[0:00] Spaghetti.
>> Okay. Thank you all very much for being
[0:05] here for this special meeting of the
city of Fomit City Council. Uh today is
[0:12] Wednesday, April 29th. It's currently
7:12 p.m. And we'll start with a roll
[0:18] call.
>> Spencer Irwin
[0:22] » here.
>> Nan Crocker
[0:24] » here.
>> Teresa Nelson
[0:26] » here.
>> Brit Salsa
[0:27] » present. Mayor Christopher McMorren
>> present. Okay. Um the only business on
[0:33] our agenda tonight is um discussing the
invitation to bid responses for the
[0:39] water treatment plant this plant
project. Um and then we'll head out. But
[0:46] before that we have public comment if
anyone's here for public comment.
[0:51] I don't believe we have anyone
registered online. So, um, now I turn it
[0:57] over to our city manager to discuss the
intent to bid process.
[1:01] » All right. So, we did get, uh, two bids
in for the water treatment plant. Um,
[1:08] upon receiving the bids, the city staff
and then city attorney helped prepare a
[1:14] questionnaire to help determine
responsibility. responsibility and
[1:18] contract language means that the there's
some Oregon statute language where the
[1:23] the bidder has to show that they are
responsible or able to carry out the
[1:30] contract. And so we asked questions
about history of previous projects
[1:35] um uh size of the projects kind of that
um nature. Talked about um we got
[1:43] resumes from their um higher up
employees that were going to be
[1:48] overseeing the project, their general
that was going to be on site and all
[1:51] that type of information. So we got the
questionnaire out. There was a protest
[1:56] to the questionnaire on some of the
language that was used. Um was a little
[2:01] more narrative than what the OS specific
language is. And so we revised that back
[2:07] down, stuck a little bit closer to the
exact language in the OS and sent it
[2:12] back out to both biders and got both
responses. Those were due by 3:00 last
[2:16] Friday. We got both of those. I reviewed
those with the city attorney, public
[2:20] works director, and the city engineer.
And we believe based on the responses
[2:24] that both biders are qualified, not
qualified, are responsible. They've
[2:29] shown they're qualified as responsible
biders. And so, uh, both biders are
[2:33] good. And so, we'll be going with the
low bid, um, per state procurement laws
[2:38] and and rules. And so, I've got a letter
that came in just today from the city
[2:44] engineer and ORE, Inc. was the low bid.
uh Sladeen uh contractors
[2:53] uh was the other bidder uh not to be
awarded.
[2:58] Once the notice of intent to award goes
out, there's a 7-day protest period
[3:03] again. Um
and then once we're past that 7-day
[3:07] period, then we'll enter into contract
negotiations and get our contract.
[3:11] Shortly after contract negotiations,
we'll move forward into pre-construction
[3:15] meeting and start getting answers to
like when are we going to start, when
[3:19] are we going to be done, when is Flo
Community Services driveway going to be
[3:23] impacted, and all of those types of
questions. So, um for tonight, we're
[3:29] just looking for approval to go ahead
and release this notice of intent to
[3:32] award. Um, I can tell you that the
um
[3:39] low bid came in at 13.8 million.
Um, higher than what our engineers
[3:47] estimate was. Um, both bids were higher
than the engineers estimate, which we
[3:51] weren't overly surprised about. Um,
there are some specific items that we're
[3:57] looking at perhaps being able to shave
off of this project, which is why we
[4:01] don't have a full narrative there. Um
but even with the projects we look to
[4:05] shave, we did look at that really
closely and even if we shave some of the
[4:09] projects off that were listed as
optional projects, um the bidding
[4:13] preference or the bidding sequence is
still the same. The low bid was still
[4:16] the low bid even if we remove a couple
items that were listed as optional
[4:20] things. So we we did look at that very
explicitly, but we didn't make any
[4:25] decisions at that point on what we were
actually going to move forward and
[4:28] whatnot. as an example, the well on
North or the well on South Ninth Street
[4:33] is in there as an option to get that up
and going and try to get that connected.
[4:37] It's not something that has to happen
with construction of the treatment plant
[4:40] getting that online. And so that more
than likely is and one of those optional
[4:44] things that we won't do in order to save
some money today. We can do that some
[4:48] point in the future. If we need to
rehabilitate that well and get it
[4:52] connected, we can do that some point in
the future. We're just not gonna do it
[4:55] as part of this project in order to save
some costs there. So, um, so I don't
[5:00] have an exact dollar amount, but I can
tell you it won't be any more than the
[5:02] 13.8, which included every all of the
optional items, right? And so, um, we'll
[5:08] get the notes of intent toward out and
then we'll, um, get through the protest
[5:13] period and then we will, um, come back
with the agreement for the city to look
[5:19] at for approval of of those, um, of the
contract.
[5:25] I'd like tonight to
um I'd like tonight to get approval to
[5:30] release the notice of intent award and
also direction to go ahead and enter
[5:33] into that contract agreement and get
moving forward because time is of the
[5:38] essence. Um both biders are very aware
of the time constraints that we've got
[5:43] with the ARPA funding that needs to be
spent and reimbured by the end of the
[5:47] calendar year. Um, so I'm even waiting
until our May meeting that's losing
[5:53] another week and a half or two weeks on
the project. So, uh, if the council's
[5:57] comfortable with giving staff a little
bit of lenance to the air, I'd like to
[6:00] get, um, direction to go ahead and enter
into that contract and get moving
[6:03] forward.
>> Thank you, Chris. Uh, any questions or
[6:07] just councelor Crocker?
>> Uh, we had talked about um, do they have
[6:12] a large enough uh, personnel to work
longer hours to get it done on time? or
[6:18] are they limited on?
>> We weren't able to ask like qualifying
[6:22] questions to qualify them for the job.
It was listed as
[6:27] » no qualifications necessary.
We could only ask questions about their
[6:31] being a responsible bidder or not. Um
that's not something that we could
[6:36] address. We will be looking at their
schedule and looking at um that during
[6:43] the contract phase and trying to ensure
that we can frontload that project as
[6:49] much as possible. Um
I can tell you
[6:55] that I think it's still possible. I I I
don't think we're I mean, we're in
[6:59] danger, right, of not being able to get
all that, but um you know, it's not like
[7:04] we're a month out from having to have it
all done where it's impossible. I I
[7:07] think there is still a good possibility
that that work can be done and that
[7:11] money can be spent down in the time
frame that we have, but we do need to
[7:14] get going. If if we get two months into
this and hit a substantial delay, we
[7:19] could be in jeopardy. So, there's
definitely concern about watching that
[7:22] time frame, watching the timelines
closely. And they do understand that or
[7:26] you have that. Yep. They they know that
there's ARPA funds involved. They know
[7:30] that they need to be spent this year so
they're aware. Y
[7:34] » thank you. Other questions or
discussion?
[7:41] Okay. Um
I guess I'm assuming we'll get some kind
[7:46] of update on this at our May meeting. In
May, we'll have the letter with the
[7:51] breakdown and the options that we're
choosing to not do. We'll have a total
[7:55] price.
>> Okay.
[7:56] » And we'll probably have it drafted. I
mean, we won't do the full contract, but
[7:59] we'll have the kind of the high points
of the contracts and time frames.
[8:03] » So, hopefully we have all that wrapped
up by May is the goal.
[8:06] » Okay.
>> And what's your ask, Chris? What are you
[8:11] looking for? uh a motion to direct staff
to or direct the city manager to release
[8:17] the notice of intent to award and
following the 7-day protest period to go
[8:22] ahead and enter into contract
negotiations with the low bid.
[8:26] » So move.
>> Okay. Is there a second?
[8:29] » Second.
>> Okay. It's been moved by councelor
[8:32] Salsa, seconded by councelor Crocker to
direct staff to release the notice of
[8:38] award and following the 7-day protest
period, move forward with the contract.
[8:44] Is that right?
>> Perfect. Look at that. Um, any
[8:48] discussion on that motion?
[8:53] Seeing none, would all those in favor
please raise your hand and say I. I.
[8:57] » The motion passes unanimously.
Thank you.
[9:01] » Now that you've said yes,
[9:04] » I I do just want to make you aware we
are actively working with Business
[9:11] Oregon, some of our elected officials at
the state level, the federal level to
[9:17] try to get any wiggle room that we can
out of making sure that we can use those
[9:21] ARPA funds. So, I just want you to know
that your staff is working diligently
[9:25] and looking in at multiple scenarios.
um we're not resting on our laurels and
[9:30] assuming that we're going to get this
done and be able to do it. So there's I
[9:34] won't go into all the different details
because there's about four or five
[9:37] strategies that we're kind of going
after right now to ensure that we can
[9:40] maximize our use of the ARPA funds that
have been awarded to us already. So um
[9:45] just want you to know that we're we're
aware we're concerned. We're trying to
[9:49] even look at like the water reservoir if
there's a way that we can help get
[9:53] reimbursement for some of that instead
of just all the money we did there which
[9:56] would be about $4 million we can get
reimbursement for right now which would
[10:00] mean we only got like four million to
spend between us. So there's some
[10:04] strategies that we're trying to do on
the back end but it's going to take some
[10:08] flexibility on business Oregon where
they can be flexible. They've got very
[10:11] stringent guidelines they have to follow
as well. It's their federal dollars that
[10:15] came to the state that had very tight
cords and strings attached to it, things
[10:20] they have to do. Um, and they're trying
to work with us as well. So, anyway, I
[10:26] just want you to know staff's working
hard to make sure we maximize that.
[10:29] We're not just hoping for the best.
>> Um, thank you very much.
[10:34] » Yeah.
>> Um, what was that deadline? Was it
[10:36] October or was it December?
>> December.
[10:39] » December. By the end of the year,
everything has to be spent and re
[10:44] submitted and reimbursed. So,
>> our target is like November.
[10:48] » Okay.
>> To try to finish spending the money and
[10:50] give ourselves a half, two months to get
reimbursed.
[10:57] » Um, yeah, I I appreciate that. I know
something I've talked about with the
[11:01] city manager is obviously right now our
focus just needs to be on getting this
[11:06] done. Um, and I am grateful for all
hands on deck getting it done. I think I
[11:13] just want to kind of put a flag down for
the council that when it is done, I want
[11:17] us to take a serious look back at some
of the things that made this get so
[11:21] delayed. I think it can be tempting for
the project to be done to be like, "Oh,
[11:25] okay. We're done. Moving on." Um, and I
just want us to do a little post-mortem,
[11:29] I think, after the project. Um, just to
make sure we don't run into these same
[11:34] types of delays in the future.
Obviously, this is somewhat of a unique
[11:38] case with the ARPA funds, but um just
some of the engineering delays and other
[11:43] concerns I want us to have like a
serious conversation about down the
[11:47] road. So,
>> yeah,
[11:50] » that's all we have. Thank you.
>> All right, I'll keep you posted.
[11:54] » I brought two drinks.
[12:00] Okay. If there are no final uh comments,
questions, discussion items, then I will
[12:06] adjourn this meeting at 7:24 p.m. and
we'll see you in May.
[12:12] » Thanks.