Report to Mayor and City Council
Tuesday, August 03, 2021
Consent
SUBJECT:
Title
CONSIDER APPROVAL OF AMENDMENT NO. 1 TO CONTRACT SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH GHD, INC., FOR 2021 NPDES DIGITAL DATA COLLECTION SUPPORT; AND, CONSIDER RESOLUTION NO. 21-104, A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CARSON AMENDING THE FISCAL YEAR 2021-2022 BUDGET IN THE AMOUNT OF $24,755 (CITY COUNCIL)
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I. SUMMARY
On June 29, 2021, the City Manager approved a Contract Services Agreement (the “Agreement”, Exhibit No. 1) with GHD, Inc. (“GHD”) to immediately assist the City in implementing Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) commercial facility storm water inspections. MS4 inspections are a requirement of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program, administered by the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) under the MS4 permit. NPDES is a federal standard administered by the State.
GHD began preparing the City for the 2021 MS4 inspections. Specifically, they trained City of Carson staff and reviewed 4,900 potential businesses for commercial facility storm water inspections. Based on GHD’s expertise, and working with the City’s Revenue Manager, the number of businesses to be inspected was reduced to only 1,266. This is significant since in 2015 it appears all businesses were inspected. Labor hours will be substantially reduced and cost savings will be realized this year. In addition, GHD was able to review the City’s IT and GIS capabilities and offer recommendations.
Based on GHD’s experience and observations of the City’s IT and GIS capabilities, it was recognized that the City would be able to save money by automating certain activities. It has been estimated that approximately $100,000 could be saved by the City for the inspection process alone. Therefore, it is recommended that Amendment No. 1 to the Agreement with GHD be awarded to authorize GHD to create an iPad/WebGIS system which continues the City’s efforts on the NPDES inspection reporting in an efficient and cost-effective manner (Exhibit No. 1). The iPad/WebGIS system will streamline the activities of the City of Carson Stormwater MS4 inspectors. The tasks will involve creating a website for both City of Carson and regulatory staff to view what the City is accomplishing in a transparent manner. An additional benefit of the automated system is the certitude of the site reports, correct photos and other data that is required to be collected and submitted to the SWRCB’s SMARTS database.
The original contract sum of $24,660 would be amended to add $24,755 additional compensation to the original contract sum for a total of $49,415. (Exhibit No. 2)
II. RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
1. APPROVE Contract Amendment No. 1 with GHD, Inc. for iPad/WebGIS tasks.
2. AUTHORIZE the Mayor to execute Contract Amendment No. 1 following approval as to form by the City Attorney.
3. WAIVE further reading and APPROVE Resolution No. 21-104 appropriating $24,755.00 from the unreserved, undesignated general fund balance to cover the cost of these services (Exhibit No.3).
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III. ALTERNATIVES
1. DO NOT APPROVE Contract Amendment No. 1.
2. TAKE another action the City Council deems appropriate, consistent with the requirements of the law.
IV. BACKGROUND
Storm water discharges in California are regulated through National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits via the SWRCB. The SWRCB’s MS4 permit requires inspections of potential storm water discharges at businesses in municipalities. The permit requires that these MS4 commercial facility storm water inspections be scheduled every 2.5 years.
In the Los Angeles region, the storm water program is a comprehensive program to manage the quality of discharges from the municipal separate storm sewer system in the incorporated and unincorporated areas in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, the discharges from the 10 categories of industries listed in the Federal Regulations (40 CFR 122.26), and the discharges from construction sites with land disturbance of 1 acre or more.
Storm water is defined by US EPA as “the runoff generated when precipitation from rain and snowmelt events flows over land or impervious surfaces without percolating into the ground. As it flows, storm water runoff collects and transports pollutants to surface waters. Some of these pollutants are visible such as sediment, motor oil and trash, as well as pollutants that are not easily visible such as dissolved metals, nutrients, oxygen demanding substances, and organic chemicals.”
Although the amount of pollutants from a single residential, commercial, industrial or construction site may seem unimportant, the combined concentrations of contaminants threaten our lakes, rivers, wetlands and other water bodies. Pollution conveyed by storm water degrades the quality of drinking water, damages fisheries and habitat of plants and animals that depend on clean water for survival. Pollutants carried by storm water can also affect recreational uses of water bodies by making them unsafe for wading, swimming, boating and fishing. In most cases, storm water flows directly to water bodies through separate storm sewer systems, contributing a major source of pollution to rivers, lakes, and the ocean.
After the original contract with GHD was signed, additional work was identified as being beneficial to the City. The proposed Amendment No. 1 authorizes GHD to begin an iPad/WebGIS program that streamlines the activities of the City of Carson Stormwater MS4 inspectors. The tasks will involve creating a website for both City of Carson and regulatory staff to view what the City is accomplishing in a transparent manner. GHD will be working with our inspectors on how to upload data and photos immediately for each inspected site. It is anticipated that the savings the City will realize is approximately $100,000 in labor costs by shortening the time each inspector spends on each property, and eliminating duplication of effort.
V. FISCAL IMPACT
The total fiscal impact of the original contract and amendment is $49,415; the amendment alone is $24,755. Therefore, if the Agreement is amended, the budget will need to be increased by $24,755. Funds should be appropriated from the unreserved, undesignated General Fund balance to account no. 101-80-820-285-6004.
VI. EXHIBITS
1. Proposed Amendment No. 1 to the Contract Services Agreement (Pgs. 4-18)
2. Original Contract Services Agreement (Pgs. 19-41)
3. Resolution No. 21-104 (Pgs. 42-43)
Prepared by: Eliza Jane Whitman, PE, Director of Public Works