Background:
The City is responsible for the operation and maintenance of approximately 15,000 manholes within the wastewater collection system. The primary function of these manholes is an access point for the gravity lines carrying wastewater from a customer’s home or place of business to one of the City’s four (4) wastewater treatment plants. Manholes allow staff access into the collection system in order to break stoppages that cause wastewater overflows or backups and to perform regular maintenance as needed.
The adopted service level for manhole preventive maintenance includes inspection of half of the City’s manholes each year. The current condition of each manhole is recorded in the GIS Collector Application. Based on the results of the FY19 and FY20 condition assessment, there are approximately 11,000 manholes in good working condition and an additional 4,000 that are in need of some form of maintenance. The estimated cost to complete all of these repairs is $1,300,000.00.
Prior to FY20, the annual Utility Operating Budget allocated funds to complete annual inspections but did not identify specific funding for making the needed repairs. As part of the FY20 budget process, the Public Works Department submitted a Sugar Land Way Request to allocate a portion of the Utility Operating Fund to focus on manhole repair and maintenance. Staff requested a 10-year window to make all the necessary repairs, and funding was approved to complete $130,062.00 in manhole repairs in FY20.
The City maintains 8,000 water mainline valves. The primary function of these valves is to isolate sections of the system to make unforeseen repairs. Proper functioning valves are critical to our success. If a valve is broken or inaccessible, the staff has to utilize a valve farther from the repair site. This expands the number of citizens directly impacted by a repair. In addition to larger residential outages impacting the Sugar Land Way, malfunctioning valves can also impact commercial, industrial, and in worst cases, hospital water availability.
The adopted service level for water mainline valve preventive maintenance includes an inspection of each valve annually. The current condition of each valve is recorded in the GIS Collector Application. Based on the results of the FY19 condition assessment, there are approximately 4,700 valves in good working condition and an additional 3,300 that are in need of some form of maintenance. The estimated cost to complete all of these repairs is $728,000.00.
Prior to FY20, the annual Utility Operating Budget allocated funds to complete annual inspections but did not identify specific funding for making the needed repairs. As part of the FY20 budget process, the Public Works Department submitted a Sugar Land Way Request to allocate a portion of the Utility Operating Fund to focus on valve repair and maintenance. Staff requested a 7-year window to make all the necessary repairs, and funding was approved to complete $104,000.00 in manhole repairs in FY20.
Contract:
Public Works staff developed a series of specifications for third party repairs to City manholes and mainline water valves. In October 2019, the City advertised for bids from area contractors to complete the work outlined above. The City did not receive any bids during the initial solicitation.
The City advertised for bids a second time in December of 2019, and this time received a response from one contractor, Inframark, LLC. The bid included unit costs for manhole rehabilitation as well as mainline valve repairs or replacements.
The City has worked with Inframark, LLC, on a number of different projects, including the current on-call water and wastewater repair contract, meter replacement contract, and city-wide fire hydrant painting contract. The repair costs submitted by Inframark LLC. are comparable to the estimated costs included in the FY20 Sugar Land Way request as well as the current unit costs for repairs in the on-call repair contract. Below is a breakdown of the bid items.
The contract is structured as a unit price contract, which enables the Public Works Department to award the contract based on the available budget ($234,062.00) and to only pay for the specific repairs needed. Funding for this contract is available through the Utility Operating Budget.
Recommendation:
The Public Works Department recommends that the City Council authorize the execution of a contract between the City of Sugar Land and Inframark, LLC. in the amount of $234,062.00 for the repair and maintenance of City of Sugar Land Wastewater Manholes and Mainline Water Valves.