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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1974-0228 MEMO - WATERFebruary 28, .1974 Honorable Mayor ~ City Council q rnrn: Brian L. Almquist, City Administrator Work Program Priorities for Water Quality Division At our last Council meeting on February 19, I presented an oral report concerning the effect that flood damage restoration work has had on the Water Quality Division, and its ability to complete programmed major construction projects and respond to customer demands for water and sewer service connections. Itwas requested that the oral information be set forth in written form. and presented to you prior to the March 5 Council meeting. Introduction. The purpose of my presentation was to simply provide the Council with information concerning shift in work program priorities nec- essitated by the press of critical flood damage repairs. This shift in priorities will mean that: (1) major construction projects planned for completion prior to June 30, 1974 will need to be rebudgeted for FY 1974-75, (2) Contractor applications for service lateral installations will be delayed, and (3) there are several other prior commitments which will need tO be fulfilled in addition to our ongoing flood repair work. Major Capital Projects. GRANDVIEW SEWAGE LIFT STATION. This project was to fulfill two pur- poses; to provide sewer service to twelve existing homes, and to permit the development of the Thunderbird Heights Subdivision. This project would have involved most of the crew and taken over 2 full months to complete. Costs were estimated at $16,500 for material only. "BEALE" PIPELINE TO CROWSON RESERVOIR. This is part of our 3-year project to replace a defective transmission line serving the Bellview area for which we received a cash settlement. This project involves a backhoe and a 3 or 4 man crew, and has been carried out on a sporadic basis as crews were .available. Prior to the flood about 6S7' was instal- led, but no work has been done since the flood. $40,000 was budgeted for materials only. NEW WATER MAINS & APPURTENANCES. We annually budget for short extensions of mains tp serve new developments, and to replace lines and services prior to paving, both on assessment district and revenue sharing paving. The work needed prior to paving cannot be postponed, but some consider- ation should be given to delaying extensions for new developments. $10,000 is budgeted for materials only. Page two Water Quality. Projects NEW SEWER MAINS & APPURTENANCES. This is Similar to item S on page 1 except that many hundreds of feet of sewer lines were proposed as an adjunct to the Grandview pump station project listed as item 1 on page 1. $20,000 is budgeted for materials only. SEWER REHABILITATION & INSPECTION. This is the program implemented two years ago as a result of recommendation in the Sewage System Study completed by CH2M-Hill. It includes TV inspection, sealing and an extensive sewer rodding program. It involves two full time employees on the rodding crew as well as supervision of the contractors involved in the inspection and sealing program. It would be helpful if we could temporarily suspend this program for the duration of the emergency and utilize these people on flood damage repair work. $65,166 is budgeted for contracted repairs. WATER & SEWER CONNECTIONS. This is the work of actually peiforming the taps on water and sewer main lines for new structures. The volume of these requests is based on demand by developers and has been at a level of about 50-60 per year. Currently we have about 20 requests which have been held in abeyance due to the press of flood damage restoration work. We also have a number of those which must be put in prior to street paving. We also are beginning to get a number of requests from owners of vacant lots who are on our 1974 revenue sharing paving program, and have been notified of our S-year paving cut prohibition. OTHER BUDGETED IMPROVEMENTS. There are also a number of smaller projects such as improvements in the water filtration plant, which also must now be delayed to a subsequent budget year. Prior Commitments. TOPICS PROJECT~ In connection with the widening of Siskiyou from Wight- man to Walker, we are committed to the replacement and relocation of two major sewer lines near Francis Lane and at Walker. A new water line must be installed across Siskiyou between Indiana & Highway 66. BIKEWAY PROJECT. This project has been let to contract by the State and we are committed to the replacement of a number of services, as well as the relocation of a number of meter boxes. Recommendation. Our purpose in outlining the major construction projects was to simply alert ~he Council that although we do not expect to complete these projects by June 30, 1974, it is still our hope to accomplish most of this work during the 1974 construction season. Second, as to the requests by contractors for water and sewer connections, it is recommended that future applicants be appraised of the present backlog and required emergency work, and that they will be served on a first come first served basis at such time as crews are relieved from critical emergency work. Mr. Alsing has previously outlined the reasons why the above work may not be contracted, which were: Tapping of a water line is a specialized agencies are equipped. task for which only municipal Page three Water Quality Projects Our fees are based upon actual costs of city force account labor, materials and equipment rental, and a city-wide average cost for this work. We could not provide this service within our present fee struct- ure, if the work were contracted to journeymen plumbers, backhoe oper- ators, etc. The budgeted sums for the major projects are for materials only, and we do not have the resources to bid these'jobs as public works contracts. Since work on our municipal water system is technical work, it is not possible to hire, supervise and provide transportation and equipment for additional labor crews. The only possible Outside contract might be some of the off-site sewer lines adjacent to the proposed Thunderbird Heights subdivision. Here the ordinance does require the developer to pay the costs of serving the subdivision frgm existing off-site lines, and a cost reimbursement agreement is entered into by the City and the developer for future con- nections. In the event the developer would wish to proceed with the work rather than wait for City crews, he could consent to deposit the actual contract bid price and have a private contractor proceed with the work. As to the existing 12 homes in the Grandview Drive area, it will not be possible to serve homes during 1974, but we will attempt to serve these customers during the 197S construction season.