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Council authorizes emergency contract to repair South Street water main under railroad
Summary
Council authorized the city manager to award an emergency contract and contingency funds to replace a failed 12-inch water main under the railroad on South Street; staff said the work must be done before higher summer demands to avoid pressure drops and fire-flow risks.
The City Council adopted a resolution authorizing an emergency public-works contract to repair and replace a failed 12-inch cast-iron water main beneath the railroad on South Street and approved related project costs and contingencies.
Mr. Webb, a city staff member presenting the item, described a December failure of the roughly 70-year-old cast-iron main that runs in a corrugated metal casing under the railroad tracks. City crews isolated the leak between two valves and completed an emergency stop-gap repair, Webb said, but modeling shows that with the South Street main out of service other pipes would see velocities near or above 6 feet per second and that the city faces significant operational risk during higher spring and summer demand.
“During the summer we roughly use over 40 million gallons of water per day,” Webb told the council, explaining that peak seasonal demand could cause drops in pressure for customers and could reduce fire flows for parts of downtown if the main is not replaced. Webb recommended the council adopt emergency authority so the city could contract immediately for the repair rather than follow an expedited design–bid–build schedule that he said could take roughly seven months to reach contract award and would put the work into the high-demand season.
The council approved the staff recommendation, which included authorization for the city manager to negotiate and award an emergency contract, to approve construction contingency amounts up to $180,000 and to find the project exempt from CEQA where applicable. Staff estimated the project budget at about $1.04 million. Council members were told the water utility has funds available to cover the emergency work but that the project will likely require reprioritization of other capital work.
Votes at a glance: The council voted to authorize emergency contracting and contingency funding for the South Street water main replacement; the transcript records the motion and a prompt affirmative vote, and staff indicated funds are available in the water utility budget to proceed.
Ending: Staff will execute the emergency contract and return to the council with any required follow-up and accounting for the project funds.
