Salem City Council voted to adopt resolution 2025-29, approving an exemption from the standard competitive low-bid process under Oregon public contracting rules and authorizing a construction-manager-at-risk (CMAR) procurement method for the Willow Lake Water Pollution Control Facility South Secondary Clarifiers rehabilitation.

Assistant City Engineer James Winslow told the council the four clarifiers are critical to plant operations and that any one unit being unavailable during wet-weather flows could cause permit-violating overflows to the river. Winslow said the facility has no redundancy and the work must be timed to summer low-flow windows. He recommended CMAR to allow an early-contracted contractor to collaborate on design, perform early work packages and reduce change orders; he estimated total program costs at roughly $16'$20 million and said the current CIP budget holds about $12'$13 million, with an updated project expectation near $18 million.

Councilors asked for clarity on cost estimates and how contractor qualifications would be weighted. The city attorney and staff explained that the exemption does not remove competition: selection will still consider qualifications and price, and the goal is a guaranteed maximum price that transfers some cost risk to the contractor.

The council voted to adopt the resolution exempting the project from the typical design-bid-build low-bid requirement and allowing CMAR (motion seconded and approved by roll call). Staff said project milestones would include selecting a construction manager in spring, completing collaborative design and targeting the first clarifier construction in summer 2027, followed by the remaining clarifiers in successive summers.

Next steps: staff will return with the procurement documents and selection process for the CMAR delivery; council will act as the local contracting review board for the exemption. City staff cautioned that schedule is constrained by the narrow summer construction window and by permitting and site-specific conditions.