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Contract - FY2023 Short Water Line Extension Program - Phase B
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INFORMATION CONTACT:
John Shutak, Union County Water, Engineering Director, 704-283-3651
ACTION REQUESTED:
1) Accept the scope of services for engineering design, permitting, easement exhibit preparation, and bidding for the FY2023 Short Water Line Extension Program - Phase B as shown in the attached Freese and Nichols, Inc. Task Order 8740-01 in the amount of $177,890.00 and 2) authorize the County Manager to negotiate and execute an agreement substantially consistent with this agenda item.
PRIOR BOARD ACTIONS:
1) June 20, 2022, Special Meeting, Agenda Item # 22-406 - Adopted Short Water Line Extension Program Ranking Criteria, Cost Share, and Program Open Application Start Date and Duration.
2) September 6, 2022, Regular Meeting, Agenda Item # 22-610 - Approved $100,000 in ARPA funds for well water testing reimbursement for the FY2023 Short Water Line Extension Program and approved updated application period dates for the FY2023 Short Water Line Extension Program.
3) September 19, 2022, Regular Meeting, Agenda Item # 22-649 - Approved FY2023 Short Water Line Extension Program well water testing reimbursement criteria.
4) August 14, 2023, Regular Meeting, Agenda Item # 23-492 - Approved list of recommended applicant projects for the FY2023 Short Water Line Extension Program.
5) November 6, 2023, Regular Meeting, Agenda Item # 23-735 - The Board noted their preference not to utilize condemnation for easement acquisition for the FY2023 Short Water Line Program.
6) April 1, 2024, Regular Meeting, Agenda Item # 24-184 - Approved the updated list of 15 recommended projects where applicants paid the required fees for the FY2023 Short Water Line Extension Program.
BACKGROUND:
The Short Water Line Extension Program, as adopted by the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC), provides for the extension of water lines to serve and provide an environmental benefit to qualifying applicants in Union County. The program has attracted significant interest and has maintained a backlog of applicants/projects for several years. Funding to address the backlog of applicants/projects was previously authorized by the BOCC as part of the FY2020 and FY2021 Capital Improvement Plan budgets. A revision of the program for FY2022 included an annual application period, prioritization of applications based on ranking criteria, annual funding allocation commensurate with program participation subject to BOCC approval, and no project backlog.
Union County staff reviewed the FY2022 program results and recommended revisions to the scoring criteria and adding the well testing requirement for the FY2023 program. The application period, cost share fee, well testing requirements, and revised scoring criteria were approved by the BOCC on June 20, 2022. On September 19, 2022, the BOCC approved well testing reimbursement up to $200 per applicant using $100,000 of appropriated ARPA funds.
The FY2023 Short Water Line Extension Program has a budget of $5 million. Applications for the program were accepted from September 21, 2022 through December 20, 2022. A total of thirty-four (34) projects were assembled from the sixty-five (65) applicants that applied for the program with a total length of approximately 33.7 miles. These projects were evaluated and ranked based on the ranking criteria the BOCC approved on June 20, 2022. A cost share fee ranging from $750 to $3,000 per applicant was determined for each of the thirty-four projects based on the cost share sliding scale approved by the BOCC on June 20, 2022. Based on the ranking of the projects and the FY2023 budget, seventeen (17) projects were recommended for selection for the FY2023 Short Water Line Extension Program. These projects consisted of forty-five (45) applicants with a total length of approximately 6.5 miles. The total estimated cost for these seventeen projects was $3.3 million dollars. The BOCC approved the list of recommended applicant projects on August 14, 2023.
The forty-five applicants for the selected projects were required to pay the cost share fee and meter installation fee by the November 20, 2023 deadline to confirm participation in the program. Of the forty-five selected applicants, thirty-four (34) paid their fees. Fifteen (15) of the selected seventeen projects had at least one (1) applicant pay fees. These fifteen projects were re-scored based on the number of paid applicants. Project rankings were not impacted by the change in the number of applicants for each project, but project lengths and costs were updated due to the change in number of applicants.
At the BOCC meeting on November 6, 2023, the BOCC noted their preference not to utilize condemnation for easement acquisition for the FY2023 Short Water Line Extension projects. Based on information provided by NCDOT, staff estimates that three (3) of the fifteen recommended projects will require an estimated total of thirteen (13) easements, with six (6) of these easements being from non-applicants. On April 1, 2024, the BOCC approved the updated list of fifteen recommended projects.
The FY2023 Short Water Line Extension Program projects have been divided into Phase A and Phase B. Phase B consists of approximately 12,860 LF of water lines ranging from 2-inch to 12-inch to serve 12 applicants on Medlin Road, Mullis Newsome Road, Morgan Mill Road, Old Pageland Monroe Road, Edwards Farm Lane, and Little Staton Road.
This task order includes engineering services for design, permitting, easement exhibit preparation, and bidding services for Phase B. The scope of services for the work in the attached Task Order 8740-01 has been reviewed by UCW engineering staff and is appropriate for the project. These services are to be provided on a lump sum basis of $84,070.00 and a not-to-exceed basis of $93,820.00 for a total task order amount of $177,890.00.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Funding is available within the adopted Short Water Line Program to support the engineering services as shown in Freese and Nichols, Inc. Task Order 8740-01 in the amount of $177,890.00.