The Public Works Committee recommended approving a resolution authorizing an amendment to the design engineering agreement with Gonzales Companies LLC to expand the scope of the Northern Dancer Lift Station project to model the full North Trunk sanitary sewer line and to purchase 13 flow meters to calibrate the model.

Staff said Gonzales was initially engaged to model roughly 20% of the North Trunk Line as part of the lift station design but recommended a comprehensive model of the entire North Trunk Line. The amendment adds $187,000 to the contract; staff said about $115,000 of that increase is for purchasing 13 flow meters to collect field flow data for dry and wet weather calibration. Staff explained buying the meters makes sense because rental for a comparable three-month deployment would be about $57,000 and purchased meters can be redeployed systemwide in future projects.

Councilor Vern Ware asked whether the engineering work was competitively bid; staff replied the engineering professional services were sole sourced to Gonzales Companies and that the flow meters themselves were obtained via bids from two vendors. Staff cited Illinois law that prevents competitive bidding for certain professional engineering services.

Staff said the amendment also includes additional engineering fees to expand the hydraulic model and that the original contract amount "was about $123,000" per staff comment at the meeting; the $187,000 is an addition to that earlier agreement.

The committee voted to forward the amendment to the full City Council. No physical construction was approved at the meeting; the amendment addresses engineering, modeling, and equipment purchase that staff said will support later replacements or rehabilitation of trunk sewer segments.

Ending: The meters will be used to calibrate the hydraulic model and can be redeployed across the city's sewer system to target infiltration and inflow problems; staff will present the amendment to the City Council for final approval.