R98-121 ACCEPTING THE BID AND AUTHORIZING A CONTRACT

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. . Page 2 The decision was made to develop a program to inspect a portion, approximately 10 to 15 miles, of the City's sewer system each year. It was not considered practical to inspect the entire system within a one to five year period because of the estimated $2,000,000 cost and the impact to staffs expected workload. The first annual sewer television inspection program of approximately 55,000 feet of sewer was completed earlier this year. The sewers inspected in the first year were located in several areas of the City. The locations were selected based on maintenance and complaint records and other "trouble-spots" known by maintenance personnel. The first year's inspection noted at least 50 priority repair locations of which 12 are being repaired in this year's miscellaneous sanitary sewer improvements program. The information obtained in the first year's inspection must be fully cataloged for continued use by the Engineering Division to develop future repair and rehabilitation progams. The second year of the annual inspection program includes approximately 60,000 feet of sewer. This year's progam was again set up to inspect sewers in areas where maintenance or sewer backup problems have occurred. The Engineering Division mailed a Request for Proposal to five firms that were expected to have an interest in providing this type of professional service. Two firms responded to the request. The firms were Tele Scan, Inc. and Walden Associated Technologies, Inc. The proposals were rated by a selection task force consisting of Phillip Wilhelm, Municipal Services Manager; Raquel McCain, Civil Engineer I; and the City Engineer. The basic rating factors used in selecting a firm were experience, the firm's representation of the content and quality of the report to be submitted to the City and the firm's proposed fee to perform the required television inspection. The consensus of the selection task force was to recommend the award of a contract to Tele-Scan, Inc. This recommendation is based on their experience and the report format and information they propose to submit to the City. In addition, their proposed fee ($0.95 per foot) is significantly less than the fee proposed by Walden Associated ($1.15 per foot) for inspecting the 60,000 feet of sewer. It is recommended by staff that in addition to the cost of inspecting the 60,000 feet of sewer that additional funds be reserved for use in this contract for other work items that may be required during the project. These include emergency inspections that occur as the result of sewer backups, a sewer collapse or other maintenance problems requiring interior inspection of a sewer. In addition, other services may include smoke testing for ille�al connections and infiltration; manhole inspections; sewer cleaning to clear a line for the camera in the event City crews are not able to assist; and special field engineering and investigations. These types of services are planned to be used in areas that have experienced high inflow/infiltration where no noticeable pipe deficiencies are noted. This work would be done to partially respond to concerns expressed by the Sanitary District of Decatur about unexplained excessive flows entering their system from City sewers. It is recommended that $13,000 be added to the amount for inspecting the 60,000 feet of sewer for these additional, expected services for which fees have been set. The funds for this project will come from the newly established Sanitary Sewers Fund. It is recommended by staff that the City Council approve the attached resolution approving the award of the Annual Sewer Television Inspection Contract to Tele Scan, Inc. in an amount not-to-exceed $70,000 and authorizes the execution of the contract by the Mayor.