That the Utility Authority:
A.  Approve and authorize an additional $18,400.00 in funding to an existing purchase order with PLCs Plus International, from $67,261.70 to $85,661.70, to perform necessary change orders for the upgrade of the Utility Authority's Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) water telemetry system; and

B.  Approve and authorize staff to execute a change order to PLCs Plus International to perform additional work necessary to complete SCADA system upgrades.

On March 16, 2020, the La Habra Utility Authority awarded a contract to PLCs Plus International in the amount of $67,261.70 to implement new SCADA software and to integrate the software with the Utility Authority's water production and treatment facilities.  When complete, the upgraded SCADA system will allow staff to:

• Control system processes locally or from remote locations
• Monitor, gather, and process data in real-time
• Directly interact with sensors, valves, pumps, and motors through interface software
• Record events into a log file
• Receive alarms remotely for site intrusion, mechanical failures, and other issues

PLCs Plus has been working diligently to complete the SCADA system upgrades but has encountered unanticipated difficulties while trying to upgrade the existing system. In many instances, the older software programming is incompatible with the newer system and the code must be rewritten in its entirety.  An effort to download new software into an existing processing unit at one of the eleven sites failed due to incompatible firmware within the processing unit; therefore, existing firmware must be modified at each site to accept the new programming, which will require additional staff time and expense.

To complete the Utility Authority's SCADA system upgrade project, it is estimated that an additional 120 hours of engineering and programming will be required, at a cost of $18,400.  Staff recommends an increase in funding for this project in the amount of $18,400 and a modification of the existing purchase order to reflect a total funding amount of $85,661.70.

There is no impact to the General Fund.  The Fiscal Year 2020-2021 adopted Water Enterprise Operations and Maintenance Fund has sufficient funding to support the additional funding of $18,400 necessary to complete upgrades to the Utility Authority's SCADA system.

WS 1.9 Infrastructure Maintenance