied the rates applicable to City water users and determined that the project financing should proceed in an expeditious manner consistent with the goal of maintaining or reducing water rates to the City water users; Now Therefore, It Is Hereby RESOLVED: That the City Manager of the City of McCall is hereby authorized and directed to obtain compliance with the Voluntary Consent Order between the City of McCall and the Idaho Division of Environmental Quality; and That the City Manager of the City of McCall is hereby authorized and directed to take prudent and reasonable steps to obtain appropriate funding for the completion of the compliance effort and to enter into such contracts, agreements, and other actions as is deemed necessary and appropriate for obtaining funding for the construction of such works as are necessary to achieve the required compliance and approval of the appropriate regulatory authorities; and That, pursuant to Section 50-341J, the City has authority to make the expenditures for design and construction of a water treatment plant without further competitive bidding, since, as described above, no conforming proposals were received in response to either of the requests for proposals put out by the City pursuant to the competitive bidding requirements of Section 50-341, Idaho Code; or, That, alternatively, pursuant to Section 50-341, Idaho Code, the City Manager has the authority to dispense with bidding requirements if the City Manager, in his discretion, makes a declaration that only a single source for goods and services, required to achieve compliance with the health and safety requirements of the Voluntary Consent Order, is reasonably available and necessary based upon a determination that competitive bidding is impractical, disadvantageous, or unreasonable; Page 3 of 4 July 19, 2000 Resolution No. 00-13 Therefore, the City Manager is hereby authorized to enter into a contract as expeditiously as possible for the construction of Phase II of the water treatment plant construction project to achieve the required compliance with the health and safety requirements of the Voluntary Consent Order. PASSED AND APPROVED by the City Council on July 19, 2000. Allan Muller, Mayor ATTEST: ___(a4D1/124— Cathleen Koch, City Clerk Page 4 of 4 July 19, 2000 Resolution No. 00-13