Title
Discuss and consider authorizing the City Manager to purchase an emergency power generator and related switchgear for the Surface Water Treatment Plant Emergency Generator to Cummins Southern Plains, LLC in the amount of $2,175,930.
Summary
As has been noted on previous City Council items, the Surface Water Treatment Plant and Lake Pump Station currently do not have backup power supply in the event of an extended power failure as was experienced from February 15, 2021 to February 17, 2021. This creates a significant risk for the City’s Public Water System as the plant produces most of the water that is used within the City. Due to this risk and the need to make the City's water system more resilient in the event of an emergency, the City Council approved a professional services agreement with Gupta and Associates, Inc. on September 22, 2020 to design the emergency generator power system.
To expedite the Surface Water Treatment Plant Standby Generator project per City Council direction, it was determined that the best course of action would be to pre-select and pre-purchase the generator and related automatic transfer switches to transfer to the General Contractor upon award of the Surface Water Treatment Plant Standby Generator Construction Contract. The benefits to pursuing this path is this allows for the longest lead items to get a head start on the construction with the submittal of shop drawings for the generator and respective gear which allows the manufacturing process to start as soon as possible. This will guarantee our spot in the manufacturing line and prevent any further delays on getting the generator and switchgear to the Surface Water Treatment Plant site. By pre-purchasing the equipment, this also alleviates the need to perform a Competitive Sealed Proposal bid for the Surface Water Treatment Plant Generator Construction Contract as the civil work will be able to be completed in the same time window while the generator is being manufactured.
This pre-purchase of the generator and related switchgear will expedite the project by at least two months after considering the length of time that the submittal process would normally take for a generator this size. If we were to allow this to be provided by the General Contractor of the entire project, their site work would be completed before the generator and switchgear arrived on-site. This allows the two items to work in parallel and for the generator to arrive at roughly the same time as when the site civil work is being finalized.
The funding for this project is included in the budget under the Water Treatment Plant Emergency Generator Power System as part of the Water Capital Improvement Program.
Prior City Council Action
On September 22, 2020, City Council approved the selection of Gupta and Associates for professional services associated with the standby generator at the Water Treatment Plant and Lake Pump Station project and authorized the City Manager to execute a professional services agreement in the amount of $652,914 for design and engineering services for the emergency generator at the Water Treatment Plant and Lake Pump Station.
On March 23, 2021, staff provided an update regarding the possibility of expediting the project and feasibility options for a temporary power generation system installation to get completed before the permanent installation.
On May 11, 2021, City Council approved the Professional Services Supplemental Agreement with Gupta and Associates for professional services associated with the modification of the scope of work and the modification of the original schedule to expedite the generator project as much as possible.
On August 10, 2021, City Council approved the construction contract for the Lake Pump Station Emergency Generator to McDonald Municipal and Industrial to provide emergency power to the Lake Pump Station.
On September 15, 2021, City Council approved the Facility Extension Agreement to Oncor Electric to provide a redundant electrical feed to the Surface water Treatment Plant.
Deadline for City Council Action
September 28, 2021
Funding Expected: Revenue __ Expenditure _X_ N/A __
Budgeted Item: Yes _X*_No __ N/A __
*This project is being funded with a combination of utility bond funds and utility fund balance.
Amount: _$2,175,930_______
1295 Form Required? Yes _X_ No __
Legal Review Required: N/A ___ Required _X__ Date Completed: _Item will be reviewed by legal counsel before City Manager signature.
Supporting documents attached:
Invitation for Bids, Addendum 1, Letter of Recommendation, Purchasing Rider, Presentation
Recommended Action
Staff recommends authorizing the City Manager to purchase an emergency power generator and related switchgear for the Surface Water Treatment Plant Emergency Generator to Cummins Southern Plains, LLC in the amount of $2,175,930.