Subject:
Title
American Rescue Plan Act funding for Septic-to-Sewer Conversion of 142 homes in the South Central - Zone C Project Area (D4)
End
Fiscal Impact:
$2,952,964.23 of American Rescue Plan Act funding in FY21 to cover project costs in excess of the $6,600,000 approved in the Save Our Indian River Lagoon Project Plan and the $1,166,820 of grant funding from St. Johns River Water Management District. Total project cost of $10,719,784.23 includes $8,797,180.23 for construction, $420,000 for design and permitting, $230,000 for construction oversight, and $1,272,604 for private connection costs.
Dept/Office:
Natural Resources Management, Utilities Services, Purchasing Services and District 4 County Commissioner
Requested Action:
Recommendation
It is requested that the Board of County Commissioners:
(1) authorize $2,952,964.23 of American Rescue Plan Act funding out of the $8M District 4 water infrastructure allocation for the South Central-Zone C Septic to Sewer Project;
(2) authorize the Chair to execute the construction contract, contract amendments and any necessary contract extensions with the responsive bidder upon review and approval of the County Attorney’s Office, Risk Management, and Purchasing Services; and
(3) authorize the County Manager, or designee to approve any necessary budget change requests.
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Summary Explanation and Background:
The South Central - Zone C Septic to Sewer project includes 142 homes in the Indian River Isles subdivisions located between U.S. 1 and the Indian River Lagoon, just north of the Pineda Causeway. The project is anticipated to reduce septic pollution reaching the lagoon by 5,146 pounds of nitrogen per year.
On May 20th, a single bid was received at $8,797,180.23. This bid was 43% above the engineer’s estimate and exceeds the approved budget for this project. Utilities Services and Natural Resources worked with Purchasing Services to conduct negotiations to try to reduce the gap between available funding and the construction bid amount. However, the contractor’s suggestions conflict with Roadway Engineering Standards. This bid expires August 19th. If the project is not awarded prior to August 19th the contractor plans to withdraw their bid and the County will need to re-advertise a competitive solicitation, causing further project delay and possibly causing the County to lose the St. Johns River Water Management District grant.
Factors that impacted the bid for Zone C include general construction inflation, an increasingly competitive market for wastewater infrastructure, rapidly rising material costs, shortages of trained labor, and project difficulty.
The South Central - Zone C Septic-to-Sewer Project was approved for grant funding by St. Johns River Water Management District with a cost share of $1,166,820. This grant has a timeline with groundbreaking expected this August and project completion expected in July 2022. District staff have the authority to approve a single grant extension up to 6 months. Grant extensions in excess of 6 months require the approval of the District Governing Board.
Clerk to the Board Instructions:
None