Okaloosa County BOCC — March 15, 2016 — Lancaster Force Main - Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou State Park Easement — agenda request — reading text

BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AGENDA REQUEST DATE: March 15, 2016 TO: Honorable Chairman and Members of the Board FROM: Jeff Littrell SUBJECT: Lancaster Force Main - Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou State Park Easement DEPARTMENT: Water and Sewer BCC DISTRICT: 5 STATEMENT OF ISSUE: Staff requests that the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) authorize the Chairman to execute a Resolution for the submittal of an application for the purpose of a utility easement between Okaloosa County and the State of Florida's Division of State Lands. Staff also requests authority to move forward with the easement process, including authorizing the Water & Sewer Director to sign any pertinent documents related to the proposed easement. Staff also requests the BCC to reaffirm their earlier approval to obtain competitive quotes for pipe, fittings and appurtenances in lieu of bids on the sub-projects associated with the Meigs-Seminole Pump Station and Force Main Improvements Project BACKGROUND: Okaloosa County Water and Sewer (OCWS) is currently in the design phase of our Lancaster Force Main. The proposed project will facilitate the replacement of the existing Meigs- Seminole Pump Station located in Bluewater Bay, with a new submersible sewer pumping station. The new pump station is designed to handle all projected future flows from the Bluewater Bay Area. This project also includes approximately 5,500 LF of sanitary sewer force main ("Lancaster Force Main") along Highway 20, within the Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou State Park property to re-route the flow coming from the Lancaster Area to the new Meigs-Seminole Pump Station. This new force main is required to re-route the flows that currently discharge to the Rocky Bayou Pump Station. Upon completion of the Lancaster Force main, the Meigs- Seminole Pump Station, and another small segment of force main, the Rocky Bayou Pump Station can be taken off-line. The Rocky Bayou Pump Station is beyond its useful life. Not only does staff receive odor complaints regularly from this station, but it is at an elevated risk to the environment (aging pump station near a body of water). Upon the completion of the projects, the Meigs-Seminole Pump Station will function as a master pump station that pumps all sewage east of the Rocky Bayou Bridge to the new East County Re-Pump Station. On 7/21/2015, a public hearing was held, and the BCC authorized OCWS to construct the Meigs-Seminole Pump Station and Force Main Improvements Project with in-house staff and equipment. The Lancaster Force Main project is one phase of that overall project. The overall project is estimated at $1.8M and was funded by the 2012 Bank Loan. On 2/5/2013, the BCC authorized staff to obtain quotes in lieu of bids for the East County Master Sewer Plan. The Lancaster Force Main is Phase 8 of that master plan. For this project, staff would follow the competitive process per the Purchasing Manual to obtain multiple quotes for each line item from as many vendors as possible, sometimes up to 6 vendors. The total cost of the material would then be calculated by adding up the lowest quote line by line (of those meeting specifications), in order to achieve maximum cost savings. The end result is typically multiple Purchase Orders issued to multiple vendors. We feel like this process increases competition and encourages each vendor to get their price as low as possible line by line. By doing quotes in lieu of the formal bid process, other costs are avoided such as bonding and administration. In addition, much of this material cost is driven by the cost of petroleum products, and therefore the PVC and iron pipe & fittings market has fluctuated up and down over the years. The quote process allows the vendors to provide an immediate price for the material; whereas, vendors will markup prices for the bid process because it takes a longer period of time. With the volatile market, the risk increases as the time of the process increases; to cover that risk, the cost normally increases. This is just another reason why staff feels that competitive quotes in lieu of bids is the best route to go for pipeline projects; note this is not best for all water & sewer projects, as many do go through the formal bid process. As a few years have passed, staff is also requesting that the BCC reaffirm this decision to obtain competitive quotes for pipe, fittings and appurtenances in lieu of bids on the sub-projects associated with the Meigs-Seminole Pump Station and Force Main Improvements Project. For the Lancaster Force Main, OCWS has been working with the Division of State Lands and other State personnel to obtain an easement within the Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou State Park property to lay the approximate 5,500 LF of sanitary sewer force main inside of the park property, which is just outside of the Highway 20 right-of-way. The primary need for this easement is the congestion of other utilities and FDOT structures within the Highway 20 Right- of-Way. One of the many requirements of the easement process is for Okaloosa County to adopt a formal resolution by the BCC requesting the easement. Attached is the proposed Resolution for your consideration, along with an aerial photo depicting the area of the proposed preliminary easement. The Resolution was written by the County Attorney based on guidelines from the Division of State Lands application. Throughout this easement submittal process, OCWS will be working closely with State staff to ensure we promptly respond to any request. Therefore, staff is also requesting that the Board authorize the Water & Sewer Director to sign any needed documents that the Division of State Lands may request regarding the easement. OPTIONS: Approve or deny. RECOMMENDATIONS: 1) Staff requests BCC approval for the Chairman to execute the Resolution requesting the proposed easement. 2) Staff requests authority to move forward with the easement process, including authorizing the Water & Sewer Director to sign any pertinent documents related to the proposed easement. 3) Staff requests the BCC to re-affirm the decision to obtain competitive quotes in lieu of bids for pipe, fittings and appurtenances for the Meigs- Seminole Pump Station and Force Main Improvements Project. RECOMMENDED BY: APPROVED BY: John Hofstad, County Administrator