CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM
ACTION REQUESTED:
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Approve the award of Bid 20-213, Cross Connection Control Testing Records Administration, to Aqua Backflow, Inc for an amount not to exceed $453,350 and for a three-year term
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DEPARTMENT: Water Utilities
SUBMITTED BY: Darrell Blenniss, Director
BOARD/COMMISSION REVIEW:
N/A
BACKGROUND:
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) requires the city to maintain cross-connection control testing records for all water customers who have testable devices. There are currently more than 15,000 devices on record in the city. Customers with a backflow prevention device are required by federal law and state statutes to test their devices annually by a certified cross connection control inspector. Annually, customers owning a device must select a certified testing contractor from the many firms that offer the service within the city. After testing, the owner or his/her inspection contractor must submit the test results to the city as evidence of compliance. Administration of these records was performed by in-house staff until in 2012. At that time, the program administration was then outsourced to an outside contractor.
Under the outsourced program, customers continue to select their own testing contractor and pay their own testing fees. Instead of submitting test results directly to the city, the testing contractor submits results to a third-party administrator where the third-party administrator charges a documentation fee. Typically, the documentation fee is paid by the testing contractor and added to the customer’s bill for testing. City staff is not involved in the testing or documentation process and does not assess or collect fees for the program.
In May 2020, the Water Utilities issued Bid 20-213 seeking a firm to provide a Cross-Connection Control Testing Records Administrator to assist with administration of Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) mandated cross-connection code compliance records. The records administrator interacts directly with the city’s Water Utilities customers. In addition, the administrator will request, receive, record and maintain testing and compliance data. The administrator will receive compensation by collecting service fees directly from utility customers or from the cross-connection control inspectors who will pay fees on behalf of their individual customers. The backflow program administrator is responsible for all notifications sent to customers, acceptance and recording of test results and reporting all test data to the city for submittal to the IEPA.
DISCUSSION:
Advertisement Date: 05/29/2020 Notices Sent: 25
Opening Date: 06/15/2020 Planholders: 3
Proposals Received: 3
The following vendors submitted the bids:
|
Firm Name |
Proposed Fee |
|
Aqua Backflow, Inc |
$453,350 |
|
CCRA Professional Services |
$590,275 |
|
Backflow Solutions, Inc. |
$595,700 |
The IEPA requires any business or residence that has a fire line or a irrigation system to have a backflow prevention device (RPZ). Also, any commercial locations that has a domestic service must have an RPZ to protect the Public Water Distribution System. IEPA regulations require that all RPZ backflow preventers connected to any public water system be tested annually. The IEPA requires that the implementation, execution, and monitoring of these testing stipulations are the responsibility of the local authority managing the public water supply.
The new fees will be lower. The previous fee passed to the customer was $12.95 per test, new fee will be $9.85 per test.
The term of the contract is July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2023, with one, two-year option to extend.
FISCAL IMPACT:
CIP: N/A
The city will experience no expenses related to the record-keeping process of backflow testing devices. Residents requiring testing must cover the costs for tests and recording fees. The city awards this contract to ensure the record keeping administrator provides the best price for residents, while remaining in full compliance with IEPA mandates.