SR 07-11-2017 3N
Ci ty Council
Report
City Council Meeting : July 11, 2017
Agenda Item: 3.N
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To: Mayor and City Council
From: Susan Cline, Director , Public Works, Water Resources
Subject: Award Construction Contract for Three Coastal Sub Basin Exploratory
Borings/Wells and Destruction and Replacement of City Groundwater Supply
Well SM -7
Recomme nded Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Award Bid #SP2455 to Yellow Jacket Drilling Services, an Arizona -based
company, for the drilling of three exploratory borings/wells and to plug and
replace the City’s existing SM -7 groundwater supply wel l ;
2. Authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute agreement contract with
Yellow Jacket Drilling Services, in an amount not to exceed $4,197,842 (including
a $547,545 contingency).
3. Authorize budget changes as outlined in the Financial I mpacts & Budget Actions
section of this report.
Executive Summary
The City of Santa Monica (“City”) has solicited bids from California licensed well drilling
contractor s to drill three deep (~600 f oot ) exploratory borings, and to plug and replace
the City’s existing SM -7 groundwater supply well. The borings will be located at various
locations in the coastal sub -basin, where the City has not previously developed water
production wells. The locations include the Colorado Maintenance Yard, the Santa
Monica Airport, and on a City -owned parcel on 19 th Street. The SM -7 replacement well
will be located along Olympic Boulevard. The dual goals of this project are to obtain
subsurface data in order to understand the hydrogeological conditions in the Coastal
sub -basin , and to incr ease groundwater production from the City’s Olympic Wellfield by
replacing an ineffectual existing well.
In April 2017, the City solicited competitive bids for such services. After reviewing the
four (4) bids received, s taff recommends awarding the contr act to Yellow Jacket Drilling
Services in an amount not to exceed $4,197,842 (including a $547,545 contingency).
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Background
O n October 28, 201 4 , the Santa Monica City Council adopted the City’s Sustainable
Water Master Plan (SWMP) (Attachment A). The SWMP entailed a multi -faceted
approach address ing the City’s goal of achieving water self -sufficiency by the year
2020. To work towards achieving this goal, the City’s strategy relies upon a combination
of continued water conservation, the conjunctive reuse of nonconventional resources
such as brackish/saline impaired groundwater, recycled municipal wastewater, dry and
wet weather runoff, and additional local groundwater production. Data gathered by the
drilling of the exploratory borings would assist the City with its sustainable water
strategy by providing important hydrogeologic al information the City can utilize to refine
its assessment of aquifer sustainable yield volumes, and lay the foundation for a
detailed numerical hydrogeologic al model of the City’s a quifers and available
groundwater resources.
Discussion
The dual objectives of this project are to drill exploratory borings to obtain subsurface
data in order to provide for a refined assessment of local hydrogeologic al conditions and
to replace a less than effective City water supply well (SM -7) in the Olympic Wellfield.
Based on hydrogeologic al information obtained from the exploratory borings, the City
may also complete one of the exploratory borings as an aquifer recharge well in support
of the City ’s Sustainable Water Infrastructure Project (SWIP). The SWIP is a multi -
faceted water resources enhancement project , which takes an integrated approach to
treating stormwater runoff, brackish groundwater, and municipal wastewater for
beneficial reuse. Det ails of SWIP were presented to Council on September 27, 2016
and can be found in Attachment B .
The exploratory boring site s would be located at the Santa Monica Airport, the Colorado
Yards , and on a vacant City -owned parcel on 19 th Street near Santa Moni ca College.
The Olympic Wellfield boring would be located in a median on Olympic Boulevard near
Stewart Street. Specific information regarding each location is provide d below.
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The Airport boring would be located at the Santa Monica Airport, 3223 Donald
Dou glas Loop S outh , approximately 430 f eet southeast of the intersection of
Ashland Avenue and Clover Street.
The Colorado Yard s boring would be located in the staff parking lot of the
City’s Colorado Yard s at 1601 14 th Street. If the geology is favorable thi s
boring w ould be completed as an aquifer recharge well in support of the City’s
S WIP.
The City -owned parcel boring would be located at 2018 19 th St reet ,
approximately 290 f eet northwest of the intersection of Pic o Boulevard and
19th Street. If the geology is determined to be favorable, the City Water
Resources Division w ould work to obtain this parcel from the City Housing
and Economic Development Department .
The Olympic Wellfield replacement supply well would be located in a center
median parkway along Ol ympic B oulevard , approximately 300 feet southwest
of its intersection with Stewart Street. The new well w ould be located
approximately 50 f eet southwest of the existing well SM -7, which w ould also
be plugged as part of this contract .
The proposed location s for the Santa Monica Airport, Colorado Yards, City Parcel, and
Olympic Wellfield sites are shown in Attachment C , “Proposed Well Location s ”. Work is
expected to commence in late summer 2017 and be completed by early winter 2017. In
order to expedite work and minimize the potential for protracted inconvenience to the
community, the drilling contractor w ould be required to operate two drill rigs
simultaneously.
In advance of the drilling wo r k, informational notices in English and Spanish w ould be
mailed to residents and businesses within a 500 -foot radius of each drilling site. As part
of the contract agreement, the drilling contractor is required to abide by the specific
noise requirements and policies for construction activities set forth in the City of S anta
Monica Municipal Code Article 4, Chapter 4.12. Noise abate ment panels would be
utilized at all locations except at the Olympic Wellfield, which is located in an industrial
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corridor, bounded by the Metro Expo Line and an active construction site, and h as
limited available safe workspace as it is located in the Olympic Boulevard traffic median .
Noise suppression shall be practiced at all times to mini mize disturbance s to persons
living or working nearby, and to the gen eral pub lic. In addition, due to the proximity of
residents to the City -owned parcel s ite, construction activities w ould be restricted to
daylight hours, with the possible exception of test pumping activities related to aquifer
zone testing and constant rate pump testing, which require c ontinuous water flow over
24 hours or longer for reliable data.
Vendor Selection
On April 17, 2017, the City published Notices Inviting Bids to furnish and provide drilling
and well construction work in accordance with City specifications. The bid was po sted
on the City's on line bidding web site, and notices were advertised in the Santa Monica
Daily Press in accordance with City Charter and Municipal Code provisions. A
mandatory job walk was held on Thursday, May 4, 2017. A total of five (5) vendors
att ended. These vendors were:
BC 2 Environmental
Cascade Drilling
Layne Christensen Company
Southwest Pump and Drilling
Yellow Jacket Drilling Services
A total of four b ids were received and publicly opened on May 19, 2017. Bid results are
as follows (no t i ncluding a 15 % contingency):
Bidders Base Bid
Yellow Jacket Drilling Services $3,614,297.00
Southwest Pump and Drilling $4,199,614.00*
Layne Christensen Company $4,409,684.12
Cascade Drilling $5,283,726.00
*Includes $79,150 cost for plugging of wel l SM -7 not included in base bid.
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Bids were evaluated based on the criteria in SMMC 2.24.072, including price, previous
experience, ability to deliver, quality of product, and compliance with City specifications.
Staff contacted references that were pro vided by Yellow Jacket Drilling Services .
Reference agencies reported that Yellow Jacket Drilling Services’ work was produced in
a timely and cost -efficient manner where quality was maintained throughout. Staff also
verified that Yellow Jacket Drilling Ser vices contractor license is active and in good
standing. Based on these criteria, Yellow Jacket Drilling Services , the lowest bidder, is
recommended as the best bidder.
Project Funding
The cost of this project would not exceed $4,197,842 including Yellow Jacket Drilling
Services’ base bid, well abandonment or closure at the City Parcel location (19 th Street)
after completion of the exploratory drilling ($36,000), and 15% contingency. Actual
costs would be lowered if conditions found do not permit full pr oduction well
construction at any of the four proposed sites (e.g. insufficient water or poor water
quality). To offset some of these costs, staff reviewed existing Water Fund Capital
Improvement Program budgets and identified approximately $1.88M in savi ngs would
be re -purposed due to bids coming in under budget and savings from completed
projects. The remaining project cost would be funded by the Water Fund.
Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
The contract to be awarded to Yellow Jacket Drilling Serv ices is for an amount not to
exceed $4,197,842 . Award of the contract requires an appropriation of $4,197,842 from
the Water Fund to account C259213.589000 in the FY 2017 -18 Capital Improvement
Program Budget .
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Prepared By: Thomas Watson, Water Resources Protection Programs
Coordinator
Approved
Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. Attachment A - October 28, 2014 Staff Report
B. Attachment B - September 27, 2016 Staff Report
C. Attachment C - Proposed Well Locations
D. Attachment D - Oaks Initiative Disclosure
City Parcel Site
2018 19 th Street, Santa Monica, CA 90404
Airport Site
3223 Donald Douglas Loop S, Santa Monica, CA 90405
Proposed Well
Location
Colorado Yard Well Site
1601 14 th Street, Santa Monica, CA 90404
Olympic Wellfield SM -7R Well
2800 Block of Olympic Boulevard, Santa Monica, CA 90404
Proposed SM -7R
Well Site
Existing Well
SM -7
REFERENCE:
Agreement No. 10499
(CCS)