Committee approves two on‑call construction contracts for emergency and minor work

The Sweetwater Authority Engineering and Operations Committee on Jan. 13 recommended the award of two on‑call emergency and general construction services contracts and will forward the recommendation to the full board.

Staff said the authority maintains on‑call contracts with local general contractors to respond to emergency and minor contracting needs. Two firms — Bugzilla Construction and Palm Engineering — submitted statements of qualifications in response to an RFQ the authority issued to replace on‑call contractors whose agreements expire in June 2025. Staff recommended issuing not‑to‑exceed $100,000 contracts to each firm; any single task order exceeding the general manager’s contracting authority would return to the board for approval.

Staff noted that El Cajon Grading and Ortiz Corporation are current on‑call contractors whose contracts will expire in June; El Cajon Grading chose not to submit a statement of qualifications and Ortiz had informed staff it may not be available to respond to future tasks.

After a short presentation, a motion to support issuance of the on‑call contracts passed on committee roll call (Director Castaneda — yes; Director Cox — aye; Director Martinez absent). Staff will forward the recommended contract awards and related resolution to the full board for final approval.

The contracts are intended to provide timely access to local contractors for small emergency repairs or minor construction work, and staff said they will continue to solicit a roster of local firms to increase competition and redundancy for emergency responses.