LAKEPORT, Calif. — The Lakeport City Council this week approved a project to install a new water and sewer main, which city officials said will positively impact a large area of the city.
The council voted on Tuesday night to award the 2024 Water & Sewer Main Replacement Project to Ghilotti Construction Co. Inc. Councilman Brandon Disney recused himself from the discussion and vote.
“This is a very large, exciting project for the utilities department,” Utilities Director Paul Harris told the council on Tuesday night.
He complimented the work of the city’s internal engineering staff, noting it has taken about a year to get to this point.
Harris’ written report to the council explained that the project consists of installing new main line and service connections for both water and sanitary sewer, replacing aging and undersized mains in several locations.
Harris said the pipeline replacements, identified as part of the 2021 rate study, are scheduled to start this month.
“The project is expected to improve the water and sewer system performance, reliability, and capacity for current and future needs,” Harris’ report explained.
The project scope includes Lakeshore and Lakeport boulevards, and Sayre, Jones, Tunis, 10th, Armstrong, Martin, K and Forbes streets.
City Attorney David Ruderman said that more than 15% of the properties in the city will benefit.
A key challenge for the city was the unexpected rise in cost for the project.
The city engineer’s estimate came in at $5.7 million, based on the design and construction costs, Harris said.
The city advertised the project over a seven-week bid period. Three bids were received and opened on May 2.
Ghilotti was the lowest bidder at $8,042,049, 40% higher than the city engineer’s estimate.
City Manager Kevin Ingram noted during the discussion that the May 2 bid opening was “not a very happy day.”
Harris’ report said the city’s bid analysis “revealed that the main factors for the higher bid were the increased material costs, labor shortages, and market conditions.”
Staff’s recommendation to the council to move the project forward was to use bond proceeds that were originally allocated for the new well at Scotts Creek/Green Ranch.
Harris said the total bond proceeds amounted to $5.9 million and were intended to cover both the sewer and water main project and the design and construction of the new well, which is in the preliminary design phase.
He said the new well project would be funded from the water expansion reserve fund, which has a balance “believed to cover the cost of the design and construction of the new well.” He said the city’s sewer operating and maintenance fund also has sufficient reserves to cover the sewer share of this project.
Ingram said staff had to do a lot of number crunching. “These are really big important key pieces to the utility aspect of running our system.”
There are a lot of changes in the building code that require the upgrades, however, sticker shock “was an understatement,” Ingram said.
He said staff decided the project was worthy of using funding reserves.
Mayor Michael Froio said such projects within the city need to get done, “and we need to get it done now” — before they cost $20 million.
Councilman Kenny Parlet moved to approve the contract award, with Councilwoman Stacey Mattina seconding and the council voting 4-0, with Disney not taking part.
“Kevin, that's a lot of money,” said Froio.
Parlet pointed out that they built the new Xabatin Park for less. That park was funded by a nearly $6 million state grant and some city reserves for cost overruns.
Construction of the water and sewer main project is estimated to start at the end of July and be completed by June 2025, staff reported.
Also during Tuesday’s two and a half hour meeting, the council unanimously approved the reorganization of the utilities department and held a budget workshop in preparation for finalizing the 2024-25 fiscal year budget.
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Lakeport City Council approves $8 million sewer and water main project
- Elizabeth Larson
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