CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM
ACTION REQUESTED:
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Approve the award of Option Year One to Contract 20-213 Cross Connection Control Testing Records Administration to Aqua Backflow, Inc for an amount not to exceed $161,687.75 and for a seven-month 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 16,415 devices on record. Customers with a backflow prevention device are required by federal law and state statutes to test the devices annually by a certified cross-connection control inspector. After testing, the owner, or the 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 2012. At that time, the administration was outsourced.
Under the outsourced program, customers continue to select their own testing contractors and pay their own testing fees. However, instead of submitting test results directly to the City, the testing contractor submits results to a third-party records administrator who charges a documentation fee. Typically, the fee is paid by the testing contractor and added to the customer's bill. 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 the administration of the mandated 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 receives compensation by collecting service fees direct...
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