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Item 1.
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| City Council Work Session | |
| Date: | 05/01/2023 |
| Title: | Agreement with BBWA for Conveyance of Water to Reservoirs |
| Presented by: | Debi Meling |
| Department: | Public Works |
| Presentation: | Yes |
| Legal Review | Not Applicable |
RECOMMENDATION
No formal action will be taken for this item as it is informational only. The agreement with BBWA will be on the May 8, 2023, City Council agenda for approval.
BACKGROUND (Consistency with Adopted Plans and Policies, if applicable)
During development of the West End water project, mechanisms to convey water from the Yellowstone River to the West End reservoirs were investigated. The study evaluated benefits and drawbacks with each option and it was determined that the project should include a raw water intake, pump station and raw water pipeline to convey the water. After developing these systems far enough to bid or perform detailed costs estimates, it was determined the cost of the facility would be about $35 million. In addition to these costs being higher than anticipated, the costs of the entire project had increased significantly due to the unexpected and substantial inflation that occurred for material and labor across this industry. City staff went back to the initial assumptions that were made for the project to determine if there were opportunities to reduce the overall project costs substantially rather than just increasing rates to cover the higher costs. It was determined that using the BBWA would be the best option to save capital costs as well as ongoing operations and maintenance costs. There are significant challenges to using the BBWA which is why the recommendation was originally made to use an intake, pump station and pipeline. Weighing the challenges against the increased cost however made staff consider the BBWA to be a better option at this time. While the City staff and BBWA would like to see this conveyance option be permanent, there is a possibility that the intake, pump station and pipeline will need to be constructed in the next 20 years. The basis for the agreement was sent to the BBWA Board for review and is attached to this memo. The presentation will explain the challenges as well as the reason staff is recommending this option.
ALTERNATIVES
No formal action will be taken for this item as it is being presented for information only.
FISCAL EFFECTS
There is no fiscal effect with this item as there is no formal action being taken. Fiscal effects of the agreement will be presented with the item for action on May 8, 2023.