Okaloosa County BOCC — September 20, 2016 — EA Tapping Services - Contract Renewal/First Amendment — agenda request

BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AGENDA REQUEST DATE: September 20, 2016 TO: Honorable Chairman and Members of the Board FROM: Jeff Littrell SUBJECT: EA Tapping Services - Contract Renewal/First Amendment DEPARTMENT: Water and Sewer BCC DISTRICT: All STATEMENT OF ISSUE: Okaloosa County Water & Sewer (OCWS) staff requests Board of County Commissioners (BCC) approval to authorize the Chairman to execute the first of three available 1-year contract renewals with EA Tapping Services LLC for large taps, line stops, and valve insertions. BACKGROUND: OCWS has had a tapping and line stop contract with EA Tapping Services since 2009. The BCC approved the current contract (C14-2128-WS) on January 13, 2014. The current contract term is effective to 9/30/2016, and provides for up to three (3) 1-year renewals. We have reached the end of the initial contract period. Large taps and line stops are necessary from time to time to make new connections to our system or to repair our system. It is imperative to have these services readily available to maintain our system. In emergency situations involving large line breaks, OCWS does not have a means to stop the flow if valves are not present. Not being able to stop the flow on a large line may have catastrophic consequences. OCWS also utilizes line stops in controlled, planned environments, such as inserting a tee or gate valve into an existing line to serve as a connection. However, even in these types of scenarios things can easily go awry with aging infrastructure or a contractor that is not specialized and careful. Due to this very serious and continual need, a competent and trusted contractor is essential to provide these necessary services. OCWS has tried various contractors over the years in this role, but EA Tapping Services stands out for their professionalism, technical proficiency, low cost, and most importantly, their reliability. The following is a more detailed description of the services that EA Tapping Services provides: - Large Taps - large tapping machines are a proprietary technology that is unavailable to municipalities. Any project requiring taps larger than 12 inches have to be done by a contractor. - Line Stops - sometimes necessary to connect to pressure water and sewer lines. It's not economically feasible for OCWS to own all the equipment necessary to cover all of the line sizes and site conditions present in our system. A large line stop event is a high risk, time dependent and critical activity. - Valve Insertion - this is a newer service that has become very popular in the industry, for good reason. It allows the placement of valves on live lines anywhere in the system. This provides tremendous flexibility when planning for maintenance and new construction projects and will eliminate the need for service outages in many scenarios. EA Tapping Services has continued to provide excellent service, and OCWS is now requesting the first of the renewals, which would make the renewal period from 10/1/2016 to 9/30/2017. The renewal/first amendment is attached for your consideration, along with the County Contract Review Coordination Sheet, updated Certificate of Insurance, and a copy of the current contract. OPTIONS: Approve or deny. RECOMMENDATIONS: Staff recommends BCC approval for the Chairman to execute the first of three available 1-year contract renewals with EA Tapping Services LLC for large taps, line stops, and valve insertions. RECOMMENDED BY: APPROVED BY: John Hofstad, County Administrator