Westminster City Council
SUBJECT
Title
Amendment No. 1 to the Agreement with the Municipal Water District of Orange County (MWDOC) for the Sharing of Consultant Costs to Complete the Lead and Copper Service Line Inventory.
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publichearing
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From: Jake Ngo, Public Works Director/City Engineer
Requested by: Administration
Prepared by: Scott Miller, Water Superintendent
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RECOMMENDED ACTION
Recommendation
A. Approve Amendment No. 1 to the existing agreement with Municipal Water District of Orange County in the amount of $206,362; and
B. Authorize the City Manager to execute the Amendment on behalf of the City.
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BACKGROUND
On January 15, 2021, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) published revisions to the Lead and Copper Rule known as the Lead Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR). Under the LCRR, US EPA requires all community water systems to conduct a comprehensive inventory of both publicly-owned and privately-owned service line materials regardless of ownership. In addition, each participating agency has the responsibility to prepare the initial Service Line Inventories (SLIs) by October 16, 2024.
The LCRR requires water systems to identify any lead, galvanized steel pipe requiring replacement, or “lead status unknown” service lines and to make the inventory information publicly available. If a water system serves more than 50,000 people, their inventory must be published online. The City of Westminster (City) currently provides water to an estimated 93,000 residents via approximately 20,000 service lines.
MWDOC is a wholesale water supplier and resource planning agency that serves Orange County through 27 retail water agencies. The City is a member agency of MWDOC. MWDOC and participating agencies have a successful history of collaboration and cost sharing and thereby reduce preparation time and costs for each of the participating agencies. In fact, member agencies with MWDOC share infrastructure and are similarly situated with regard to legacy lead pipe material.
MWDOC, on behalf of the participating agencies, has negotiated with Hazen and Sawyer to obtain a cost-saving proposal. By joining this agreement, the City will receive a cost savings of $31,765.
On December 13, 2023, the Mayor and City Council approved the existing agreement with Municipal Water District of Orange County in the amount of $140,560. In order to comply with the orders from the EPA regarding the identification of any lead and galvanized steel pipe, it is necessary to increase the agreement by $206,362.
The scope of work includes:
Phase 1 - Building a Service Line Inventory
This phase of the project was to conduct a comprehensive inventory of both publicly and privately owned service line materials regardless of “ownership.” This data was compiled to develop the Lead Service Line Inventory Database and Initial inventory. Under the LCRR, the City has a responsibility to make the SLIs available to the public by October 16, 2024. Phase 1 included the process of developing an alternative approach to the current material verification methods and getting them approved by the Division of Drinking Water (DDW).
The data from Phase 1 was created using data gathering, records review, and historical code review. A statistical analysis with a 95% confidence interval was carried out and showed that the City of Westminster must field verify 3,286 sites. After the alternative methods were proposed to the DDW, a second statistical analysis was conducted and showed that the City of Westminster needed to only field verify 1,643 sites.
Phase 2 - Lead Service Line (LSL) Occurrence Analysis
This phase of the project is the management of field inspections and data integration. The 1,643 field verifications must comply with the required service line verification points from the DDW. These field verifications are the reason for the cost increase. In order to create the database, the City needs to inspect identified service lines, take the data from the field verification process, and integrate it into the database.
FISCAL IMPACT
Funds for Amendment No. 1 in the amount of $206,362 are available in CIP Account Number 55502-551200, “Periodic Repair/Replace.”
LEGAL REVIEW
The City Attorney’s Office has reviewed as to form.
CONCLUSION
Next step is to approve Amendment No. 1 to the agreement with MWDOC for sharing costs to comply with the US EPA’s LCRR and prepare the SLIs by October 16, 2024; and with the approval of the agreement, the total agreement amount with MWDOC will now be $346,922.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Proposed Amendment No. 1
2. MWDOC Agreement
REVIEWED BY
Erin Backs, Finance Director
Christian Bettenhausen, City Attorney
Christine Cordon, City Manager