SR 01-23-2024 5B
City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: January 23, 2024
Agenda Item: 5.B
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To: Mayor and City Council
From: Rick Valte, Public Works Director, Public Works, Water Resources
Subject: Award Professional Services Contract to Vertech for Supervisory Control and
Data Acquisition (SCADA) Network and Server Infrastructure Upgrades for
Remote Monitoring, Operating, and Data Collection of Water and Wastewater
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Adopt a finding of categorical exemptions pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) and
Section 15301 (Existing Facilities) of the California Environmental Quality Act
(CEQA) Guidelines.
2. Award RFP #347 to Vertech to provide professional services for SCADA Network
and Server Infrastructure Upgrades for the Public Works Department.
3. Authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute an agreement with Vertech
in an amount not to exceed $364,000 (including a 10% contingency) over a
three-year period, with future year funding contingent on Council budget
approval.
Summary
The City of Santa Monica’s Water Resources Division within the Public Works
Department provides safe, reliable, and high-quality drinking water, wastewater
collection services, stormwater management, and recycled water to over 93,000
residents and over 2,700 businesses in the city. To support these services and maintain
reliable operations, the Water Resources Division utilizes a Supervisory Control and
Data Acquisition (SCADA) system for remote monitoring, operating, and data collection
for critical water and wastewater infrastructure throughout the city. The SCADA system
requires robust network and server infrastructure to run reliably and securely, execute
all required operational and process data computations, and maintain compliance with
applicable water and wastewater regulations. Staff recommends awarding a contract to
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Vertech in an amount not to exceed $364,000 (including 10% contingency) over a three-
year period for professional services to upgrade the SCADA network and server
infrastructure for the City’s Water Resources Division.
Discussion
Over the past decade, the Water Resources Division has been rapidly expanding its
water and wastewater infrastructure to increase local water supplies, enhance drought
resiliency, and reduce the City’s reliance on imported water supplies. The projects
include the Clean Beaches Tank to harvest stormwater and urban runoff in the Pier
drainage area, the Sustainable Water Infrastructure Project (SWIP) to increase water
recycling, the Olympic Well Field Restoration and Arcadia Water Treatment Plant
Expansion Project to increase local potable water production.
As the city’s water and wastewater infrastructure has expanded and increased in
complexity, the SCADA System has also advanced from a software and hardware
standpoint to support these innovative and industry leading water infrastructure projects
as well as ensuring the system’s resilience to natural disasters, cyberattacks, and
industrial process inefficiencies that can create downtime, service outages, or even
failures if not managed proactively. Routine and proactive enhancements to maintain a
modern SCADA system provide diagnostics and user-friendly means of controlling plant
processes, helping achieve optimal plant performance and inform operational decision-
making to support reliable and uninterrupted water and wastewater services for the
community.
To meet these and other needs, the consultant would provide new and replacement
network and server infrastructure at the City’s Arcadia Water Treatment Plant, Charnock
Wells Pretreatment Facility, Moss Avenue Pump Station (MAPS), Santa Monica Urban
Runoff Reclamation Facility (SMURRF), remote pump stations, wells, and four water
storage reservoirs. Each of these facilities contain critical industrial control system (ICS)
equipment and the IT devices to ensure enterprise-wide connectivity, both via an
internal network and external virtual private network (VPN) connection to authorized
personnel. These devices facilitate automated process control, communication, status
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monitoring, data reporting, and other functions that are critical for maintaining water and
wastewater treatment, distribution, and collections operations around the clock.
Specifically, the consultant would:
• Define network requirements including redundant network and SCADA server
hardware.
• Develop a network diagram depicting all SCADA network assets.
• Purchase, configure, license, and install various hardware and software, as
required, at the Arcadia Water Treatment Plant, Charnock Wells Pretreatment
Facility, MAPS, SMURRF, remote pump stations, wells, and reservoirs.
Staff recommends awarding an agreement to Vertech for these services to increase the
City’s SCADA system reliability and ensure uninterrupted water and wastewater
treatment, distribution, and collections operations.
Consultant Selection
Bidder Recommendation
Best Qualified Firm Vertech
Evaluation Criteria Experience and Technical Competence; Ability to Meet Work
Plan/Timelines; Quality Control; Cost of Services;
Stability/References; Value Add/Breadth of Service.
Municipal Code SMMC 2.24.190
RFPs Received
GHD Inc. KDC Systems Soffa Electric, Inc. Vertech
RFP Data
Posted On
Posted On
Advertised In
(City Charter & SMMC)
Vendors
Downloaded
Date Publicly
Opened
03/07/23 City's Online
Bidding Site
Santa Monica Daily
Press
56 04/04/23
Justification to Award
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The proposals were reviewed by a selection panel consisting of staff from the Water
Resources Division of the Public Works Department and from the Information Services
Department. The selection panel selected Vertech as the best qualified firm (based on
experience/technical competence, familiarity with the City’s water/wastewater network
infrastructure, cost of services, ability to meet project work plan, and
stability/references) to provide professional services for SCADA Network and Server
Infrastructure Upgrades as Vertech has vast experience with providing the required
professional services, including other projects for the City of Santa Monica, as well as
for other leading water/wastewater utilities in Southern California. These utilities
include Irvine Ranch Water District, the City of Westminster, the City of Oxnard, and
Orange County Water District.
Environmental Review
Professional services for SCADA Systems Integration and On-Call Support is
exempt from CEQA pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of the CEQA Guidelines and
Section 15301 of the CEQA Guidelines. The agreement is covered by the
commonsense exemption which states that CEQA does not apply, “where it can be
seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a
significant effect on the environment.” Section 15301 (Class 1 – Existing Facilities)
provides exemption for the operation, repair, maintenance, permitting, or minor
alteration of existing public or private structures, facilities, mechanical equipment, or
topographical features, involving negligible or no expansion of use beyond that
existing at the time of the lead agency's determination. The agreement would
continue the City’s maintenance and integration of the SCADA System for its
existing water and wastewater infrastructure. Therefore, it can be seen with certainty
that the agreement would not result in adverse physical impacts on the environment,
and as such, is categorically exempt from CEQA.
Financial Impacts & Budget Actions
Staff seeks authority to approve available funding from the Water and Wastewater Fund
to award a professional services agreement with Vertech to provide professional
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services for SCADA Network and Server Infrastructure Upgrades. Future year funding is
contingent on Council budget approval.
Agreement Request – Vertech
FY 2023-24 Budget
Request Amount
Department
Account #
Future Years
Amount
Total Contract
Amount
$150,000 50500001.537000 $32,000 $182,000
$150,000 51500001.537000 $32,000 $182,000
$300,000 $64,000 $364,000
Prepared By: Sunny Wang, Water Resources Manager
Approved
Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. Oaks Initiative Form - Vertech
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CITY OF SANTA MONICA
OAKS INITIATIVE DISCLOSURE FORM
In order to facilitate compliance with the requirements of the Oaks Initiative, the
City compiles and maintains certain information. That information includes the
name of any person or persons who is seeking a “public benefit.” If the “public
benefit” is sought by an entity, rather than an individual person, the information
includes the name of every personwhois:(a)trustee,(b)director,(c)partner,(d)
officer,orhas(e)morethanaten percent interest in theentity.
Public benefits include:
1.Personal services contracts in excess of $25,000 over any 12-monthperiod;
2.Sale of material, equipment or supplies to the City in excess of $25,000 over a
12-monthperiod;
3.Purchase, sale or lease of real property to or from the City in excess of
$25,000 over a 12-monthperiod;
4.Non-competitive franchise awards with gross revenue of $50,000 or more
inany 12-monthperiod;
5.Land use variance, special use permit, or other exception to an established
land use plan, where the decision has a value in excess of$25,000;
6.Tax “abatement, exception, or benefit” of a value in excess of $5,000 in any
12-month period;or
7.Payment of “cash or specie” of a net value to the recipient of $10,000 in any
12-monthperiod.
Name(s) of persons or entities receiving public benefit:
Name(s) of trustees, directors, partners, and officers:
Name(s) of persons with more than a 10% equity, participation, or revenue interest:
Preparedby: Title:
Signature:Date:
Email:Phone:
Permit #
FOR CITY USE ONLY:
Bid/PO/Contract #
Robert Morris Vice President
08/30/2023
bmorris@vertech.com (480)756-2300
Vertech Industrial Systems, LLC
Titus Crabb, Robert Morris
None
5.B.a
Packet Pg. 143 Attachment: Oaks Initiative Form - Vertech (5893 : Award RFP and Authorize Contract with Vertech for SCADA Network and Server