Public Works Committee

TUMWATER PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE MINUTES OF VIRTUAL MEETING February 17, 2022 Page 1 CONVENE: 8:00 a.m. PRESENT: Chair Eileen Swarthout and Councilmember Charlie Schneider. Excused: Councilmember Michael Althauser. Staff: City Administrator John Doan, Water Resources and Sustainability Director Dan Smith, Transportation and Engineering Director Brandon Hicks, City Attorney Karen Kirkpatrick, Transportation Manager Mary Heather Ames, Capital Projects Manager Don Carney, and Administrative Assistant Cathy Nielsen. THIRD Manager Carney reported in 2014, the City acquired property at 79th Avenue AMENDMENT TO and Trails End Drive (former Trails End Arena) for a future Public Works SERVICE PROVIDER Operations and Maintenance Facility. In 2016, the City entered into a AGREEMENT FOR Service Provider Agreement with TCF Architecture for development of a CITY OF Master Plan for the site and a pre-design for $152,052. Since then, two TUMWATER amendments have been executed extending the agreement. The third MAINTENANCE & amendment increases the contract by $9,980 and extends the term to OPERATIONS December 2022. Staff presented a financial plan for design and construction FACILITY: of the facilities at the December 9, 2021 City Council worksession. The Council asked staff to re-engage with the community given significant time has passed since the original efforts. The proposed third amendment provides for additional work, 3-D renderings of buildings, modeling of vehicular maneuvers within the site, and preparation of exhibits for follow- up discussion and engagement. Staff requests the Public Works Committee recommend the City Council approve and authorize the Mayor to sign the third amendment to the Service Provider Agreement with TCF Architecture extending the term of the agreement to December 31, 2022, and increasing the not-to-exceed contract amount to $162,042.69. Councilmember Schneider asked about the timing for community outreach. Manager Carney said community outreach has not been scheduled pending additional work with the consultant to finalize plans prior to presenting information to the community. It is likely, staff will meet with the consultants in late March/early April with the committee receiving a presentation before proceeding further. Councilmember Schneider mentioned previous plans to include natural gas in the buildings. He urged staff to avoid using natural gas and asked whether staff investigated the additional costs of using natural gas. Manager Carney said he would need to follow-up with staff on the status of cost estimates. Manager Ames noted that staff is exploring ways to avoid using natural gas in new facilities. TUMWATER PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE MINUTES OF VIRTUAL MEETING February 17, 2022 Page 2 Chair Swarthout conveyed appreciation for those efforts, as the City of Olympia is considering ways to electrify all new construction of city buildings. It would be wise for the City of Tumwater to explore similar options. Chair Swarthout suggested timing the public meeting/outreach when the 3-D renderings become available. Manager Carney noted that the 3-D renderings only depict one large site with buildings rather than a 3-D rendering of structures or a rendering at a street level view. Chair Swarthout commented on the difficulty of ascertaining the amount of a space a building consumes on a property, as there were some concerns about the proximity of the buildings to adjacent neighborhoods. She would like the ability to conceptualize the size of the buildings and the space consumed on the site. Manager Carney affirmed he would follow up on the request with the consultant team to determine what could be provided. Councilmember Schneider asked about the ability for the facility and the site to accommodate growth in the City. Manager Carney replied that the site includes more parking than vehicles at this time enabling additional vehicles. The community meeting area enables future expansion of the building. CONSENSUS: The Public Works Committee recommended the City Council approve and authorize the Mayor to sign the third amendment to the Service Provider Agreement with TCF Architecture extending the term of the agreement to December 31, 2022, and increasing the not-to-exceed contract amount to $162,042.69. GREER Director Smith reported the proposed contract would provide project ENVIRONMENTAL management services in support of nine projects within the Storm and CONSULTING Sanitary Sewer Utilities. Overall the services would vary by project but SERVICE PROVIDER generally include overall project management and reporting on the progress AGREEMENT: of the projects. Services would include permitting, grant management, consultant and construction coordination and oversight for projects, and any Council updates on projects. Director Smith reviewed the timing, location, grant funding allocated to each project, and the project scope of the nine projects followed each by the estimated project management cost and the estimated total project cost, respectively: Project 1 - Percival Creek Fish Passage Barrier Removal ($38,925.00 & $1,178,925.00) The barrier was identified by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) in 2015 as a full barrier due to slope. This project has been a priority for the City of Tumwater for many years and has been identified on the Capital Improvements Project list for the last 15 years. Staff applied for an $850,000 grant with the City prequalifying for some of TUMWATER PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE MINUTES OF VIRTUAL MEETING February 17, 2022 Page 3 the work to complete 60% design to resubmit an application for the grant. Project 2 - Pioneer Park Riparian Restoration ($31,020.00) ($476,800.79) The project goal is to reduce fine sediment loading and improve riparian cover along a 400-foot section of Deschutes River. The site has been identified as one of the top ten fine sediment-loading areas in Thurston County. In addition, the site was called out specifically in the Deschutes River TMDL as needing a 48% reduction in fine sediment and a 50% increase in shade cover. Chair Swarthout asked whether the construction cost is factored in the final cost. Director Smith said the consultant will need to resurvey the area and develop a best practices proposal for sediment and erosion control. The current image is a draft of one of the alternatives designed under an earlier component of the project. The consultant will be required to redo the work to determine the best design for the City’s approval to initiate construction likely next year dependent upon approval by the Department of Ecology. Project 3 - East Linwood Basin Retrofit ($32,470.00) ($202,190.00 (does not include construction costs)) The East Linwood Basin Retrofit project would provide stormwater treatment and flow reductions to the 81.5-acre basin currently discharging untreated stormwater into the Deschutes River. The Department of Ecology requested completion of another alternatives analysis. Dependent upon the outcome, the Department of Ecology would fund the construction of the alternative or the City would need to consider other funding options to construct the alternative. Project 4 - Thurston County Equity Index and REEP Audience Analysis ($18,700.00) ($30,748.53) The planning projects would create a GIS tool for the City (Equity Tool) and identify areas of the City that may be over or under-served (REEP). Chair Swarthout asked whether the City is sharing the cost of the contract with the City of Olympia and Thurston County for the Equity Tool. Director Smith affirmed the costs are shared between the jurisdictions. He offered to forward information on the cost of the Action Mapping project for the Equity Index. Project 5 - Septic to Sewer Program with Velkommen Mobile Home Park ($48,110.00) ($1,047,964.78) The project is a septic to sewer analysis. The City received a $500,000 grant from the Department of Ecology to identify barriers and benefits for conversion of septic to sewer for 39 residential units within the mobile home park. The project would identify the infrastructure required and some of the costs and affects on the residents by converting to sewer. Following completion of the first phase of the project, the City and the Velkommen Mobile Home Park would work together to construct connections if the identified hurdles can be overcome. TUMWATER PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE MINUTES OF VIRTUAL MEETING February 17, 2022 Page 4 Chair Swarthout cited some costs associated with Social Marketing Campaign/Blueprint Creation, design, and construction and asked how the costs are allocated. Director Smith advised that the costs associated with construction are for construction; however, the City would not be funding full construction costs, as grant funds would be included as well as private funds. Construction costs will be defined after identifying the full cost of conversions as the costs are based on estimates at this point. The costs associated with the social marketing campaign also include working with the property owners to determine motivation or reasons for conversion to sewer. The capital program for the utility also includes funding earmarked for septic to sewer conversions. Project 6 - Stormwater Management Action Planning for Three Priority Subbasins ($28,475.00) ($227,840.63) The project would assist Tumwater in meeting its NPDES permit compliance while aligning stormwater projects, programs, and policies. The 2019 issuance of the Department of Ecology’s NPDES permit included a requirement for all Phase II jurisdictions to complete a Stormwater Management Action Plan (SMAP) for the highest priority subbasin as ranked by each jurisdiction. Project 7 - Tumwater Valley Regional Golf Course Parking Lot Stormwater Retrofit ($23,460.00) ($128,355.55) The project was identified as one of the conditions for the Tumwater Valley Regional Golf Course to receive Salmon Safe certification. Chair Swarthout asked whether the project would be considered prior to improving the parking lot. Director Smith affirmed both projects would be coordinated jointly. Project 8 - Deschutes River Flood Reduction and Erosion Study ($18,020.00) ($83,020.00) The study is to develop solutions to flooding and erosion along the lower Deschutes River between Brewery Park at Tumwater Falls and Henderson Boulevard. The two efforts along the Deschutes River are complementary but are not addressing the same issues. The Pioneer Park project is stream bank riparian restoration and erosion control while the flood reduction and erosion study examines the area as a whole as it floods annually. The study will identify potential ways to reduce erosion and preserve water quality. Project 9 - Tumwater Valley Regional Stormwater Facility ($45,170.00) ($2,240,170.00 Total Contract Cost Not to Exceed $284,350.00) The project has been in place for many years with stalls occurring in 2019 and 2020 with the property owner to coordinate a mitigation project as the facility would impact wetlands that requires mitigation by the City. The next phase would re-identify or reevaluate the alternatives identified many years ago. The next step is identifying new mitigation sites and funding options TUMWATER PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE MINUTES OF VIRTUAL MEETING February 17, 2022 Page 5 for grant applications. The committee and staff discussed costs associated with septic to sewer conversion, options for property owners to form a local improvement district to fund the conversions, and how mobile home unit owners do not own the underlying property, which speaks to the process identifying the barriers and the best mechanisms to fund the conversions. The cost analysis for conversion would not bind mobile home owners to convert, as well as any commitment by the City to fund the conversion. The project identifies barriers to conversion and ways to overcome the barriers. The outcome of the project does not require either the mobile home park or the City to move forward with conversion. Director Smith described the reasons for contracting with Greer Environmental Consulting. As the City recovers from the pandemic and returns to a normal work environment temporary teleworking will need to be reconsidered for management of the projects. During the department reorganization, the Water Resources Division lost some project management capacity. During that time, Meridith Greer was able to assume project management and work on many of the projects. As the owner of Green Environmental Consulting, Ms. Greer has worked for the City for three years and was responsible of developing and seeking funding sources for most of the nine projects. Mr. Greer is capable of acting as an extension of staff as the department has limited project management capacity. Mr. Greer has the critical background for the projects with no anticipation of project delays because of her familiarity with the projects avoiding the risk of losing grant funding if the project should encounter a delay. Seven of the nine projects are grant funded because of her efforts. Additionally, staff compared the scope of work, services, and the rates of other consulting firms, Ms. Greer’s rates are very competitive while offering some variable rates for different tasks. All contractual conditions have been satisfied by Greer Environmental Consulting. The proposal is a three-year contract anticipated to commence on March 15, 2022 based on the project timeline. Director Smith added that $47,000 of the amount is dependent upon earlier decisions and $32,000 is allocated for contingency for additional elements not identified or missing in the initial scope of work. Most of the project management fees are grant eligible reimbursements. The project management fee represents approximately 3% of the total $5.5 million project list. Staff recommends the Public Works Committee recommend the City Council approve and authorize the Mayor to sign a Professional Services Agreement with Greer Environmental Consulting for project management services in an amount not to exceed $284,350.00. Councilmember Schneider said he assumes Ms. Greer is still an employee of TUMWATER PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE MINUTES OF VIRTUAL MEETING February 17, 2022 Page 6 the City. He asked whether contracting with Ms. Greer would create a conflict of interest. Director Smith advised that it would not be possible for Ms. Greer to assume both positions. The proposal presents an opportunity for Ms. Greer because project management has been her personal goal. She recently submitted a letter of resignation to the City effective March 15, 2022. He added that the proposed contract with Greer Environmental Consulting has completed a risk analysis and legal review by the City. CONSENSUS: The Public Works Committee recommended the City Council approve and authorize the Mayor to sign a Professional Services Agreement with Greer Environmental Consulting for project management services in an amount not to exceed Two Hundred Eighty Four Thousand Three Hundred and Fifty Dollars ($284,350.00). ADJOURNMENT: With there being no further business, Chair Swarthout adjourned the meeting at 8:58 a.m. Prepared by Puget Sound Meeting Services, psmsoly@earthlink.net