Guadalupe council declares emergency to replace failing water SCADA system; delegates contractor selection

The Guadalupe City Council on Sept. 23 adopted Resolution 2025-53 declaring an emergency to replace the city's supervisory control and data acquisition system, a software-and-hardware system that monitors pumps, tanks and treatment processes for the city's water and wastewater operations. Council approved the measure in a roll-call vote and delegated to staff the authority to choose the contractor to perform the work.

City staff told the council the system experienced a partial failure in August that left much of the automated monitoring offline and forced staff to monitor flows, pressures and chemical injection rates manually. "We're like walking around blind," said David, a public-works staff member who described the technical failure and told the council the existing equipment and software are near 20 years old and cannot be repaired to current standards.

The nut of the issue is operational and regulatory: SCADA provides the measurements the State Water Boards require and lets operators verify flows, chemical dosing and tank operations remotely. According to staff, on-site diagnostics showed the system cannot be repaired and must be replaced. The proposal before council covered a "bare bones" replacement that staff said would allow future upgrades and would take about 17 weeks to complete after work begins.

City legal staff told the council the project qualifies as a public project under local code and state law, which normally requires competitive bidding. Because the council found that time is of the essence and that contractors with the necessary expertise are limited, staff recommended using an emergency procurement exception in the Public Contracts Code and the city's municipal code. City legal counsel explained the procedure requires a 4/5 vote and periodic reporting to council while the emergency remains in effect.

Phil, a staff member providing legal counsel to the council, summarized the procurement constraint and the emergency process and said the staff report outlines the legal basis: the council must adopt a resolution proclaiming an emergency and may then authorize staff to proceed with the procurement under the emergency exception.

Staff told the council they had two vendor quotes for the full replacement; both firms proposed similar services and, according to staff, subcontract the programming to the same technician. Staff recommended delegating the final contractor selection to the public-works staff member to meet the tight timeline. Council members asked about evaluation criteria; staff said selection would be based on cost given the similar scopes, and one council member cautioned that low bids can sometimes lead to change orders later in the project.

City staff also said the project was not budgeted but that the city has reserves and that leftover funding from a separate tank recoating project could cover about half of the cost. The staff estimate presented to council described the replacement as the minimal necessary system that still permits later enhancements.

A motion to adopt Resolution 2025-53 carried unanimously by roll call. Council directed staff to proceed under the emergency procurement provisions and to report back to council at subsequent meetings until the emergency is closed.

The council action allows staff to begin contracting and install the replacement SCADA system; staff estimated a 17-week installation window once a contractor is mobilized and said they would continue manual monitoring until the new system is online.