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Council approves SAM collection contract amendment and adopts SAM O&M budget while protesting IPS cost allocations
Summary
The council authorized an extension and funding increase for collection system cleaning with Sam’s staff and adopted the Sewer Authority Midcoast (SAM) operations and maintenance budget. Council added formal protest language raising concerns about SAM's flow‑distribution methodology tied to Integrated Pipeline System (IPS) capital costs.
The Half Moon Bay City Council approved two sewer‑related items affecting the Sewer Authority Midcoast (SAM): an amendment to the city’s sewer collection cleaning contract with SAM staff and adoption of SAM’s revised operations and maintenance (O&M) budget for fiscal year 2025–26, while lodging a formal protest about how SAM allocates capital costs tied to the Integrated Pipeline System (IPS).
Public Works Director Mazbo Zirunia presented the collection‑system item and asked the council to authorize Amendment No. 8 to the city’s professional services agreement with SAM for collection‑system cleaning. The amendment extends the contract one year and increases the not‑to‑exceed amount to $233,665 to cover cleaning, inspections, pump‑station services and emergency response. The council approved the amendment by roll call.
Later in the meeting, council considered SAM’s revised O&M budget. SAM is a joint powers authority providing wastewater treatment for Half Moon Bay, Granada Community Services District and Montara Water and Sanitation District. Staff reported the combined SAM operations and maintenance budget increased to roughly $9.9 million; the city’s allocation rose to about $5.9 million based on flow percentages recorded in 2024. A large portion of SAM’s capital spending in the draft budget funds replacement of the Montara force main, a component of the IPS, with a $3.5‑million capital ask in the coming year and additional amounts projected in the next fiscal year.
Council approved SAM’s revised O&M budget but added explicit language that the council “protests costs related to the capital improvements reflected in the IPS” and that the protest “reflects the city’s ongoing concerns with discrepancies in SAM’s methodology for calculating flow distribution, which materially impact cost allocations.” City staff said they are developing and sharing a hydraulic model of the collection system to help clarify where wet‑weather flows and infiltration originate and to inform future cost allocations.
Why it matters: The decisions secure routine cleaning and maintenance services for the city’s sanitary sewer system and accept SAM’s operating budget while reserving the city’s right to challenge cost allocations for major IPS capital projects. Council members signaled concern about increased flow percentages attributed to the city and asked for further hydraulic analysis before accepting long‑term capital cost allocations tied to the IPS.
Next steps: Staff will execute the collection contract amendment, present the city’s hydraulic model and continue to press SAM for clarity on flow‑distribution metrics as SAM proceeds with planning for the Montara force‑main replacement and other infrastructure work.
