Council Passes Stormwater Capture Plan; $10.6 Million in Contracts Via Consent Calendar

The City Council on Monday passed contracts and agreements totaling more than $10.6 million including a $218,000 contract for the preparation of environmental documentation and permitting for the San Rafael Treatment and Stormwater Capture Project.

The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit issued by the California Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) requires the city to take steps to reduce or eliminate pollution in stormwater runoff.

Water in the Arroyo Seco/Upper Los Angeles River (ULAR) regularly exceeds the total maximum daily load for bacteria and other pollutants set by the RWQCB.

The LAS identified the San Rafael Creek outfall at its confluence with the Arroyo Seco channel as a significant source of bacteria from dry weather flows and requires this discharge to be diverted from the Arroyo Seco, or eliminated by September 2023.

In 2018, voters passed Proposition 68, the California Parks and Water Bond Act of 2018, for the development and enhancement of state and local parks and recreational facilities. Pasadena and South Pasadena were jointly approved to receive a combined multijurisdictional $3.5 million grant. The cities have agreed to a mutually beneficial project constructing man-made wetlands and related infrastructure diverting dry weather flows from San Rafael Creek at its confluence with the Arroyo Seco to be passively treated, stored and reused.

In addition, downstream of the outfall in the channel, restoration of an existing diversion structure and natural wetlands adjacent to Arroyo Park will provide treated stormwater for irrigation to the park and Arroyo Seco Golf Course, opportunities for new habitat, and improve public access and use.

South Pasadena and Pasadena entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) which was adopted by both South Pasadena and Pasadena city councils on Aug. 19, 2020, and Oct. 5, 2020, respectively.

Under the terms of the MOU, Pasadena will serve as the lead agency for the project. As such, city staff will coordinate with the granting agency and manage the design and construction of the project.

The following are the other items on the council’s Consent Calendar Monday.

• The council authorized the city manager to extend a contract with Koppl Pipeline Services for up to three optional one-year terms of $250,000 for a total not-to-exceed $1 million. The Water and Power Department regularly installs water mains to replace aging pipelines and to improve system reliability and water quality. PWP uses both in-house staff and contractors to perform the installation of mainlines, water distribution system modifications for new developments, and repairs to ruptured pipelines. In addition, maintenance is critical for prolonging the life of the existing mains. The use of contractors for planned mainline replacement allows PWP to more effectively manage its mainline replacement program. PWP is in need of line-stopping services, which involve isolation of specific sections of the water main for repair without interrupting water delivery to customers. Any contracted work shall be on an as-needed basis to supplement the work performed by PWP’s Water Division crews.

• The council also approved a $111,970 purchase order with Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram of Alhambra for an incident trailer primary mover. On Aug. 9, the City Council recognized and appropriated $197,000 from 2020 Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) grant funds awarded to the Pasadena Fire Department to be used for an incident trailer primary mover towing vehicle, and various urban search and rescue equipment.

• A five-year $125,000 contract with Superion LLC to provide cost recovery services for false fire alarm billing. Every year, the Fire Department responds to approximately 2,600 incidents relating to fire alarms. About 65% of dispatched fire alarm incidents are related to false alarms, unintentional alarm system activation, unintentional heat and smoke detector activations, system malfunctions, and other varieties of false alarms. The Fire Department would like to establish a new contract for this service. Effectively processing false alarm fees enables the Fire Department to redirect administrative and operational public safety resources which effectively serve the community as a whole, and encourage fire alarm users and alarm companies in the community to properly use, install and maintain the operational effectiveness of their alarm systems.

• A $414,000 contract with SC Fuels to furnish and deliver lubrication oils for the city’s vehicle fleet. The Department of Public Works, Building Systems and Fleet Management Division (BSFMD) repairs and maintains more than 1,100 city vehicles and related equipment. Hundreds of preventive maintenance services are scheduled and completed by BSFMD’s Fleet Maintenance Section every year. BSFMD requires a qualified vendor to provide periodic on-call delivery of specific lubrication oils that meet or exceed original equipment manufacturer (OEM) specifications such as synthetic motor oil, synthetic automatic transmission fluid (ATF), hydraulic fluid, differential fluid, and lubrication grease.

• A $3.5 million contract with Utility Data Contractors Inc., for geographic information system (GIS) enhancements and data maintenance services for the Pasadena Water and Power Department. PWP uses GIS for infrastructure mapping, spatial analysis and modeling, outage management response, and customer service. These services currently cannot be provided by PWP or the Pasadena Department of Information Technology due to the complexity and large workload. These services require qualified and experienced professional consultants to provide software enhancement services to implement the most current software products and integrate with other existing and future technology platforms unique to PWP, including Outage Management Systems and the new Customer Information Systems that is currently being implemented. The system also requires daily maintenance of multiple and complex databases and maps to ensure the accuracy of utility infrastructure information for safe and efficient operation.

• A $1.7 million contract with Weber Water Resources to provide labor and materials for drilling, construction and testing of the Garfield replacement well for the Water and Power Department. The existing Garfield Well, located in Villa Parke, off of North Garfield Avenue, was drilled in 1921. The well reached the end of its useful service life and was removed from service in 2015. In December 2020, all of the above-ground pumping equipment was removed and the well was abandoned in compliance with regulatory requirements. The proposed replacement well will be located approximately 100 feet northwest of the existing well within the park and will be equipped with a submersible pump, which will effectively eliminate the noise and other above-ground impacts during operation. The replacement well will be capable of producing up to 1,500 gallons of water per minute which is comparable to the previous operational capacity of the abandoned well. The existing building and fenced perimeter will remain and be used to house the electrical equipment and controls.

• Rejection of bids for the purchase of low voltage wire and cables for the Water and Power Department. A total of three bids were received by the bid opening date, none from local vendors. Two of three vendors submitted partial bids and were deemed non-responsive per the specifications while one responsive bid was received. In order to increase competition between prospective bidders, city staff is requesting that the City Council reject all bids so that the specifications can be revised and reposted.

• A $4.3 million contract with Staples Energy for the provision of commercial energy and water direct installation program services. Since 2013, PWP has offered the Water and Energy Direct Install Program, WeDIP. The program is designed to help small businesses and commercial customers reduce annual electric and water usage through the free installation of proven energy and water-saving measures, such as LED retrofits, ice machines, pre-rinse spray valves, and more. As PWP’s power resource mix becomes cleaner with renewables over time, new WeDIP services will also incorporate beneficial electrification measures where feasible. Currently, WeDIP serves approximately 300 small business customers per year, of which 82% have been disadvantaged community assisted living facilities, churches, local businesses, restaurants, and lodging facilities. The program produces average annual savings of 16-acre feet of water and 2.7 million kilowatt hours in energy.

• Finally, the sweep motion also approved Amendment 5 to the Hoover Dam long-term transmission service agreement (TSA) with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. In October 1991, the city executed a TSA with the LADWP. The TSA provides 26 megawatts of transmission service through which Pasadena imports 20 megawatts of energy and capacity from PWP’s Hoover Hydroelectric Power Entitlement, as well as energy from short-term purchases from various southwest utilities into the California independent system operator grid to meet customer load. The 26 MW of transmission service provides PWP additional flexibility to receive excess energy from Hoover, if available. The transmission paths available under this amendment will stay the same as the TSA. The purpose of this Amendment 5 is to extend the TSA to September 30, 2067, and match the term of the Hoover Electric Service contract. Burbank Water and Power and Glendale Water and Power are concurrently executing similar transmission service agreements with LADWP.