Staff recommends the City Council award a contract for W.O. 20-44: WRF Nutrient Recovery Improvements Project, to HDR Engineering in the amount of $638,300.00.

W.O. 20-44: WRF Nutrient Recovery Improvements Project, includes piloting and design of a thickened waste activate sludge (TWAS) dewatering system to remove phosphorus via the resultant TWAS dewatered cake.  This dewatered cake can be blended with compost, thereby providing a beneficial reuse opportunity for the phosphorus recovered from the WRF.  A pilot study of dewatering equipment will help determine which dewatering technology to use.

HDR Engineering was selected for the project using the proposal process.  Three other proposals were received from Jacobs, AE2S and Burns & McDonnell.  The selection was based on project team and availability, project approach, and firm qualifications and experience as related to project needs.

City Council may:

• Award W.O. 20-44: WRF Nutrient Recovery Improvements Project, to HDR Engineering in the amount of $638,300. or;
• Do not award a contract.  If the project is not awarded, the City will not take advantage of an opportunity to recover and beneficially reuse phosphorous, a valuable natural resource, from the treatment process at the WRF.  Long-term equipment maintenance costs would also be reduced by removing phosphorous from the process stream.

The project design was budgeted in FY20 using wastewater funds.  The amount budgeted was $500,000.00.  A dewatering equipment pilot project and certain tasks typically associated with the construction contract were included in this project design, so the contract amount is higher than the amount originally planned. There are available wastewater funds from other projects that bid under budget.