DATE: May 21, 2024
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Steven E. White, Director
Department of Public Works and Planning
SUBJECT: Second Amendment to Agreement with A-C Electric Company
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
Approve and authorize Chairman to execute a Second Amendment to Agreement No. A-21-182 with A-C Electric Company, for site servicing and repairing of electrical controls and software for programmable logic controllers that help run the water and sewer facilities of the Fresno County Special Districts and the Juvenile Justice Campus, effective upon execution with no change in term to May 25, 2026, authorizing compensation rate increases charged by A-C Electric Company for the first and second one-year extensions.
REPORT
Approval of the recommended action will increase the compensation rate for time and materials for the optional first and second one-year extensions of the Agreement with A-C Electric Company, which provides site servicing and repairing of electrical controls and software for programmable logic controllers (PLCs) that help run the water and sewer facilities of the County Special Districts (Special Districts) and the Juvenile Justice Campus (JJC). The proposed amendment will not increase the maximum annual compensation or the total maximum compensation of the Agreement. The Board approved suspension of competitive bidding for these services when it authorized the County to enter into the Agreement, since A-C Electric Company has specialized knowledge and experience of the electrical controls and PLCs that run the water and sewer facilities of Special Districts and at JJC. This item is countywide.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
Your Board could choose to not approve the amendment; however, doing so would result in the inability to service and repair electrical controls and software for PLCs that help run the water and sewer facilities of the Fresno County Special Districts and the JJC due to the specialized knowledge and experience of A-C Electric Company.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no Net County Cost associated with the recommended actions. The servicing of electrical controls and software for PLCs to be provided for the benefit of Fresno County Special Districts will be financed by the operations and maintenance budgets for each respective County Service Area or Waterworks District. Funds for each district are generated through assessments, service charges, carryover funds, and interest income. The servicing of electrical controls and software for the PLCs provided at the JJC is budgeted in Org. 9140 and is reimbursed through the Department of Internal Services. This recommended amendment would not change the budget amount for JJC and therefore, there is no Net County Cost associated.
The proposed amendment will allow an increase to the compensation rate charged for time and materials for each optional one-year renewal period. The proposed amendment will not increase the maximum annual compensation or the total maximum compensation of the Agreement. Approval of the recommended action will increase the compensation rate for time and materials as provided in Exhibit A-1. Sufficient appropriations and estimated revenues are included in various Department of Public Works and Planning - Special Districts Orgs FY 2023-24 Adopted Budgets.
DISCUSSION:
There are 26 water systems and 15 sewer systems operated by Fresno County Special Districts, including a water and sewer system at the JJC. These systems operate 24 hours per day, seven days per week and require regular servicing and repairs of electrical controls and software of PLCs. The electrical controls and PLCs are pivotal to the operations of the water and sewer systems. If these components fail, the outcome could cause health and safety issues such as raw sewage release or the inability to disinfect water for customers, both of which would also result in penalties or fines from the State Water Resources Control Board.
A-C Electric Company has specialized experience and knowledge of the equipment in use at the water and sewer facilities as they wrote the specific programs for each system. The software for the PLCs is individually written by the technicians that work on the equipment and is specific for each system. Without this knowledge and experience, it would be nearly impossible for a new vendor to make the changes or updates necessary to the existing PLCs. This would mean that old systems would need to be replaced at a significant cost which would ultimately affect the rates paid by the customers of the various water and sewer systems.
The programs that have been written and maintained in the past are still functioning and operating the water and sewer systems today. The use of the existing programs keeps operational costs down. If the PLCs were to be replaced due to a new vendor, the increased costs would need to be passed through to the customers in increased service rates. Going through a rate adjustment process costs the districts further administration staff time as these processes are time consuming and there is no guarantee that the increased rates will be approved by the customers.
The current agreement was approved by the Board on March 25, 2021, for a three-year term, with two optional one-year extensions. The Agreement is now approaching the time to exercise the first one-year extension. A-C Electric’s consent to the one-year extension of the Agreement is based on the Board’s approval of the proposed increased rate schedule for services. The proposed increased compensation rates provided in Exhibit A-1 will remain the rates for services should the second one-year extension be exercised.
Approval of the recommended action will allow an increase to the compensation rate for time and materials for each optional one-year renewal period. The proposed amendment will not increase the maximum annual compensation or the total maximum compensation of the Agreement. Approval of the recommended action will increase the compensation for time and materials as provided in Exhibit A-1.
REFERENCE MATERIAL:
BAI # 59, October 10, 2023
BAI #52, May 25, 2021
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
Exhibit A-1
On file with Clerk - Second Amendment to Agreement with A-C Electric Company
CAO ANALYST:
Salvador Espino