The Finance Committee met 08/26/2024 at voted on 7 action items. 4 of the items were related to wastewater treatment plant projects, one was related to the Water Treatment Facility, one pertained to a traffic signal at Richmond and Ridgeview, and one was regarding emergency repairs of the Green Parking Ramp.
All of the items were approved unanimously by the committee.
I’ve prepared a transcript of the discussion for download:
ITEM 24-1148: Request to award the City of Appleton’s 2024 AWWTP V-Building Elevator Renovation Project to Otis Elevator Co for an amount (with contingency) not to exceed $292,930 – Alderperson Sheri Hartzheim (District 13) asked to confirm that neither this item nor any of the other items on the agenda were gravely overbudget. Director of Parks and Recreation Dean Gazza confirmed they were not and indicated the city had budgeted $350,000 for this specific project. The bid had come it at $266,000 and with a $10% contingency was only $292,000.
ITEM 24-1149: Request to award the AWWTP Waste Heat-to-Power Generator Install Project contract to Rhode Bros, Inc. for a project total (with contingency) not to exceed $605,763 – This project would install two waste heat-to-power generators to turn the methane gas the wastewater treatment plant flared into the atmosphere into usable energy. The project was estimated to result in $44,755 of energy savings per year as well as lower the monthly demand charge for the plant’s electric bill.
In 2023 staff had estimated the installation cost of the generators to be $265,00; however, labor and materials had increased and additional items had been added to the project during the design project resulting in a total cost of $563,500.
Staff was requesting a $200,000 budget transfer from the the Sludge Storage building Addition Project to this Heat-to-Power project to cover the additional costs.
The city had received two grants for the project which, combined, had totaled slightly over $555,000. Alderperson Hartzheim asked why an additional $200,000 was needed. Director Gazza said that design costs for the project would have eaten into some of that money although he did not have that amount in front of him.
Additionally, the memo had indicated that there had been additions to the project made during the design process. Alderperson Hartzheim wanted to know how much of the increase in cost was due to inflated labor and materials costs and how much was the result of an expanded scope. Director Gazza was not able to provide an estimate but indicated the changes in design work had not been significant. The committee voted to approve the request but indicated they wanted to have more details prior to the Common Council meeting on 09/04/2024.
ITEM 24-1150: Request to approve grant application for new traffic signal at the Richmond Street (STH 47) / Ridgeview Drive intersection – This item had come before the Municipal Services Committee also. Staff was requesting approval to submit a grant application for a new traffic signal at the intersection of Richmond Street and Ridgeview Drive.
Alderperson Chris Croatt (District 14) asked when staff anticipated receiving an answer on the grant application. Department of Public Works Deputy Director Nathan Loper said it typically took a few months, but he did not know how long this specific grant would take. He indicated he would look into it.
ITEM 24-1152: Request to approve sole source contract with Restoration Systems, Inc. to complete Phase 2 of the Green Ramp Barrier Panel Emergency Repair in an amount not to exceed $59,613 – The Green Parking Ramp had been damaged by a vehicle collision. This was the next phase to repair the ramp and removing the damaged wall. Staff was timing this work to happen over the weekend leading up to Labor Day in order to minimize disruption to customers. They expected the ramp to be back up and running the Tuesday after Labor Day. There was one further phase of work planned for some point in the future.
Alderperson Croatt indicated that, when it was appropriate, he wanted to receive a recap on the total amount paid by the city for the repairs and what they were trying to recover [presumably from either their own insurance or the insurance of the at-fault driver.]
ITEM 24-1158: Request to approve sole source Engineering Services Contract to Donohue as part of Phase I AWWTP Anaerobic Digester Engineering Evaluation for a total (including contingency) not to exceed $54,515 – Donohue has past experiences with these digesters, having performed a conditions assessment on them in 2010 and 2012. Per the memo from staff, “The Donohue team that led the last inspection was instrumental in developing unique approaches that delivered a safe, effective, and efficient overall project. The same team members would be spearheading the tasks outlined in this Phase I proposal.”
Alderperson Hartzheim commented, “I am never a fan of a sole source of any sort, but there’s good justification in this regard.”
Utilities Director Chris Stempa stressed that this project would be “incredibly invasive for our operations and for revenue. So, I want to make sure that I got somebody that’s been through this before with us and has got a lessons learned and has the right approach to make sure this window is as small and as painless as possible.”
ITEM 24-1159: Request to approve sole source Engineering Services Contract to McMahon as part of Water Tower Booster Pump Improvements for a total (including contingency) not to exceed $48,900 – City staff wants to offer this sole source contract to McMahon because “McMahon has institutional knowledge dating back to the 1988 Mathias Water Tower construction and 2001 AWTF Construction. The McMahon project manager that is assigned to Matthias and Glendale booster station work was the lead engineer on the previously mentioned projects. This individual has extensive experience across the Midwest with hundreds of different municipal drinking water related projects. Most importantly, he has extensive knowledge of the City of Appleton distribution system and the AWTF that can be leveraged to identify the most cost-effective solution to meet the needs of the city’s distribution system. Their proposal reflects the value the city would be receiving which is supported in other recent contracts the city has engaged in with McMahon.”
Alderperson Hartzheim again commented that there seemed to be good justification for a sole source contract in this situation.
ITEM 24-1160 Request to approve sole source Engineering Services Contract to Applied Technologies Inc. as part of the AWWTP Column and Plank Storage Upgrades for a total (including contingency) not to exceed $28,050 – Alderperson Hartzheim asked if all of these projects before the committee had been part of the Capital Improvement Plan or was there another reason they were all being brought forward at this point.
Director Chris Stempa said that the first two items were part of the CIP. Additionally, they had some money that was left over from other consulting work and were trying to make the best use of those funds. They wanted to try to get projects out in a timeframe that resulted in the best bids from companies. Additionally, it was not possible to identify every issue up front when doing a remodeling project. As the projects started, things ended up coming to light and needing to be added.
Regarding this specific column and plank storage upgrade project Director Stempa told the committee that if he had had better vision, it would have been included as part of the sludge storage addition project, but they didn’t find out that they had this need until they started working on that. He said that this new columns and planks storage upgrades project would result in more opportunities for storage and do so in a safer environment.
View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1214267&GUID=32A5A804-7121-4179-A115-4002A84C43CF
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