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Home My Public Portal About2021-10-12 Water Meter Replacement Program TOWN OF 1630 WATERTOWN Office of the Town Manager ' Administration Building 149 Main Street -Watertown,MA 02472 Phone:617-972-6465 Michael J. Driscoll www.watertown-ma.gov townmgr@watertown-ma.gov Town Manager - To: Honorable Town Council From: Michael J. Driscoll, Town Manager Date: October 7, 2021 RE: Agenda Item—Proposed Loan Order As you recall, I stated in the Fiscal Year 2022 Budget Message that it was my intention to bring forward proposed loan orders for various capital equipment items contained in the Fiscal Year 2022 Capital Improvement Program. The acquisition of these proposed items is consistent with one of the Town's priorities of not deferring maintenance and/or recognition of costs of capital equipment, facilities and infrastructure to future years. As a follow-up, enclosed please find correspondence from Gregory St. Louis, Superintendent of Public Works and Thomas Watkins, Director of Administration and Finance, Department of Public Works requesting to move forward with funding of the Water Meter Replacement Program. Therefore, given the above, I respectfully request the attached Proposed Loan Order be placed on the October 12,2021 Town Council Agenda as a First Reading. Thank you for your consideration in this matter. i cc: Gregory M. St. Louis, Superintendent of Public Works Thomas P. Watkins, Director of Administration and Finance, Department of Public Works Thomas J. Tracy, Town Auditor/Assistant Town Manager for Finance Melissa A. Morrissey, Town Treasurer/Collector Raeleen F. Bandini, Purchasing Agent i SA H I N C K L E Y 28 State Street A L L E N Boston, MA 02109-1775 p:617-345-9000 f:617-345-9020 hinckleyallen.com Jay Gonzalez (617)378-4256 jgonzalez@hinckleyallen.com October 7, 2021 Michael Driscoll Town Manager Administration Building 149 Main Street Watertown,Massachusetts 02472 RE: Draft Loan Order—Water Meter Bonds Dear Michael: Pursuant to your request,I suggest the following form of loan order to approve the borrowing of funds to pay costs of purchasing and installing new water meters: ORDERED: That the sum of$4,733,900 is appropriated to pay the costs of purchasing and installing new water meters, including all costs incidental and related thereto;that to meet this appropriation,the Treasurer,with the approval of the Town Manager, is authorized to borrow said amount under and pursuant to M.G.L. c.44, §8(6),or pursuant to any other enabling authority,and to issue bonds or notes of the Town therefor; and that any premium received upon the sale of any bonds or notes approved by this order,less any such premium applied to the payment of the costs of issuance of such bonds or notes,may be applied to the payment of costs approved by this order in accordance with M.G.L. c.44, §20,thereby reducing the amount authorized to be borrowed to pay such costs by a like amount. The order must be published at least five days prior to the holding of a public hearing with respect to the order and its final passage and requires the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of all members of the Town Council,as in the case of any other loan order for bonds. Please call me if there are any questions about the suggested proceedings. Sincerely, Jay Gonzalez ►ALBANY ► BOSTON ► CHICAGO ► HARTFORD ► MANCHESTER ► NEW YORK ► PROVIDENCE 61350245 vl 1630 TOWN OF WATERTOWN r DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS 124 ORCHARD STREET Gregory M. St. Louis, PE (P) 617-972-6420 Superintendent (F)617-972-6402 TO: Mr. Michael Driscoll, Town Manager FROM: Mr. Gregory St. Louis, Superintendent of Public Works Mr. Thomas Watkins, Dir. Administration & Finance - DPW DATE: October 6, 2021 RE: Department of Public Works - Loan Order Request In accordance with the previously approved Water and Sewer Enterprise Capital Improvement Program Requests from FY2020 — FY2023, the Department of Public Works respectfully requests that the necessary actions be taken to authorize the Treasurer to borrow a total of $4,733,900, out of the $6,000,000 identified for the Water Meter Replacement Program. This request of funds is in conjunction with the project estimate (included with this letter) provided by the Town's Engineer, Weston & Sampson, and includes all costs associated with this project; including the supply of the new water meters, the advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) system, the installation of the water meters, engineering and construction administration services, and a contingency reserve. Both the supply of the water meters and the installation of the water meters have been publicly procured and this appropriation of funds is necessary in order to issue contract awards. The funds associated with the estimate for this project will be expended as outlined below: Supply of the new water meters: $2,601,802 Installation of the new water meters: $1,650,000 Engineering & Construction Administration Services: $ 204,000 15% Contingency: $ 278,098 Project Total: $4,733,900 This project, otherwise known as the Advanced Meter Infrastructure & Installation (AMI) project, will replace approximately 9,844 water meters throughout the Town (residential and commercial), ranging from 5/8-inch to 6-inch in size and include the installation of new registers and radio modules. The scope of the work includes all work necessary to complete a new system town-wide. In addition, the project will include a brand-new software and web interface that will integrate with the existing billing system thereby providing a more efficient and user-friendly system for both staff and rate payers. Further, as a result of the implementation of this program, the Town will have more equitable metering, improved customer service, increased water conservation/leak detection, and improved metering operations efficiency. We thank you in advance for your consideration. Respectfully submitted, Gregory St. Louis — Superintendent of Public Works Thomas P. Watkins — Director of Administration & Finance - DPW CC: Thomas Tracy— Town Auditor/Assistant Town Manager for Finance Town of Watertown AMI Installation Services Weston®Sampson Engineers Construction Cost Estimate September 2, 2021 Supply(EJP) $ 2,601,802 Installation' $ 1,650,000 SUBTOTAL (Supply & Installation) $ 4,251,802 Engineering CA Services $ 204,000 15% Contingency $ 278,098 PROJECT TOTAL $ 43733,900 Notes: 1.Weston&Sampson estimated installation costs using an average of unit bid pricing of recently bid water meter installation contracts for the communities of Sharon and Lexington,MA.