Council to add parametric engineering support, and staff seek to fund water‑tank recoating after 2024 study

Public Works Director Gary Schmick asked the Mountlake Terrace City Council to approve two staff requests tied to the city’s large potable water storage tank: increase the city’s on‑call engineering support contract limit with the consultant from $100,000 to $200,000, and authorize a roughly $83,000 work assignment for project management and engineering support to plan and manage a recoating of the 2,500,000‑gallon tank.

Schmick said a 2024 condition study identified extensive exterior paint delamination and organic growth on the tank exterior. He told council staff found an intact corrosion‑protective base layer but recommended immediate pressure‑blast surface preparation and recoating rather than a simple wash and repaint to prevent future metal corrosion. That recoating is budgeted as a capital project; Schmick said the estimated cost for the actual recoating work will depend on required lead‑paint abatement and other conditions identified during procurement, but staff currently estimate the recoating construction cost near $500,000.

Schmick explained why staff requested the on‑call contract increase: the city uses on‑call engineering contracts for staff augmentation and access to expertise the city does not maintain in‑house. He said the proposed $83,000 Parametrics work assignment would provide project management and engineering oversight for the recoating procurement and construction; increasing the on‑call cap to $200,000 would leave about $66,000 of capacity for additional assignments under the same contract.

Council members asked questions about lead‑paint removal and color choices for the tank finish. Schmick said the smaller tanks had lead paint removed in the past but the large tank will likely need abatement work as part of recoating; he characterized lead abatement as a specialized and necessary cost. On color he said the technical requirement was corrosion protection and that color choices could be discussed when the construction contract is brought forward.

The council expressed support for placing the requested contract increase and work assignment on the consent calendar so staff could proceed; staff said they would return with the formal contract amendment and the specific construction bid package. No formal roll call vote was recorded at the meeting; council agreed by consensus to place the item on the consent calendar for the next meeting.

Schmick closed by noting the city will address the seismic retrofit recommendations separately and that interior coating work can be scheduled at a later date if needed.