Okaloosa County BOCC — June 21, 2016 — Arbennie Pritchett WRF Reclaimed Water Expansion - Engineering RFQ — agenda request — reading text

BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AGENDA REQUEST DATE: June 21, 2016 TO: Honorable Chairman and Members of the Board FROM: Jeff Littrell SUBJECT: Arbennie Pritchett WRF Reclaimed Water Expansion - Engineering RFQ & Selection Committee DEPARTMENT: Water and Sewer BCC DISTRICT: All STATEMENT OF ISSUE: Okaloosa County Water & Sewer (OCWS) and Purchasing staff request approval by the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) to move forward with a qualifications-based selection process to obtain a contract with an engineering consultant for the Arbennie Pritchett Water Reclamation Facility (APWRF) Reclaimed Water Expansion project, to serve as the project engineer and perform other professional services. The project is funded via a $3,000,000 state appropriation, which is being administered via a Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) grant agreement. The project would increase the disposal capacity of the Arbennie Pritchett WRF and transmit reclaimed water to the City of Niceville and Eglin AFB to be used for irrigation purposes. BACKGROUND: In October 2014, the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) approved and executed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Eglin AFB and the City of Niceville on the topic of reclaimed water. The MOU established a partnership among these three entities for the purposes of completing this project, estimated at $8,000,000 (rough order of magnitude). Since the MOU was executed, staff has been seeking funding opportunities for the project. Fortunately, the final State budget for FY2015-16 included the first $3,000,000 of this project. This $3,000,000 appropriation is being administered via a FDEP Grant Agreement. This funding includes all the up-front soft costs (design, environmental, and land/easement acquisition) and the initial phase of construction (APWRF upgrades and a portion of the pipelines). Additional background information can be reviewed in the attached MOU and past BCC agenda item. These documents contain a project description and further explain the project need and other environmental factors, such as the "Water Use Caution Area", as deemed by the Northwest Florida Water Management District (NWFWMD). At the 12/15/2015 BCC meeting, the Board approved the above-mentioned FDEP grant agreement and also authorized staff to move forward with the qualifications-based selection process to obtain a contract with an engineering consultant for the pipelines - more specifically, to move forward with the Engineering RFQ and authorize a RFQ Selection Committee. In the State of Florida, per the Competitive Consultants Negotiations Act (CCNA), the selection criteria for the award of engineering contracts are qualifications-based. The Okaloosa County Purchasing Manual outlines a 7-step procurement process for Request for Proposals (RFP)s and Request for Qualifications (RFQ)s. The first step is to gain BCC authorization to proceed. Staff is now requesting permission to move forward with the same above-mentioned process, but for the necessary reclaimed water expansion of facilities at the Arbennie Pritchett WRF. In order to transmit reclaimed water via the pipelines, facilities at the current plant would need to be expanded, such as the following: filtration systems, chlorine contact chamber, pumping station, junction boxes, piping re-configurations, and other ancillary equipment or modifications. These improvements are necessary to provide additional treatment (or "tertiary treatment") to the already-treated wastewater effluent so that it is permitted as public-access reclaimed water, available to be re-used as irrigation. This project will expand reclaimed water capability from 2 million gallons per day (MGD) to 6 MGD. If authorized by the Board, OCWS staff will work with Purchasing staff to formulate a RFQ to begin the formal selection process. For informational purposes, the scope of work for the RFQ generally consists of the professional services required in Tasks 2 & 3 of the attached Grant Work Plan (which is Attachment A of the executed FDEP Grant Agreement). This scope is subject to change and will be further defined in the RFQ. Ultimately, OCWS staff will coordinate with this engineering consultant and other County departments (Purchasing, Legal, and Contracts & Grants) to ensure that all grant requirements are met. Staff also recommends the following Selection Committee to evaluate the statements of qualifications received and bring back a recommendation to the Board, regarding which firm to enter a contract with: Zan Fedorak or designee - Purchasing Manager (non-voting member to oversee) Jeff Littrell - Water & Sewer, Director Mark Wise - Water & Sewer, Deputy Director Darren Alford - Water & Sewer, Wastewater Operations Manager Scott Bitterman or designee - Public Works, County Engineer OPTIONS: Approve or deny. RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends BCC authorization to move forward with the qualifications-based selection process to obtain a contract with an engineering consultant for the Arbennie Pritchett WRF Reclaimed Water Expansion project, to serve as the project engineer and perform other professional services. More specifically, staff requests authorization to move forward with the Engineering RFQ and to approve the Selection Committee. RECOMMENDED BY: APPROVED BY: John Hofstad, County Administrator