SFPUC awards CM/GC for Southeast Plant biosolids digester; community partners back local hiring commitments

The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission voted May 9 to award a construction-manager/general-contractor (CM/GC) contract for a new biosolids digester at the Southeast Treatment Plant after a staff procurement review and public comment from neighborhood and labor representatives.

Project staff said the digester facility is the largest priority in Phase I of the Sewer System Improvement Program and is needed to replace aging infrastructure, maintain regulatory compliance and increase sustainability by facilitating beneficial use of biosolids and biogas while reducing neighborhood impacts such as odors and noise. After outreach and a re-advertised solicitation, two proposers were interviewed and the MWH Constructors/Webcor Builders joint venture scored highest in the evaluation and was recommended for award.

Several community representatives and local business enterprise (LBE) partners spoke in support during public comment. Rodney Hampton Jr. of the Southeast Consortium highlighted the project's long-awaited benefits for Bayview residents and praised the prime contractor's record of local hiring. Holly Thier, a local business owner who participated in an LBE subteam, urged approval and noted the team's strong LBE composition. Selection panel materials and staff presentations emphasized the CM/GC approach as a way to reduce cost and schedule risk by integrating construction input during design.

The commission approved the award by voice vote. Staff will bring contract documents and subsequent construction agreements back to the commission as the project advances; the commission record includes a numerical entry in the transcript for an upper-construction limit that appears to be a transcription error and will be verified in the contract documents before any budgetary commitment is finalized.