Consider Recommendation for City Council to Accept Bids and Award Contract for Water Treatment Plant Trunk Watermain Improvements, Improvement Project #21-08

Purpose:
The purpose of this case is to consider a recommendation for the City Council to accept bids and award a construction contract for Water Treatment Plant Trunk Watermain Improvements, Improvement Project #21-08. 
 
Background:
On March 9, 2021, the Ramsey City Council adopted Resolution #21-061 awarding a contract to SEH Inc. to prepare plans and specifications for Improvement Project #21-08, Water Treatment Plant Trunk Watermain Improvements.
 
On October 26, 2021, the Ramsey City Council adopted Resolution #21-303 approving final plans and specifications and authorizing advertisements for bids using a base bid and an alternate bid as follows;

• Base bid – The base bid specified a combination of construction techniques whereby open trenching of watermain is specified along the south side of Bunker Lake Boulevard and the north side of 143^rd Avenue, while directional drilling of watermain is specified at intersections, through Cottonwood Park, under Sunwood Drive, and under the stormwater pond between Hoya and Anderson Dahlen north of 143^rd Avenue.
• Alternate bid – The alternate bid specified directional drilling of watermain across as much of the project area as feasible.

 
On January 25, 2022, the Ramsey City Council adopted Resolution #22-003 rejecting all bids and authorizing Staff to work with SEH, Inc. to revise the approved plans to reduce project costs and to monitor the bidding environment to identify the most favorable time to bid the project again.

On July 25, 2023, the Ramsey City Council adopted Resolution #23-168 executing a new Professional Services Agreement with SEH, Inc. to revise the previously approved plans and to re-bid said improvements for 2024 construction in advance of the Water Treatment Plant commissioning in the Spring of 2025.
 
The plan revisions from the 2021 bid set are the result of staff additions to the water system and contractor feedback from previous bids. The changes consist of the following elements:
 

1. Adding an underground meter vault near well #8 on the existing water main in the park, including associated instrumentation for operation ease.

 

2. Adding a new water main between Bunker Lake Boulevard and 147th Terrace to complete the loop. The water main is anticipated to be installed on City owned property where Well No. 3 is located. Also, a new 1-inch service line is proposed to be installed off this line to the existing well house for priming the Well No. 3 pumps.

 

3. Re-design the water main in Town Center Drive south of Bunker Lake Boulevard and remove the water main in the open space easement to open this parcel up for future development.

 

4. Install a new 1-inch service line off Town Center Drive to the wellhouse building at Well No. 5 for pump priming purposes.

 

5. Modify the plans for the 24-inch raw water main on the trail north of Sunwood Drive to use open cut installation rather than Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD), with the exception of under Sunwood Drive, which will still be HDD to avoid impacting the recently reconstructed street.

 

6. Include trenchless installation of the water main crossing Bunker Lake Boulevard at 143rd Avenue to avoid impacts to the recent improvements to Bunker Lake Boulevard.

 

7. The trunk water main under 143rd Avenue will now be fully installed via open cut trench installation followed up with full depth bituminous pavement replacement due to the age and condition of the existing pavement, and to avoid reconstructing one side of the street and overlaying the other, putting the two sides of the street on different maintenance schedules.  Due to construction traffic using this route for the WTP construction and maintaining access to adjacent commercial properties, phased pavement removal is anticipated to maintain a hard driving surface to the greatest extent possible.

 

On September 26, 2023, the Ramsey City Council adopted Resolution #23-236 approving final plans and specifications as prepared by SEH, Inc. and authorized the advertisement of bids.

Bids were advertised in Finance and Commerce and the Anoka Union Herald on Friday, September 29, and Friday, October 6, 2023, and were also advertised and managed online on QuestCDN.
 
On November 1, 2023, seven (7) bids were received. All bids were competitive, and the low bid received, both for the base bid and the alternate bid, was submitted by Northdale Construction Company Inc. of Albertville, Minnesota.
 
 

CONTRACTOR	TOTAL BASE BID	TOTAL ALTERNATE BID
Northdale Construction Co. Inc.	$6,671,413.99	$6,671,414.00
Park Construction Company	$7,106,594.45	$7,106,594.46
Geislinger & Sons	$7,230,597.00	$7,264,597.00
S.M. Hentges & Sons, Inc.	$7,357,844.80	$7,357,845.80
RL Larson Excavating, Inc.	$7,613,079.74	$7,613,079.75
Meyer Contracting Inc.	$7,929,324.30	$7,929,324.31
Minger Construction Co., Inc.	$8,768,848.98	$8,768,848.98
Engineer’s Estimate	$7,519,839.00	$7,519,839.00

Notifications are not required for this case.  

Staff anticipates up to 15 minutes will be required to present this case and respond to questions.

Alternatives:
Alternative #1 – Motion to recommend that the City Council accept bids and award a construction contract for Improvement Project #21-08 to Northdale Construction Company Inc. in the amount of $6,671,414.00 for the Alternate bid.
 
Alternative #2 – Motion of other.   
 

The engineer’s construction cost estimate for the base bid was $7,519,839.  A 10% contingency was added to estimated unit prices to address changes that may result during construction.
 
The alternate bid was added to include prevailing wages in case state grant funding is utilized. It was anticipated that this alternate bid would add an additional 5-10% to unit prices.  However, the bids received included alternate bid prices ranging from $0.00 to $34,000.  Northdale Construction Company Inc.’s alternate bid price was $0.01.

Funding for this project is proposed to come from water enterprise funds and potentially from state grant funding, if legislatively appropriated.  For almost two decades, municipal water users have contributed to a future water treatment plant, which includes off-site trunk watermain improvements required to provide the plant with raw water, and to transport treated (finished) water out to the distribution mains. In addition, the legislature approved sales and use tax exemptions for the Water Treatment Plant project.  Staff is working to have these exemptions apply to the trunk watermain improvements as well.   

Staff and SEH recommend approving alternative #1.  Upon approval from the Public Works Committee, Staff will present a case to the City Council to accept bids and award a contract for construction on November 28, 2023.   

Motion to recommend that the City Council accept bids and award a construction contract for Improvement Project #21-08 to Northdale Construction Company Inc. in the amount of $6,671,414.00 for the Alternate bid.