12 - Sewer Cleaning Program 2012-2013 Costa Mesa Sanitary District …an Independent Special District Protecting our community’s health and the environment by providing solid waste and sewer collection services. www.cmsdca.gov Memorandum To: Operations Committee Via: Scott Carroll, General Manager From: Robin B. Hamers , District Engineer Date: November 13 , 2012 Subject: Sewer Cleaning Program 2012 -2013 Summary At the August 21, 2012 Operations Committee meeting, the co mmittee discussed the sewer cleaning program and directed the General Manager to negotiate with National Plant Services, Inc. (NPS) to divide the 2012 -2013 footage so the District could utilize its new sewer cleaning truck and reduce the cost of cleaning t he system. Staff successfully negotiated a 50/50 split in exchange for extending the 3 -year contract the two option years available in the original agreement. Considering that the cleaning rates in the contract are very competitive and considering NPS co ntinually provides outstanding services, this was a very successful negotiation. As shown on the rate calculation sheet attached hereto, the District will save approximately $79,540 by cleaning half the system in 2012 -2013. Staff Recommendation That the O perations Committee recommends to the Board the following : 1. Approve the attached Addendum No. 2 for the fiscal year 2012 -2013 with an estimated cost of $112,460 and approve a 2 -year extension to the NPS contract for fiscal years 2013 -2014 and 2014 -2015.
Operations Committee November 13 , 2012 Page 2 of 4 2. Authorize the General Manager to use a portion of the savings to fund the additional consultant services to revise the District’s cleaning program from its current 3 -year cleaning cycle to a more efficient 2 -year cleaning cycle and to prepare work orders f or both CMSD and NPS for the cleaning w ork. Analysis Negotiations With the recent addition of a new maintenance worker, District field crews now total four men including the Maintenance Supervisor. The increase in field crew size coupled with the recent purchase of a new sewer cleaning truck (Vac -con truck) gives the District the ability to perform regular sewer line cleaning. Currently, the District’s contractor, National Plant Services (NPS), performs all sewer line cleaning , with the exception of “hot -spot” cleaning in which this service is performed by CMSD staff . The contract with National Plant Services is in the 3 rd year of a 3 -yea r contract with two possible 1 -year extensions. The contract contemplates the District one day possibly taking over li ne cleaning (the statement is contained in the whereas clauses), but there is no procedure in the contract to make this change during the 3 -year initial term, only a termination clause, which the District might have had to use to compel NPS into accepting a sharing arrangement . National Plant Services has been faithfully serving the District since 1989 in line cleaning, two District -wide televising projects, emergency response and clean up, small scale televising in support of the hot spot abatement progr am, and in other roles. NPS is very responsive an d provides high quality work and t he contract with NPS has some of the lowest cleaning rates in the industry and everything is working well. In the spirit of cooperation and in order to continue the mutual ly beneficial relationship, NPS readily agreed to the division of footage. New 2 -year Cleaning Cycle Currently, the District cleans a portion of the sewers every year, a portion every two years, and a portion every three years. These cycles were developed by the previous Maintenance Supervisor and previous Senior Inspector based on size of pipe, flows, historical debris and grease buildup, and other factors. The District completed the 2 nd cycle under this progr am in the 2011 -2012 fiscal year. The present Maintenance Supervisor and staff believe a simpler approach of dividing the District into sections and cleaning slightly more than one -half of the system each year will decrease travel time and increase efficiency by concentrating work in selected areas
Operations Committee November 13 , 2012 Page 3 of 4 ________________________________________________________________________ ra ther than having to drive to certain areas just to clean selected sewer lines. Staff also believes cleaning sewers every two years is a safe and reliable practice that will not lead to backups and sanitary sewer overflows. Sewer lines requiring annual ma intenance will continue being cleaned annually. In this regard, th e District’s GIS consultant EEC is prepared to begin producing work orders for both NPS and the District to begin cleaning. Approximat ely 700 ,00 0 feet of the 1.2 million feet of sewer will be cleaned each year (certain lines will be cleaned every year.) Strategic Plan Element & Goal This item complies with Strategic Plan Element 1.0, Sewer Infrastructure , and the strategy for this e lement states: ”We will do this by the careful management o f the collection infrastructure using prudent planning and maintenance, with financial strategies to maintain sufficient capacity and respond to changing regulatory demands.” Legal Review District Counsel has reviewed this report and has reviewed and appr oved proposed Addendum No. 2 as attached hereto. Financial Review For fiscal year 2012 -13 the sewer line maintenance/cleaning budget is $192,000 and the GIS support budget is $20,000. The maintenance/cleaning budget in the amount of $192,000 provided fo r cleaning of 620,513 linear feet and 200 manholes plugged and sealed. The proposed footage and manholes to be cleaned and sealed by contractor have been reduced to 360,328 linear feet and 150 manholes for a total cost of $112,460, therefore producing an a nticipated savings of $79,540. The sewer line cleaning savings would be offset by the additional cost paid to EEC to produce revised maps and work orders and the engineering costs to amend the SSMP. In the future, a budget adjustment will be necessary to provide the necessary funds for the GIS and CMMS support, because the approved budget in the amount of $20,000 is insufficient to cover these additional costs. Public Notice Process Copies of this report are on file and will be included with the entir e agenda packet for the November 13, 2012 Operations Commi ttee meeting at District Headquarters and on District’s website .
Operations Committee November 13 , 2012 Page 4 of 4 Alternative Actions 1. Continue the sewer cleaning program as is. 2. Refer the matter back to staff for additional information. Review ed by: Teresa Gonzalez Accounting Manager