San Diego Infrastructure Committee Meeting – February 14, 2018
STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
San Diego Infrastructure Committee Meeting – February 14, 2018
The Infrastructure Committee of the San Diego City Council met on February 14, 2018, chaired by [Chair not named in transcript] with Vice Chair Alvarez and Councilmembers Zap and Ward present. The agenda included non-agenda public comments, a consent calendar with three items (amendments and change orders), and one discussion item (construction management services). The committee approved the consent calendar and forwarded the discussion item to full council.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Martha Welch expressed concern about untreated sewage outfall into the ocean, citing potholes and damaged roads that affect pump stations, and criticized the city’s neglect of ocean health and infrastructure. She urged the committee to address these issues.
- Guy Proce requested the city convert the old football stadium into a trolley-accessible park with river access and install 48 missing sidewalks in Paradise Hills to create a walkable community.
Consent Calendar
- Item 1: Consultant amendment for the SAP (Infrastructure Asset Management) project – $150,000 increase for post-go-live support after a delayed go-live date (moved from December 2017 to March 2018 for a complex GIS solution). Staff noted the funds come from project contingency and will cover six weeks of post-go-live support.
- Item 2: Second amendment for the TRSANA pump station design and construction support contract – $331,000 increase (from $980,000 to $1.31 million) for scope additions (security, control systems, facility improvements) and construction support. Staff stated the project’s soft costs remain below the state benchmark of 33% (at 28%).
- Item 3: Third amendment for León and Roe Incorporated’s design and construction support contract – $2.1 million increase (from $2.1 million to $4.35 million) as part of a larger pump station project that escalated from an original $26 million to $56 million (previously reported at $72 million in July 2017). Councilmembers expressed concern about the doubling of costs and requested briefings before the item goes to full council. Staff attributed the growth to EPA regulatory changes, new security requirements, and design changes discovered during construction. The funds come from State Revolving Fund loans.
- Motion: Vice Chair Alvarez moved to approve all three consent items, seconded by Councilmember Ward. Passed unanimously on voice vote.
Discussion Items
- Item 4: First amendment to three agreements with Lewis Berger, Harris, and Arcadis for as-needed construction management (CM) services. The original contracts were $4 million each for five years (total $12 million). Staff requested an additional $3 million per firm (total $9 million increase) because all three firms reached their capacity within 1.5 years due to increased CIP and permit workload. The additional capacity is intended to bridge the period until a new RFP is awarded (expected by end of 2018). Key points:
- The CM firms provide inspection services (not construction), similar to city resident engineers.
- Staff cited a 60% in-house / 40% consultant split for all CIP work in FY2017, but expect that to approach 50/50 with the large Pure Water project.
- Councilmembers questioned the high cost of contracted inspection ($4 million per firm in 18 months), the city’s recruitment/retention challenges (vacancy rate ~12-13% in Public Works), and the rationale for contracting out work that could be done in-house if staff capacity existed.
- Staff explained that they cannot staff for peak demand due to special revenue fund constraints (billing to projects); they use CM firms for workload peaks and specialized expertise (e.g., complex pump stations).
- A briefing on Public Works’ business model and cost comparisons between in-house and contracted services was offered for a future committee meeting.
- Motion: Vice Chair Alvarez moved to forward Item 4 to full council with a recommendation for approval, seconded by Councilmember Ward. Passed unanimously on voice vote.
Key Outcomes
- Consent Calendar: Items 1, 2, and 3 were approved unanimously and forwarded to full council with the understanding that briefings on Item 3 (TRSANA pump station cost escalation) will be provided to councilmembers before the full council hearing.
- Item 4 (Construction Management Services): Approved and forwarded to full council for adoption. The additional $9 million will allow the three firms to continue providing inspection services while a new contract RFP is processed.
- Future Directions: The committee requested a presentation on Public Works’ operating budget, staffing model, and cost-effectiveness of in-house vs. contracted services. The next committee meeting was noted as March 14, 2018.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon, everybody. Thank you for joining us for a special Valentine's edition of the infrastructure committee. Today is February 14th, 2018. I would like to thank whoever put these up here for us. Let the record reflect that we are joined by a full complement of the committee, including Vice Chair Alvarez and Councilmember Zap and Ward. We also have our City Attorney Representative Christina Ray, our IBA Representative Gillian Cassie, our mayoral representative, Almaud. And Justin Garber, who is uh filling in today as infrastructure committee consultant uh for Lee Friedman. Congratulations to Lee and his wife, Jocelyn on the birth of uh of their new baby. Also like to thank the uh and welcome the members of the public who are watching uh either with us in person or on City TV. We will start with non-agenda public comment. We do have two members of the public who would like to speak in non-agenda. The first is Martha Welch, the second is Guy Proce, and you each have two minutes. Good afternoon, Martha Welch. On the Turkopirals, they showed one pot was uh filling by Orion up there in Mary. It was a city property, that's why they did it probably. They're fixing that one. But also there's other rooms we talked about, they're not fixed either because um the roads are so bad right now. Some can't be um sorry, it won't work with those rows because it's they're they're cracked and potholes and everything. Broadway, 10th and 11th are like that. And I'm sure there's more all over the city, I'm sure the same. Now, all these pumps um stations, where are they going? We don't have a sewer plant. This is not on the website, um the county don't have one, and the city didn't have it. Yeah, point loan is a waste um water treatment now. That's what that's what they say on that. So we're going. You used to do that. Is that what you're doing now? Because um I'd like to know where it goes. Because I like the ocean a lot, and the reader says you have um no tree uh no um you say no treatment on it to do the ocean. Now that's what's going on in the city, and I think it's wrong because the ocean is getting bad if you haven't noticed that. Um if you look on what's just found um by the um well, the outflow is really uh lungfish is really strange looking and everything, and they showed it online what it looks like. It's a really strange creature. That's what's going on by where the outfall probably is going, and cucumbers and all that stuff goes up when the goes there also. So um you can tell I used to be ocean on mammals at one time. So um this is going on in the city. I don't think you care about the ocean or anything, and I I told the county the same thing. You um you don't care about the ocean and the roads and everything, and it's wrong. The sidewalks are cracked and the roads are cracked and potholes all over the place. Thank you. Bye. Thank you. Next up is Guy Procept. Uh two items. Number one, the city should clearly seriously think about retaining the old football stadium and converting it into a park. It would be the only trolley accessible park in the city, and it would have river access. And number two, it would be very nice if the city would finally consider uh installing the 48 missing sidewalks in Paradise Hills and make it a truly walkable community. And as an aside, Channel 24 is not covered by Direct TV, ATT's Direct TV. Thank you. Thank you.
openpublica.com