Title
CONTRACT NO. K-1415-13: A CONTRACT BY AND BETWEEN THE CITY OF NORMAN, OKLAHOMA, AND OLSSON ASSOCIATES IN AN AMOUNT NOT-TO-EXCEED $291,420 TO DEVELOP A COMPLIANCE AND MONITORING PLAN TO BRING THE CITY OF NORMAN INTO COMPLIANCE WITH THE TOTAL MAXIMUM DAILY LOAD (TMDL) REPORT FOR LAKE THUNDERBIRD AND ITS WATERSHED AND A BUDGET APPROPRIATION FROM THE CAPITAL FUND BALANCE.
Body
BACKGROUND: Lake Thunderbird was included on the State's 2006 303(d) list for impaired water bodies in Oklahoma. In 2007, the City Council authorized development of the City's first Storm Water Master Plan (SWMP) including a heavy emphasis on water quality issues in Norman. While the Canadian River watershed was included in the water quality studies, the Lake Thunderbird watershed received additional attention in the SWMP because Lake Thunderbird provides approximately 70% of Norman's drinking water supply.
The SWMP was completed and accepted by the City Council in November 2009. The Council subsequently adopted the SWMP in June 2011. The City of Norman has since implemented a number of water quality initiatives including the Water Quality Protection Zone (WQPZ) Ordinance, the Fertilizer Ordinance, the Low Impact Development (LID) Storm Water Design Manual, public education, public/private projects and others. Since November 2013, city staff have been meeting with staff from the cities of Oklahoma City and Moore, staff from ODEQ and staff from the Central Oklahoma Master Conservancy District (COMCD) to discuss the TMDL.
The Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) promulgated the Total Maximum Daily Load Report (TMDL) for Lake Thunderbird and its watershed on November 13, 2013. The goal of the establishment of this TMDL is for the water in Lake Thunderbird to meet or attain Oklahoma Water Quality Standards (WQS). The report identifies two beneficial uses that the lake does not meet (referred to as nonattainment): Warm Water Aquatic Community and Public and Private Water Supply. This nonattainment is due to impairment in three categories of measurement: turbidity, dissolved oxygen and chlorophyll-a. Certain pollutants in the water have a detrimental effect on these parameters for the lake. ODEQ is requiring the reduction of the amounts of these pollutants discharged within the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) operated by the City of Norman. The parameters for monitoring are Total Nitrogen (TN), Total Phosphorus (TP), Total Suspended Solids (TSS) and Carbonaceous Biochemical Oxygen Demand (CBOD20). Modeling of the lake and its watershed was done to determine the Waste Load Allocations (WLAs) for the three cities in the watershed: Norman, Moore and Oklahoma City.
A plan for compliance with this TMDL must be submitted by the City of Norman to ODEQ by November 13, 2015, and must be implemented by November 13, 2016. The plan will include a monitoring component and a set of proposed Best Management Practices (BMPs) which will address the various parameters in which it is desired to achieve reductions. The other component of the TMDL is a yearly monitoring plan to determine if the BMPs are achieving the required improvement of the water quality of Lake Thunderbird.
The City of Norman has a vested interest in a successful TMDL program because Lake Thunderbird provides 70% of its drinking water supply. The cities of Moore and Oklahoma City must also comply with the TMDL, however, neither of these cities obtain their drinking water from Lake Thunderbird.
DISCUSSION: In June, 2014, staff prepared a request for proposals for the development of a Compliance and Monitoring Plan which will bring the City of Norman into compliance with the Lake Thunderbird TMDL. The City received two proposals for this service from Leidos Engineering, LLC, and Olsson Associates; both firms with offices in Oklahoma City. The selection committee included three (3) staff members consisting of Scott Sturtz, City Engineer; Joe Willingham, Storm Water Engineer; Chris Mattingly, Utilities Superintendent and two (2) private citizens including Geoff Canty, CC Environmental and Amanda Nairn, Chair Person of the Norman Environmental Control Advisory Board (ECAB), who independently scored each proposal on a point scale as defined in the request for proposals. Upon review of the proposals by the selection committee and interviews with both firms, Olsson Associates was selected to provide the necessary engineering services.
The firm of Olsson Associates is a large multi-disciplinary professional services company with more than 25 offices throughout the nation. Olsson Associates has provided services directly related to TMDL compliance to clients in Florida, Minnesota and Oklahoma. Staff has negotiated a contract with the design team to provide the above-mentioned services for a contract amount not to exceed $291,420. This amount is within industry standards for a project of this scope. The contract is enclosed as Attachment A. Staff had initially estimated the funds necessary for these services to be $250,000.00 and this amount is included in the FY2015 Capital Budget. However, through the negotiations, it was determined that additional funding will be required to produce a plan to meet the ODEQ requirements.
The attached engineering services contract is written in a "Cost Not to Exceed" format. If approved, only the City Council has authority to amend the contract in the future including any changes to the compensation. The contract services include:
· Existing Data Evaluation
· Gathering of Additional Data for Watershed Analysis
· Development of Compliance Plan and Monitoring Plan
· Public Meetings and Regulatory Agency Meetings
If approved, Olsson Associates will complete the Compliance Plan and Monitoring Plan by October, 2015, for final Council consideration prior to submitting the plan to ODEQ in November 2015.
RECOMMENDATION NO. 1: City Council authorized $250,000 for this project in the FYE 2015 Capital Budget. Staff recommends appropriating an additional $41,420 from the Capital Fund Balance, (Account No. 050-0000-253.20-00) to the Capital Fund, Lake Thunderbird TMDL (Account No. 050-9968-431.62-01) Project No. DR0061.
RECOMMENDATION NO. 2: Staff recommends approval of Contract No. K-1415-13, between the City of Norman and Olsson Associates for the development of a Compliance Plan and Monitoring Plan for the Lake Thunderbird TMDL.