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Home My WebLink About16 Construction Services Contract for Water Meter Radio ProjectAgendaItem#16TRUCKEEDONNER:PublicUtilityDistrictACTIONTo:BoardofDirectorsFrom:NeilKaufmanDate:Julyl7,2019Subject:ConsiderationtoAwardaConstructionServicesContractfortheWaterMeterRadioTransmitterReplacement-2019Project__________1.WHYTHISMATTERISBEFORETHEBOARDBoardauthorizationisrequiredforexpendituresinexcessof$15,000.2.HISTORYInSeptember2008,theDistrictawardedacontractfortheprovisionofanautomatedmeterreading(AMR)systemtocoverallwatercustomers.ThatsystemutilizeswatermetersmanufacturedbytheNeptuneTechnologyGroupinconjunctionwitharadiosystemandsoftwarebyAclara.Theradiosystemconsistsofthreemaincomponents:.MeterTransmitterUnits(MTU5);.DistributedCollectionUnits(DCUs);and.NetworkControlComputer(NCC).EachwatermeterisequippedwithanMTU.Atagiveninterval,theMTUreadsthemeterandtransmitsthemeterreading.ThefirstgenerationMTUscapturedmeterreadingseverysixhours.Aboutthreeyearsago,theDistrictstartedusinganupdatedMTUthatiscapableofcapturingmeterreadingsonanhourlybasis.ThisupdatedMTUisusedfornewconstructionandmaintenancereplacements.TheDistrictdidnotconductasystemwidereplacementofoldMTUsthatwerefunctioningproperly.TheMTUsarebatterypoweredandfactorysealed.Whenabatteryfails,theentireMTUmustbereplaced.Currently,thereareover13,000MTUsinthesystem.Thereisanetworkof27DCUslocatedthroughouttheDistrictatamixtureofwaterstoragetanks,pumpstationbuildingsanddedicatedutilitypoles.TheseDCUsreceivetheradiotransmissionsfromtheMTUs.ThedataisthenstoredandtransmittedbacktotheDistrictofficeonceaday.TheNCCislocatedattheDistrictoffice.Itreceivesthemeterdataandstoresitinadatabase.OtherDistrictfunctionssuchasbillingandcustomerserviceaccessthedatabaseasneeded. 3.NEWINFORMATIONThegreatmajorityoftheMTUswereinstalledin2009and2010aspartoftheoriginaldeploymentoftheAMRsystem.TheseMTUshavea20yearbatterywarrantyfromthemanufacturer.ForMTUsthatfailwithinthefirst10years,areplacementMTUisprovidedatnocostoftheDistrict.Foryears11to20,thecostofareplacementMTUispro-ratedat10%peryear.ForanMTUthatfailedinyear11,theDistrictwouldpay10%ofthereplacementcost.ForanMTUthatfailedinyear15,theDistrictwouldpay50%ofthereplacementcost.TheMTUreplacementwarrantyonlycoverstheMTUanddoesnotcoverthelaborassociatedwithreplacingtheMTU.TheDistricthasbeenexperiencingasignificantnumberofMTUfailuresoverthepasttwoyears.ThecauseofthefailuresisbelievedtobeacombinationofthetemperaturevariationsthatareexperiencedinTruckeealongwithsomeoverly-optimisticprojectionsregardingthebatterylifefromthemanufacturer.ExperiencehasshownthatanumberofMTUswillstopfunctioningduringthewinterwhentemperaturesdrop.Someunitsmaybeginfunctioningagaininthespringwhentemperaturesrise,withtheremainderpermanentlydead.Thoseunitsthatdoregainfunctionwillnormallyonlylastforafewmoremonthsbeforedyingpermanently.Inprioryears,theDistricthasbeenabletoperformthisMTUreplacementusingWaterDepartmentfieldstaff.In2018,theWaterDepartmentwasabletoreplaceabout900MTUsusingDistrictstaffanditwasnecessarytohavethecrewsworkovertimeandweekendstoperformasignificantportionofthiswork.ThisworkcannotnormallybepeilormedduringtheWintersincetheMIUsarelocatedinthemeterboxesandsignificantsnowremovaleffortisoftenrequiredtoaccessanygivenmeterbox.Thereareabout3,100MTUscurrentlyinneedofreplacement.Theyarespreadthroughouttheserviceareaandnotlimitedtoagivensubdivisionorneighborhood.GiventhisquantityofMTUreplacement,thelevelofnewconstructionoccurringinTruckeeandthebacklogofothersystemmaintenanceactivities(leakrepair,firehydrantrepair,pumpmaintenance,etc.),theWaterDepartmentcannotdedicatesufficientfieldstafftoperformtheMTUreplacementthisSummerandFall.Therefore,itisplannedtoretainanoutsidecontractortoperformthiswork.AsetofbiddingdocumentwaspreparedandadvertisingforbidbeganinlateJune.TheRequestlorBidswasadvertisedintheSierraSun.ThebidopeningwasheldonJuly9,2019.Onebidwasreceived.TOTALAMOUNTOFBIDBidderLocationAmountResponsiveConcordUtilityServicesMurrieta,CA$189,950YesConcordUtilityServiceshassignificantexperienceinthistypeofworkandwillbeperformingsimilarprojectsfortheCityofRosevilleandtheTruckeeMeadowsWaterAuthoritywithinthenextyear. 4.FISCALIMPACTThebidpricefromConcordUtilityServicesis$189,950.Itisrecommendedthata10percentchangeorderallowancebeestablished.TheproposedfundingsourceforthisprojectistheWaterDepartmentGeneralFund.SufficientfundsexistintheWaterDepartmentGeneralFundtocoverthecostoftheproject.TheoriginalbudgetforFY2019includedarate-fundedpipelinereplacementproject.However,theWaterDepartmentidentifiedhigherpriorityprojects(suchasthisproject)andisnotproceedingwithapipelinereplacementprojectin2019.5.RECOMMENDATIONAwardtheWaterMeterRadioTransmitterReplacement-2019projecttoConcordUtilityServicesinanamountof$189,950,plusatenpercentchangeorderallowanceforatotalauthorizationnottoexceed$209,000.,z,MichaelD.HolleyGeneralManagerIWaterUtilityDirector