HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Reports a erg Engincermig, Inc.
Civil & Environmental Engineers 435 Coyote Street
Nevada City, CA 95959
(916) 265-8021
November 3, 1995
Mr. Peter Holzmeister, General Manager
Truckee Donner Public Utilit, Pistrict
P. O. Box 309
Truckee, CA 96160-0309
SUBfECT: HIRSCHDALE WATER PROJECT
Dear Peter:
On September 12 I wrote you an analysis of costs related to services provided by our
firm for this project. (I'm enclosing a copy of that letter.)
I am providing supplemental information on this issue so that you and the Board may
proceed to make a decision concerning my request for additional engineering
authorization.
Right of Way
This is a difficult topic on wluc h to estimate costs because so much of the success or
failure is not related to the engineer's activity. In this case three things increased costs
over my initial estimate.
1. Negotiations were hampered because of the death of the seller (Thomas
Raley)
2. We paid your filing and application fees.
3. Nevada County is being difficult about various conditions regarding
creation of the parcel.
I am still requesting a supplemental authorization of not-to-exceed $4,000 to cover
these costs.
Project Design
Actual design cost was $17,207.51, and CEQA compliance cost $2,750. Some of the
issues beyond our control included:
1. We wer1 asked to take items out of the job, after they had already been
engineered, in order to reduce project costs. These items included road
paving, rehabilitation, and electrical connection for the auxiliary
generator.
................
I We completed our design in April, but because of budget limitations we
were asked to make adjustments in the design until August, when we were
authorized to advertise for bids.
In a spirit of compromise 1 am offering a 10% discount on design costs ($1,996) which
is any profit I would have made on our services.
Construction ]Engineering
There is nothing to add to my earlier explanation. I known it will cost about $15,000 to
provide construction engineering and inspection services.
Conclusion
My request is that engineering authorization for this project be:
Right of Way -- increase not-to-exceed amount to $9,000.
Design—increase not-to-exceed amount to $17,961.51
Construction— increase not-to-exceed amount to $15,000,
Yours truly,
r
Keith Sauers
auers Engineering, 11R.C.
9 7
ivit & Environmental Engineers 435 Coyote Street
Nevada City, CA 95959
(916) 265-8021
September 12, 1995
Mr. Peter L, Holzrneister, General Manager
Truckee Donner Public Utility District
P.O. Box 309
Truckee, CA 96160-0309
SUBJECT: HIRSCHDALE WATER PROJECT
Dear Peter:
1 have several authorizations from the District to perform engineering services for this
project, and they are all proving to be too small to cover actual costs. This letter will
discuss each issue and include a request for modification to nay contract.
Right of Way
When the treatment project began we all believed the District owned the site. Our
office discovered that was not the case, and f estimated that it would cost $5,000 to
assist the District in site acquisition. The negotiations took longer than expected, and
the tasks to satisfy the purchase conditions (filing a tentative map with Nevada
County) are still proceeding. 1t has cast approximately $7,000 to date, and is expected
to cost $2,000 more to complete the assignment. 1 would like to increase the not-to-
exceed amount from $5,000 to $9,000.
Project Design
When the project started we believed construction costs would be about S 107,400 and
our engineer's fee for CEQA documentation and plans, specifications and contract
documents was $12,500. This is about 12% of construction cost and is reasonable.
The estimated construction cost of designed improvements was $242,000, My final
design cost was just under $20,000, which is 8°f.-, of estimated construction cost.
Consequentiv, design costs exceeded the authorization by $7,500, and l hope to be
reimbursed for that cost.
Construction Engineering
Our authorized fee for construction engineering and inspection was S6,000, This is
not an adequate amount t�} pay for these services on this contract which is now
expected to cost around $170,100. Our experience on similar jabs indicates that these
services cost 8% to 10% of construction costs. The $6,000 fee is only 3.5°io of
estimated construction cost. I would like to increase the not-to-exceed fee for these
services from $6,000 to $15,000 (8.9% of construction).
Summary
This job took longer and was bigger than stated in our proposal, resulting in
engineering cost overruns. I am requesting an increase in our fee as follows:
Right of way: From $5,000 original to $ 9,000 = $4,000 increase
Design: from 12,500 original to 20,000 — 7,500 increase
Construction: From G,OQO original to 15.000 = 9 000 increase
Total 23,000 original to 44,000 = 20,500 increase
This increase would be a not-to-exceed amount, and I would only charge what the
actual costs were.
I will be available to discuss this with you or the Board of Directors.
Yours truly,
o
Keith Sauers