The wheels keep turning on the long-anticipated Civic Center Wastewater Treatment Facility (CCWWTF). Council voted Monday to purchase land for the project and approve construction and consulting bids, meaning construction is set to begin later in 2016.
“I can’t believe we’re actually voting on this,” Mayor Laura Rosenthal said, before a unanimous 5-0 “yes” vote on the item.
“It’s been a long haul,” Rosenthal continued.
At the Monday, May 23, City Council meeting, City Manager Reva Feldman presented the final bid packages that make up the sewer project and council approved the cost of $47,372,466.30 for construction.
A sizeable portion of that cost will be covered by grants, Feldman announced to council at the meeting.
“We did get our signed executed funding agreement from the state Water Resources Control Board on Monday,” Feldman said. “Part of that funding agreement provided that we’ll be getting nine-and-a-half million dollars in grants.”
That $9.5 million figure is more than three times Feldman’s original estimate for loan funds that would be issued to the city.
“It’s a considerable increase from what we were estimating,” Feldman said.
The remainder of the construction cost will be paid through an assessment district made up of Civic Center landowners, including a modest share owned by the City of Malibu — but most will be fronted by the city.
“Funding for the CCWWTF project will be provided through the assessment district with a combination of loans and grants from the State Revolving Fund and bond financing issued by the assessment district,” the staff report for the meeting explained. “The city will be responsible for payments to the contractors and consultants and the city will be reimbursed by the State Revolving Fund on a regular basis.”
Those loans, about $50 million worth, were issued at 1.3 percent interest over 30 years, a rate Feldman said was “very favorable and much better than we anticipated when we did our estimates.”
Bidding controversy
Aside from the good news shared by city staff, there was one complaint at the meeting, coming from a construction firm whose bid was not selected.
According to Acting Public Works Director Rob DuBoux, Kana Engineering Group, Inc., protested the bid that was awarded to Myers and Sons Construction, LP, for the treatment plant project.
Kana argued that Myers, whose bid was about $300,000 shy of theirs, had various issues, including insufficient financial qualifications and experience. They were also unhappy that Myers used a city fax machine to submit its bid, which they said was “an unfair competitive advantage.”
“Kana’s argument is that Myers was able to use the city’s fax machine to obtain last minute bidding information,” a city staff report stated.
Representatives from Myers said that the use of a fax machine was a “contractor’s risk.”
“At times we do use them, and no agency has ever rejected that use,” a Myers representative said.
Kevin Shenkman, a local attorney representing Kana, suggested the city throw out all bids and begin again.
“Tonight, I’m actually advocating all bids be rejected, including that of my client,” Shenkman said.
Feldman said that is not an option.
“As you know, as we’ve brought this forward time and time again, we’ve been under a very strict deadline with the State Water Control Board,” Feldman said. “I don’t think this is the time to turn around and start over. I don’t know if we could, quite frankly.”
Council agreed with Feldman and rejected Kana’s protest, authorizing Feldman to draw up a contract with Myers and Sons for $21,712,904.30.
Other companies with winning bids were: Vido Artukovich & Son, Inc., in the amount of $20,451.881 for construction of the CCWWTF Phase 1 pipelines and pump stations project; Cascade Drilling, LP, for the amount of $2,128,341 for construction of the CCWWTF Phase 1 injection wells project; $1,150,000 to RMC Water and Environment for professional engineering design; and $1,929,340 to Mimiaga Engineering Group for construction management services.
The city also voted to approve purchase of the site for the sewer, a 4.2 acre current wastewater treatment facility at Winter Canyon, for $4 million. That cost will also be paid through the assessment district.