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CONTRACT K-1516-79: A CONTRACT BY AND BETWEEN THE CITY OF NORMAN, OKLAHOMA, AND THE OKLAHOMA WATER RESOURCES BOARD IN AN AMOUNT NOT-TO-EXCEED $229,756.23 FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE LAKE THUNDERBIRD TOTAL MAXIMUM DAILY LOAD (TMDL) PLAN.
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BACKGROUND: The Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) issued 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 state and federal 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. The Lake is required to reduce 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). Modelling of the Lake and its Watershed was done by ODEQ to determine the Waste Load Allocations (WLAs) for the three cities in the watershed, Norman, Moore and Oklahoma City.
The City of Norman has a vested interest in a successful program as Lake Thunderbird serves as Norman’s primary drinking water source. The cities of Moore and Oklahoma City must also comply with the TMDL; however, neither of those cities gets their drinking water from Lake Thunderbird.
DISCUSSION: A plan for compliance with the Lake Thunderbird TMDL was submitted by the City of Norman to ODEQ before the due date of November 13, 2015. This Plan included a monitoring component with the purpose of identifying those sub-watersheds most suited to the siting of Best Management Practices which would most effectively reduce pollutant loadings. The Monitoring Plan is scheduled to begin before full implementation of the Compliance Plan to help define the base line contaminant loading. The Public Works Department published a Request for Bids, RFP-1516-39, on December 17, 2015. The City received two cost proposals for this service from Freese & Nichols and the Oklahoma Water Resources Board (OWRB). The total bids or cost proposals are shown below:
Freese & Nichols, Oklahoma City - $355,167
OWRB, Oklahoma City - $222,615
Each proposal was based on the purchase and installation of ten (10) continuous flow monitoring devices, the operation and maintenance of said devices, 120 stormwater samples, 7 outfall samples, analysis of samples taken, and required reporting each year.
Based on a complete review of the submittals, it has been determined that OWRB is best suited to provide the Monitoring Services required by the City of Norman. OWRB has extensive experience in providing the specific services set out in the Monitoring Plan and the Quality Assurance Project Plan. The cost proposal by OWRB is within industry standards for services of this scope. The OWRB has been supplying sampling and monitoring services for many years. The OWRB currently has sampling and monitoring contracts with agencies such as the Central Oklahoma Master Conservancy District and the Grand River Dam Authority to fulfill these needs.
Staff had initially estimated the funds necessary for these services to be $300,000 annually and this amount has been allocated in the FYE 2016 Capital Fund for the TMDL. The contract shows how the proposal compares to the engineer’s estimate. Although the costs for annual operation are higher than the engineer’s estimate, the cost is within industry standards for such operations.
Since the receipt of the cost proposals, ODEQ has indicated to Staff that seven outfall samplings should be done quarterly instead of annually and that additional sample analysis will be required. The contract includes this additional sampling at the same cost per sample provided by OWRB at an additional cost of $7,141.23 annually.
The contract is written in a “Cost Not to Exceed” format based on anticipated sampling needs. The contract is for one (1) year, and will automatically renew upon Council appropriation of funds for two (2) successive years. Upon consent of the parties, the contract may be renewed for up to two (2) additional years for a total contract time frame of up to five (5) years. A longer term contract benefits both parties. The monitoring devices will remain the property of the contractor and a reduction in cost is expected in years 2 through 5 due to not reinstalling the equipment. In addition, the sampling protocols will be consistent over a longer period producing more reliable data for analysis. If approved, only the City Council has authority to authorize change orders in the future including any changes to the contract amount. The contract services include:
Purchase, Installation, and Operation and Maintenance of 10 Stream Gauging Stations
Sampling at the Gauging Stations during both low flow and storm flow conditions
Sampling at 7 Outfalls per quarter during storm flow conditions
Sample Analysis for specified parameters
Monthly and Annual Reporting
Annual Program Costs - The cost proposal was used to calculate the expected program costs for the first 5 years of the program. Based on this contract, it is anticipated that the monitoring portion of the TMDL program will be completed within the then-current Capital Fund budget for this project through FY 2020.
The data collected through this Monitoring Program will be analyzed before being posted to the City of Norman’s Water Quality website for review by the citizens of Norman. New data will be posted quarterly. This data is being collected to evaluate stream water quality and the effectiveness of the City’s TMDL Compliance Program. The data will be compiled for annual reporting to the ODEQ with the City of Norman’s OKR04 Permit Annual Report.
RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends approval of Contract K-1516-79 in an amount not to exceed $229,756.23. The funds for this contract are accounted for in the Capital Fund, Stormwater Drainage, Design (account 050-9968-431.62-01; project DR0061).