REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
SUBMITTED TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
SUBMITTED BY: Eric G. Parra, Interim City Manager
VIA: Chau Vu, Director of Public Works
PREPARED BY: Rafael Suarez, Capital Projects Administrator
Subject:
title
Reject lowest bid for the Atlanta Pump Station Trash Removal Project, CC-1737; reject all remaining bids, re-scope, and re-submit the project for OCTA funding
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Statement of Issue:
On November 27, 2023, the Public Works Department received five bid openings for the Atlanta Pump Station TrashTrap project, with TTS Engineering submitting the lowest bid at $1,627,797.90. Unfortunately, their bid exceeds the City's budget, which is set at $884,000. Therefore, the department requests City Council action to reject all bids, enabling staff to re-scope and resubmit the project for grant funding within the confines of the budget.
Financial Impact:
There are no fiscal impacts related to the recommended action.
Recommended Action:
recommendation
Reject all bids for the Atlanta Pump Station Trash Removal Project, CC-1737.
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Alternative Action(s):
Do not accept the recommended action, and direct staff accordingly.
Analysis:
The City applied for and received a $500,000 grant from the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) to comply with the State’s trash provisions to prevent trash discharge to the ocean by installing a 15x15-foot vault within the existing 96-inch storm drain. The scope of work for the project includes construction and installation of an in-line trash removal device (TrashTrap) at the Atlanta Pump Station located at 8151 Atlanta Avenue. The device is an extra-large fixed basket designed to remove trash and debris larger than 5mm in size.
The bids exceeded the engineer’s estimate and grant award. The engineer’s estimate was $868,000 and the lowest bid was $1.6M. Staff explored options to reduce the project scope but found it infeasible due to limited space for constructing the vault. Alternative designs were considered; however, factors such as high groundwater and the proximity to a flood control facility necessitate maintaining the recommended dewatering and shoring design.
Based on this information and the strict timeline for completion required by OCTA awarded grant, staff will need to reject bids, decline the OCTA grant awarded, and resubmit a new project application in a future grant cycle.
Staff is evaluating a redesign to include a screening mechanism, instead of a TrashTrap device, within the existing forebay. The redesign would eliminate the need to dewater groundwater and shoring that significantly contributed to the higher-than-anticipated bids for the Atlanta Pump Station Trash Removal Project.
Environmental Status:
This project is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Section 15304 under Class 4 of the CEQA Guidelines, California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Chapter 3, because it has no potential to have a significant effect on the environment.
Strategic Plan Goal:
Non Applicable - Administrative Item
Attachment(s):
1. PowerPoint Presentation