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HomeMy WebLinkAbout(0003) IR 10329 - Biosolids Design-Build-Operate-Maintain Procurement StatusINFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 10329 �Rff� To the Mayor and Members of the City Council October 15, 2019 Page 1 of 1 rrA SUBJECT: BIOSOLIDS DESIGN -BUILD -OPERATE -MAINTAIN PROCUREMENT 1073. STATUS The purpose of this informal report is to brief the City Council on the background and status of the Biosolids procurement, provide detailed information related to the scoring and ranking of the proposals staff received, and provide a path -forward schedule. The Village Creek Water Reclamation Facility (VCWRF) is the City of Fort Worth's only wastewater treatment plant, serving a growing population of retail and wholesale customers. Please see IR 10214 (January 15, 2019) (attached hereto) for a detailed background discussion. Following Texas procurement law, a request for qualifications was properly advertised in the Fort Worth Star Telegram in January, 2019. On March 7, 2019 a total of three responses to the RFQ were received by the City, which after evaluation, resulted in Synagro of Texas -CDR, Inc. (Synagro), NEFCO, and EQ Renewables, LLC (of which Renda Environmental, the City's current biosolids facility operator, was a part) being pre -qualified to participate in the request for proposals (RFP) process. The RFP was issued to the three pre -qualified firms on June 7, 2019. A total of six addenda were posted by the City prior to the RFP deadline in response to questions asked by the three firms. Proposals were received from all three firms on September 5, 2019. An evaluation committee performed a detailed review and scored the technical proposals first, as required by Texas law. The technical score consisted of 25% of the total score and consisted of pass/fail, as well as scored categories such as: "Design Plan", "Construction Plan", "Operations and Maintenance Plan", "Redundancy", "Reliability", and "Beneficial Product, By -Product and Diversion of Feedstock Management". The sealed financial submissions were then opened and scored based on the design cost, construction cost, and the net present value of the operations, maintenance and utility costs over the next 22 years. The financial score consisted of 75% of the total score. The two scores were tabulated to determine the rankings. Based on the total score, Synagro was ranked highest, followed by NEFCO and then EQ Renewables. The three firms were notified of their respective ranking on September 27, 2019. Staff have initiated contract negotiations with Synagro. Texas law is clear that the City is to negotiate only with the highest ranked firm. If negotiations fail, then negotiations will take place with the next ranked firm until a contract is reached or negotiations with all ranked firms fail. It could be considered as improper negotiations if there were discussions with either of the lower ranked firms prior to a formal cessation of effort with Synagro. Failure to follow this procedure could render the contract void. Staff's goal is to recommend a contract to City Council for consideration on the November 19, 2019 City Council meeting. If you have questions concerning this report, please contact Chris Harder, Water Director, at 817-392- 5020. David Cooke City Manager ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 10214 To the Mayor and Members of the City Council January 15, 2019 �"$n Page 1 of 2 r SUBJECT: BIOSOLIDS PROCESSING AND DISPOSAL PROCUREMENT The Village Creek Water Reclamation Facility (VCWRF) is the City of Fort Worth's only wastewater treatment plant, serving a growing population of retail and wholesale customers. Anaerobically digested solids (biosolids) produced at the VCWRF are pumped to a City owned solids processing facility where belt filter presses are utilized to dewater the material. Lime is added to ensure adequate pathogen control and chemical treatment performed to improve both dewatering and odor performance. The final product (dewatered biosolids) is loaded into trucks and transported to agricultural land application sites located in eight counties in North Texas. Farmers and ranchers request that biosolids be land applied on their fields to improve soil quality and boost crop production. The City of Fort Worth holds the permit for the long-term solids dewatering, processing and disposal issued by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) (Permit No. WQ0010494013). The City entered into a contract with Renda Environmental, Inc. (Renda) on May 27, 1994 for operation and maintenance of the City's biosolids processing facility and to provide beneficial land application of the material. The City has amended and renewed its contract with Renda over time and is now in its final five year renewal option, which expires on March 31, 2020. The current dewatering and disposal process has been utilized for the past 25 years. In recent years, the dewatered biosolids have generated odor complaints from the public that live near the land application sites. As the region continues to become more urban, it is anticipated that complaints of this nature will increase over time. Furthermore, costs to dewater and land apply biosolids have also increased. The City hired a consultant to evaluate alternatives to the current process, with the goal of producing a high quality Class A biosolids product that can be marketed to multiple end users, in addition to land application. The consultant recently completed their report, which recommends thermal direct drying of the material after the dewatering process. Staff researched options to migrate to thermal direct drying and has developed a plan that calls for entering into a public -private partnership to procure a design -build -operate (DBO) contract for construction of this proposed biosolids drying facility and future management of the disposal. This contract will require continuous operation of the existing dewatering facility and land application process until the new facilities are constructed. Pursuant to State law, staff is pursuing a DBO method of obtaining the best qualified contractor/operator team to design, construct, and operate the facility. The DBO contract needs to be in place prior to the expiration of the existing Renda contract on March 31, 2020. The following DBO procurement schedule has been developed: ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 10214 To the Mayor and Members of the City Council January 15, 2019 `�` Page 2 of 2 r SUBJECT: BIOSOLIDS PROCESSING AND DISPOSAL PROCUREMENT PROCUREMENT ACTIVITY START DATE END DATE Request for Qualifications — Biosolids Management and Beneficial Reuse Jan 2019 Mar 2019 Request for Proposals — Biosolids Management and Beneficial Reuse May 2019 Jul 2019 Negotiations and Council Recommendation of Award Aug 2019 Nov 2019 Expiration of existing dewaterin , trucking, and land application contract Mar 2020 Should you have any questions regarding this project procurement timeline, please contact Chris Harder, Water Director, at 817-392-5020. David Cooke City Manager ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS