REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL AND
CORONA UTILITY AUTHORITY ACTION
DATE: 12/01/2021
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
Honorable President and Board Members
FROM: Utilities Department
SUBJECT:
Title
First Amendment to the Maintenance/General Services Agreement with Hoyt Transportation, Inc., for the transportation of Class B Biosolids.
End
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Biosolids are a byproduct of the wastewater treatment process; the removal of such products has strict regulations that must be adhered to. Approval is recommended for the First Amendment to the Maintenance/General Services Agreement with Hoyt Transportation, Inc. for supplemental transportation of Class B solids to remain compliant with the City’s permit to operate a water reclamation facility and other applicable laws and regulations.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommended action
That the:
a. City Council approve the First Amendment to the Maintenance/General Services Agreement with Hoyt Transportation, Inc. to increase the total compensation for Fiscal Year 2022 by $300,000 to provide for the transportation of Class B Biosolids.
b. City Council authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to execute the First Amendment to the Maintenance/General Services Agreement with Hoyt Transportation, Inc. for a total contract amount of $400,000 in Fiscal Year 2022.
c. City Council authorize the Purchasing Manager to issue Change Order No.1 to Purchase Order B220026 to Hoyt Transportation, Inc. for $300,000.
d. City Council authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to approve amendments necessary for the execution of the work, in accordance with the Corona Municipal Code Section 3.08.060(J), up to $40,000 or 10% of the amended contract amount.
e. Corona Utility Authority review, ratify, and to the extent necessary, direct the City Council to take the above actions.
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BACKGROUND & HISTORY:
The Utilities Department’s (UD) Water Reclamation Facility No. 1 (WRF1) generates Class B (wet) biosolids as a byproduct from the wastewater treatment process. Class B biosolids are dewatered to approximately 18 percent total solids and are temporarily stored at WRF1 prior to removal. WRF1 currently generates approximately 43 wet tons of Class B biosolids per day and approximately 16,000 wet tons of biosolids per year. WRF1 has a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit issued by the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB). One of the permit requirements is the lawful management of biosolids per Title 40 of the Federal Code of Regulations (CFR), Part 503.
UD’s current Class B biosolids transporter is Synagro-WWT, Inc. On September 1, 2021, Synagro-WWT, Inc. was awarded an agreement and Purchase Order (PO) in response to Request for Proposals (RFP) 21-084HC for biosolids end use. The end-use management of biosolids includes the following, but is not limited to: collecting, transporting, composting, recycling, and disposal. All actions and activities must comply with all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations. Synagro-WWT, Inc. collects Class B biosolids from WRF1 and transports each load to a Synagro composting facility in Vicksburg, Arizona or Helendale, California.
Due to a shortage of commercial drivers nationwide, Synagro-WWT has had difficulty obtaining and maintaining commercial drivers required to collect and transport the volume of biosolids generated at WRF1. Synagro-WWT, Inc. is averaging nine hauls per week. This is an inadequate number of hauls to meet the City’s operational needs, which has severely impacted the operations at WRF1. The accumulation of biosolids onsite has significantly delayed the process of dewatering. Additionally, staff has identified an increase in sodium hypochlorite use due to the increased biosolids inventory. If biosolids continue to accumulate in the digestion and activated sludge process, the result will be an over-accumulation of solids. Once the activated sludge process has excessive biosolids in the system, the biosolids will go into the effluent, which will cause permit turbidity violations. Any noncompliance constitutes a violation of the Clean Water Act (CWA) and the California Water Code and is grounds for: an enforcement action; permit termination, revocation, and re-issuance, or modification; denial of a permit renewal application; or a combination thereof. These violations are also subject to monetary fines up to $25,000 per day per violation and $1 per gallon per day of treated wastewater. WRF1 daily flow averages eleven million gallons per day.
ANALYSIS:
On May 10, 2021, the Utilities Department entered into an agreement with Hoyt Transportation in the amount of $100,000 to provide professional biosolids transportation services on an as-needed basis. The basis of the agreement was to have an additional vendor, other than Synagro, to provide biosolids hauling services for redundancy purposes. Given Synagro’s inability to meet UD’s current biosolids hauling needs, UD requires the ability to use Hoyt Transportation services to continue to meet the Water Reclamation Division’s operational needs. Staff requests the City Council’s approval of the First Amendment to the MGSA with Hoyt Transportation, Inc. to increase the total agreement amount by $300,000, from $100,000 to $400,000. The increased budget will allow the UD to retain the existing contracted services, which will allow for Hoyt Transportation, Inc. to supplement the Class B biosolid removal demands at WRF1. They have consistently provided one haul per day, five days per week, since May of 2021. Additionally, WRF1 will remain compliant with permit conditions and applicable laws and regulations.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Funding for the recommended action is included in the Fiscal Year 2022 Utilities Department Operating Budget. Funding in future fiscal years will be recommended through the budget process.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS:
This action is categorically exempt pursuant to Section 15301 of the Guidelines for the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), which states that operation, repair, maintenance, permitting, leasing, licensing, or minor alteration of existing public or private structures, facilities, mechanical equipment, or topographical features, involving negligible or no expansion of use beyond that existing at the time of the CEQA determination is exempt from CEQA. Therefore, no environmental review is required.
PREPARED BY: KRISTIAN ALFELOR, OPERATIONS MANAGER
REVIEWED BY: TOM MOODY, GENERAL MANAGER
Attachments:
1. Exhibit 1 - RFP 21-084HC
2. Exhibit 2 - MGSA with Synagro-WWT, Inc.
3. Exhibit 3 - MGSA with Hoyt Transportation, Inc.
4. Exhibit 4 - First Amendment to MGSA with Hoyt Transportation, Inc.