That the City Council and Utility Authority reject all bids for OC-4 Rehabilitation, City Project No. 2-W-23.

The City’s water system has two metered control stations connected to an imported water source from the Municipal Water District of Orange County (MWDOC), the connections operate as emergency water sources should we have either mechanical or electrical problems from our three wells or the La Bonita Pump Station through our connection to California Domestic Water Company (CDWC).

One control station is located at the intersection of West Central Avenue and Puente Street in the City of Brea, and is referred to as OC-4.  OC-4 has a flow capacity of 9,000 gallons per minute. The second control station is at the intersection of Harbor Boulevard and Lambert Road and is referred to as OC-45.  OC-45 has a flow capacity of 6,700 gallons per minute.  Each one of these stations has the capability to supply additional water to offset demands whenever the demand is more than then the capacity of our groundwater sources and CDWC supplies. The combined capacity of OC-4 and OC-45 can provide a sufficient water supply during an emergency, should we lose supplies from the La Habra Groundwater Basin and CDWC.  MWDOC water supply has an advantage, as the pressure from their system is higher than the City’s and does not need pumping to deliver water into the City’s main pressure zone.

The OC-4 electrical and mechanical systems are antiquated, and control valves need to be replaced to provide reliability during routine/emergency use. This station was constructed more than fifty years ago.  The control valves have become problematic and unreliable whenever they are operated due to the age of internal parts. The electrical control system also needs to be replaced due to conduit corrosion and insulation deterioration.  Similar improvements were completed to OC-45 in Fiscal Year 2015-2016 at an expense of approximately $235,500.

The 23/24 FY budget for OC-4 Rehabilitation is $500,000. The bid opening was held on June 28, 2023, and two bids were received for OC-4 Rehabilitation, as shown below:
 

Contractor	Bid Amount
Cora Constructors, Inc.	$814,500
T.E. Roberts	$999,923

Since the low bidder of $814,500 was 63% over the budgeted amount of $500,000, staff recommends rejecting all bids due to the unexpected high bid cost. Staff will conduct a re-evaluation of the electrical, valving and controls to determine if there are any opportunities to reduce the project costs. This may include the purchase of all necessary equipment, and rebidding the labor portion of the project.

There is no fiscal impact to the General Fund for this project.  There was $500,000 budgeted in the FY 23/24 CIP budget in the Water Fund to cover the construction of this project.