10-18-2011 - EECBG Grant Amendment and Award of Bid Approval - Item 4 (2).doc City of West Covina
Memorandum
A G E N D A
TO: Andrew G. Pasmant, City Manager
ITEM NO. 4
DATE October 18, 2011
and City Council
FROM: Shannon A. Yauchzee, Director/City Engineer
Public Works Department
SUBJECT: ENERGY EFFICIENCY CONSERVATION BLOCK GRANT (EECBG) AMENDMENT AND AWARD OF BID APPROVAL
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the City Council take the following actions:
1. Approve EECBG program Amendment 1 dated June 7, 2011, and authorize the addition of Project No. BP-12303 “EECBG-11-Buildings Retrofit” to the City’s Capital Improvement Program.
2. Authorize the Public Works Director/City Engineer to begin construction of the project’s energy efficiency improvements per California Energy Commission’s Energy Efficiency Study,
prepared by Servidyne Systems LLC, dated April 2011.
3. Accept the bid of Allison Mechanical, Inc. in the amount of $166,125 as submitted at the bid opening on October 6, 2011, and authorize the Public Works Director/City Engineer and
City Clerk to execute the contract to replace inefficient heating, ventilation and cooling (HVAC) equipment at the West Covina Senior Citizens Center with new high-efficiency units.
4. Authorize the Public Works Director/City Engineer to purchase new energy efficient equipment and construction materials for the new project using State Procurement Agreements when
available, in an amount not to exceed $40,000.
5. Authorize the transfer of $200,000 remaining grant funds from EECBG expenditure Account Nos. 226.83.8037.7900 and 226.83.8036.7900 to new Account No. 226.83.8222.7500 and appropriate
the transfer of $125,000 from the Construction Tax fund (161) to ARRA fund (226), Account No. 226.83.8222.7900.
DISCUSSION:
Grant Amendment
On August 21, 2009, the City of West Covina was awarded an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) formula grant in the amount of $952,500 to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas
emissions at the local and regional level. Those grant funds have since become used to replace incandescent traffic lights, old lamps at city parking lots and pedestrian walkways,
and the oldest HVAC units in operation at most city-owned buildings with new high-efficiency lamps and equipment. City Hall’s single-pane windows have also received new thermal resistive
coatings.
During the progress of its EECBG program, the City received significant project design support and more than $127,000 in energy efficiency performance incentives from the San Gabriel
Valley Energy Wise Partnership, from the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments, and from Southern California Edison. In addition, in December 2009, the West Covina City Council
authorized the use of a $20,000 technical assistance grant provided directly to the City by the California Energy Commission (CEC), to be used to survey and recommend “Whole Building”
efficiency improvements for the largest city-owned buildings. (City Hall was excluded from this new study because in 2006, that building received a dedicated $20,000 research grant
during its own HVAC rebuilding effort.)
Andrew G. Pasmant, City Manager
and City Council
Page 2, October 18, 2011
This newest CEC funded energy efficiency study was completed in April 2011. The buildings it surveyed were: Fire Stations No.1 through 5, the Fire Department Administration Building,
the Cameron Park Community Center, the City Maintenance Yard Administration Building, the West Covina Police Station, and the West Covina Senior Citizen’s Center.
The estimated annual energy savings to be gained from the improvements recommended by that newest study and by this staff report is 303,821 kWh, accompanied by Green House Gas emission
reductions of approximately 209 tons. Annual cost savings are estimated to be $40,000, and if approved the project will take approximately 6 months to perform, with all work becoming
completed by March 2012.
At staff request, on June 7, 2011, the Department of Energy amended the $952,500 ARRA grant awarded to the City through their EECBG program, by adding this latest study’s recommendations
to it, as a new program Project Activity. That amendment also included Department of Energy’s authorization for the City to reallocate $200,000 remaining EECBG grant funds, from the
City’s already-completed original projects, to this new one.
It is estimated that the cost to perform this new CIP project (BP-12303) is $236,011. In addition to the reallocation of remaining grant funds, it is this report’s recommendation that
Construction Tax Fund (161) be used to fund the City’s $36,011 share of these second-generation program goals and to reimburse the Public Work’s department $88,989 for unrecovered
staff labor costs used to design, justify, and accomplish this grant program’s increased goals.
Contract Award
To maximize the funds remaining available to this program, staff has segregated this new project’s retrofit goals by the construction trades required to perform them (Attachment 1),
and by both the applicability and availability of bulk purchase items. The largest portion of that work will be the replacement of all remaining inefficient HVAC units at the West
Covina Senior Citizens Center. Due to its recommended estimated cost of $190,000, the “Public Bid” process has been used as preparation to perform that facility’s HVAC retrofit work.
City construction project “BP-12303A; Senior Center HVAC Retrofits” was advertised in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune and in two national construction trade publications on September
23, and 28, 2011. A mandatory pre-bid and site-inspection meeting took place on the 29th of September, 2011, with ten contractors present.
On October 6, 2011, four bids were received and opened in the City Clerk’s Office. A fifth non-responsive bid, submitted by Master Built Construction Corp., did not include all required
proposal forms. Following reference checks and interviews conducted by staff, the lowest responsive bidder was determined to be Bon Air Incorporated, from Los Angeles, California.
The following is a summary of the bids received:
No.
Contractor
Bid Amount
1.
Bon Air, Inc.
Bid Withdrawn (due to clerical error)
2.
Allison Mechanical
$166,125
3.
JMS Air Conditioning & Heating
175,000
4.
F.M. Thomas Air Conditioning
247,680
Note: An additional requirement to installing the highest report-recommended energy efficient 25-ton units at the Senior Center requires that existing all-electric equipment become
replaced with new combination gas/electric units. The $5,000 cost to run a new natural gas supply line to those replacement units, while included in this report’s total estimated performance
cost, is not included in the Bid Amounts listed above.
Andrew G. Pasmant, City Manager
and City Council
Page 3, October 18, 2011
ALTERNATIVES:
1. Reject the bids received for the Senior Center HVAC retrofit portion of this work and re-advertise. Seeking new bids would raise contract administration costs and delay this portion
of the project schedule by approximately 45 calendar days.
2. Council may also direct staff to cancel the EECBG contract amendment and immediately return all unused grant funds. However, the proposed energy and cost savings would become lost.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant funds in the amount of $200,000 have been provided by the Department of Energy, and are available to perform this work.
In addition to the $166,125 needed to perform the Senior Center’s recommended HVAC retrofit work, an additional $5,000 will be needed to install a new gas line to supply its new 25-ton
units. A sum of $24,875 is also needed for this sub-contract’s administration and inspections, for a total of $196,000 to perform CIP Project No. BP-12303A.
The estimate to complete the entire EECBG 11-Building Retrofit project is $236,011; and all finished work is expected to save the City up to $40,000 in yearly energy costs, and provide
annual maintenance savings of approximately $3,000.
All unused EECBG grant funds will expire in October, 2012. This project is fully funded with EECBG funds and Construction Tax funds.
Prepared by: Bruce R. Hammill Reviewed/Approved by: Shannon A. Yauchzee
Construction Coordinator Director/City Engineer
Reviewed/Approved by:
Finance
Attachment No. 1