Amador County – Facing state deadlines for its wastewater plant, Ione City Council deadlocked 2-2 Tuesday on whether to extend its wastewater program manager’s contract.
Mayor Ron Smiley and Councilman Lloyd Oneto dissented, saying they would like more time to decide whether to extend a contract with Robertson-Bryan Incorporated wastewater program manager Art O’Brien.
Smiley said “it’s a tough choice to sit here and decide.” City Manager Jeff Butzlaff recommended extending the contract not to exceed $156,000 (from $43,000) and said up-front approval would have less long-term cost.
Oneto motioned to continue the item and have a workshop but no one seconded it. Councilman Daniel Epperson then moved to approve the amendment, Councilman David Plank seconded it, and it tied 2-2, Oneto and Smiley dissenting, and Councilwoman Andrea Bonham absent.
It triggered continuing a proposed $164,000 contract with Winzler & Kelly for State Revolving Fund consulting for the city’s wastewater project. The council scheduled a special meeting 6 p.m. Jan. 26, with a public workshop, to reconsider the contracts.
City Attorney James Maynard in a report said O’Brien had anticipated reviewing PERC Water’s design basis and finalizing a Design-Build-Operate-Finance agreement “in conjunction with the city attorney’s office. That proposal was to provide program management services through February 2012 with a reduced effort in the later months as PERC assumed further control of the project.” The city has since ended work with PERC.
Maynard said “RBI has provided additional services beyond those anticipated” resulting in more work “which necessitates an amendment.” Maynard said RBI offered to lower O’Brien’s hourly rate from $230 to $200.
The “city’s wastewater team has already saved the city millions of dollars in construction and financing costs over the 30-year term previously proposed” by PERC, Maynard said. He said hiring RBI and Winzler & Kelly “will require the expenditure of hundreds of thousands of dollars” but the spending is “necessary to comply with the various legal requirements and to obtain the lowest cost funding.” Maynard said it will “ultimately save millions, if not tens of millions, from the overall project cost.”
Given Ione’s “many previous attempts at resolving this wastewater issues,” he understood “why consultant costs are viewed with suspicion,” but the “costs are critical in moving toward a final resolution of the city’s long-standing dispute with the Regional Board,” which “soon could result in millions of dollars of fines through the Board’s Administrative Civil Liability process.”
O’Brien’s duties include work on a “Seepage Discharge compliance Plan,” due Jan. 30.
Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
