6. CONSIDER APPROVAL OF CARRYOVER OF PHASE 1 FUNDS TO PHASE 2 SCOPE OF WORK FOR WATER SUPPLY PROJECT EIR
Meeting
Date: April 21, 2003 Budgeted: $714,000 total for FY 02-03
Program/Line
Item No.: 1-5-2
Staff Contact: Henrietta Stern Cost Estimate: no new cost
General Counsel Approval: Staff note not reviewed
Committee Recommendation: Administrative Committee reviewed this item
at its April 14, 2003 meeting and recommended approval.
CEQA Compliance: EIR in progress; none needed for this action
SUMMARY: The Board will consider whether or not to authorize the General Manager to carryover remaining unspent funds from the Water Supply Project EIR Phase 1 budget to the Phase 2 budget to address potential future costs that were not included in the Phase 2 scope of work approved by the Board at its special meeting of April 2, 2003. An estimated $85,500 is expected to remain unspent in the Phase 1 budget once final invoices are received by Jones & Stokes Associates (JSA) and its primary subcontractor, Camp Dresser McKee (CDM), for Phase 1 work performed through April 4, 2003. The Board will consider whether these remaining Phase 1 funds should be applied to two specific tasks as part of the Phase 2 scope as follows:
Ø JSA time to help obtain permits for the
geotechnical (test wells) and geophysical (marine sonar) studies to be carried
out by CDM to assess the feasibility of the horizontal directional drilling
(HDD) well (“slant drilling”) technology for seawater intake and brine disposal
associated with a local desalination plant in the Sand City area. The CDM scope of work for these studies
(Optional Task 2-D) approved by the Board on April 2 did not include consultant
time to obtain permits for the onshore test wells and marine sonar tests. The estimated cost is $62,000 (rounded) as
shown in Exhibit 6-A.
Ø JSA/CDM and potentially other consultant time
for brine discharge studies that will be considered by the Board in May 2003,
pending ongoing consultation with the Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control
District (MRWPCA). The estimated cost is
unknown at this time. Estimated costs
are pending information to be provided for the May 19, 2003 Board meeting.
If this item is approved, the remaining carryover funds from Phase 1
would be added to the $885,200 Phase 2 not-to-exceed limit and would be
subtracted from the Phase 1 limit. The
funds would be earmarked for the two tasks noted above and/or other tasks as
approved by the Board as Phase 2 progresses.
A possible example is finalization of the Carmel River Flow Threshold
Report, depending on comments received in mid-May 2003 and future action by the
Board.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: District staff recommends that the Board authorize the General Manager to carryover remaining unspent Phase 1 funds (currently estimated at about $85,500) to apply to the Phase 2 budget for: (1) obtaining permits for geotechnical and geophysical tests, and (2) additional brine discharge studies that may be required by MRWPCA in order to approve use of their outfall. At its April 14, 2003 meeting, the Administrative Committee voted 2 to 1 to approve this item.
Rapid action on the permits for the testing activities for the geotechnical and geophysical studies are especially important, as this work cannot proceed without the permits. The Phase 2 scope already includes an early fatal flaw analysis by JSA, which entails consultation with the host of agencies governing construction of a desalination plant in Sand City. JSA’s time should be used effectively to discuss general permitting issues for the fatal flaw analysis at the same time as the specific permits for the geotechnical and geophysical tests.
Regarding brine discharge, the District staff and two Board members met with MRWPCA on April 4, 2003 to discuss initial concepts. The meeting was productive and future meetings will identify specific MRWPCA concerns and types of studies that would best address the concerns.
BACKGROUND: At its March 18, 2002 meeting, the District Board authorized retention of JSA and its primary subcontractor CDM to carry out Phase 1 tasks associated with preparation of a long-term water project EIR for a not-to-exceed amount of $723,775. The primary Phase 1 goal was to define the water supply alternatives and scope of study of the Draft EIR. Major Phase 1 products included a June 2002 Notice of Preparation of the EIR, Scoping Report, Draft Carmel River Flow Threshold Report, and Phase 1 Engineering Report on water supply alternatives. For billing purposes, Phase 1 was considered to end on April 4, 2003.
At its April 2,
2003 meeting, the Board authorized the General Manager to amend the JSA/CDM
contract by adding $885,200 for the Water Supply Project EIR Phase 2 scope of
work Tasks 2-1 through 2-6, prepare Draft EIR, as amended
for Optional Task 2-C (project level evaluation only of Sand City
desalination producing 8,409 acre-feet per year) as well as portions of
Optional Task 2-D (geotechnical and geophysical testing, and numerical
modeling). The cost estimate approved by
the Board for the Draft EIR is $662,500.
The cost estimate for the authorized HDD testing is $222,700 ($189,000
for geotechnical/geophysical testing and $33,700 for numerical modeling).
Contract amendment documents should be signed by mid-April 2003. It should be noted that JSA agreed to waive
its subcontractor fee for CDM work on the HDD testing program to reduce costs
to MPWMD. CDM will continue to serve as
a subcontractor to JSA for the Draft EIR and HDD testing elements to reduce
billing confusion and other contract administration logistics.
Invoices from March 1, 2002 through February 28, 2003 total $586,700, which results in $137,075 remaining in the Phase 1 budget of $723,775. It is estimated that an additional $51,600 will be invoiced for Phase 1 to work through April 4, 2003. Thus, an estimated $85,500 (rounded) or similar amount should remain as carryover from Phase 1.
IMPACT ON RESOURCES: The Board’s approval of the Phase 2 scope on
April 2, 2003 increased the Phase 1 contract limit of $723,775 by another
$885,200 to a cumulative not-to-exceed limit of $1,608,975. The
cumulative total of $1,608,975 would not change as a result of today’s action
because an estimated $85,500 would be added to Phase 2 and subtracted from
Phase 1. The actual amount that is
remaining after the final Phase 1 invoices are received would be the amount
that is carried over.
The use of consultants for the permitting of the geotechnical and geophysical activities will greatly speed the HDD testing process. There is not enough District staff to carry out the permitting tasks and other ongoing tasks in a timely manner. In addition, consultants are already interacting with agency staff about permitting issues as part of the approved Phase 2 scope (early fatal flaw analysis), and the permitting task integrates well with the ongoing consultant effort.
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