DATE: January 9, 2018
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Steven E. White, Director
Department of Public Works and Planning
SUBJECT: Contract 17-18-C, Fresno County Monitoring Wells
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
Adopt plans and specifications for Contract 17-18-C, Fresno County Monitoring Wells and award the construction contract to the lowest bidder, Arthur & Orum Well Drilling, Inc., 14870 S. East Ave., Fresno, CA in the total amount of $267,660, including the base bid and additive bid.
REPORT
Approval of the recommended action will adopt the project plans and specifications and authorize the award of a Sustainable Groundwater Planning Grant Program funded groundwater monitoring project. This item pertains to several locations in Districts 1 and 4.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
Staff has not identified any viable alternatives. The project is required to satisfy the Proposition 1 Sustainable Groundwater Planning Grant Program grant conditions. Not approving the recommended action will result in delay or cancellation of the project’s construction. If the project were to be terminated, a portion of the grant funding would have to be returned to the State.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no anticipated Net County Cost associated with the recommended action. All costs associated with the planning and construction have been included in the Public Works and Planning - Org 4360 FY 2017-18 Adopted Budget. The anticipated contract construction cost of $294,426 will be 100% funded with the grant. The application for and acceptance of the grant was approved by the Board on November 17, 2015.
DISCUSSION:
The Department of Water Resources (DWR), under the guidance of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act and Proposition 1, developed the Sustainable Groundwater Planning Grant Program to encourage sustainable management of groundwater resources by providing funding for projects that support sustainable groundwater management planning and implementation. DWR made $10 million available to counties, on a competitive basis, considering the condition of overdraft of their basins, the overall economic condition of the county (Disadvantaged, Severely Disadvantaged, or Economically Distressed), and whether or not a county is compliant with Statewide Groundwater Elevation Monitoring regulations.
Fresno County applied for and obtained a $500,000 grant through the program, with no requirement to provide matching funds. The grant will also provide reimbursement for the design and construction oversight of the project. Additionally, as a part of that grant proposal, the County proposed improving access to existing groundwater wells, and drilling several new wells for the purpose of monitoring groundwater levels in the western portion of the County, where several groundwater basins meet. Staff is also working on a program related to expanding the monitoring network as future support for groundwater sustainability plans to be developed in compliance with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.
The project will consist, in general, of furnishing all labor, materials and equipment necessary to drill up to four double completion monitor wells within Fresno County. Three of the wells were included in the base bid and one well was included as an individual additive bid. Sufficient funding is available to include the additive bid with the award, and it is recommended that it be included. The work will include drilling and logging the boreholes, constructing the monitor wells, constructing the wellheads, and incidental items necessary to complete the work.
The Department advertised this project on October 23, 2017, and received four bids on November 30, 2017. The lowest bid of $267,660, from Arthur & Orum Well Drilling, Inc., is $90,260, or 25.2%, lower than the engineer’s estimate of $357,920. Bid prices for the work associated with wellheads and casings were lower than anticipated. The bidders and their respective bid amounts are shown below:
Bidder Total Bid
1. Arthur & Orum Well Drilling, Inc $267,660.00
2. ABC Liovin Drilling, Inc. $324,198.00
3. Bradley & Son’s, Inc. $324,740.00
4. Pacific Coast Well Drilling, Inc. $481,910.00
Plans and specifications were prepared by the Department’s consultant, Provost and Pritchard Consulting. Construction is anticipated to commence in March 2018 and is expected to be completed by June 2018.
REFERENCE MATERIAL:
BAI #55, November 17, 2015
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
Location Map
CAO ANALYST:
John Hays