Oceanside awards $27M construction contract and $5M professional services agreement for downtown water and sewer replacement

The Oceanside City Council voted unanimously Dec. 17 to award a $27,061,128 construction contract to Bertec Pipeline Inc. for the downtown water and sewer replacement Phase 2 project and approve associated professional services.

Senior civil engineer Veil Irani, project manager in the utilities department, told the council the multi‑phase project will replace more than three miles of sewer main, about 2.5 miles of water main and add nearly a mile of recycled water main as part of a five‑phase capital program. Irani said six bids were received and Bertec Pipeline was the lowest responsive and responsible bidder. The council also authorized the city engineer to approve change orders up to 15% of the contract value, creating an authorized construction budget of roughly $31,120,297, and approved a professional services agreement with Unico Engineering for construction management and inspection services not to exceed $5,035,276.

Irani described public outreach, a PR consultant under contract with the selected team and coordination with local businesses and community organizations to minimize disruptions. Funding will be spread across three fiscal years from the water fixed asset replacement fund, sewer fixed asset replacement fund and a recycled‑water state grant of about $717,000, Irani said. No public speakers addressed the item and the council approved the contracts 5‑0.

The contract award authorizes the city to proceed with procurement and pre‑construction coordination; the council also approved staff recommendations to manage schedule and contingencies through the contract’s change‑order authority.