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Palm Bay council approves water-plant expansion and moves to CMAR delivery for North RORO plant
Summary
Council approved increasing South Regional Water Treatment Plant capacity from 6 to about 8.3 million gallons per day (funded by connection fees) and authorized pre-construction work with Wharton Smith as construction manager at-risk (CMAR) for the North RORO plant, citing resilience and schedule benefits.
Palm Bay — The City Council on Oct. 3 approved a package of water-infrastructure actions: an expansion of the South Regional Water Treatment Plant from 6 million to roughly 8.3 million gallons per day and an agreement to advance pre-construction services with Wharton Smith as construction manager at risk (CMAR, sometimes referenced as 'Seymour' in the meeting).
City staff told council the South-plant expansion will be paid using utility connection fees from new development and will not require a rate increase for current customers. Staff described the project as a resilience and supply measure to reduce stress on existing wells and to avoid costly emergency repairs.
For the North RORO plant, staff recommended the CMAR delivery method and introduced Nathan Hillard, vice president at Wharton Smith, who described early-construction benefits: continuous cost estimates during design, value-engineering opportunities, reduced schedule risk and earlier equipment procurement. Hillard said CMAR projects typically complete 12–18 months faster than a traditional design-bid-build approach for similar plant projects.
Council members asked how contractor qualifications will be assessed in future solicitations; staff said selection documents for the CMAR solicitation consider firm experience and qualifications rather than price-only low-bid methods. Both items passed unanimously.
Next steps: Staff will move forward with pre-construction services, finalize the South-plant expansion schedule and bring back required procurement documents and any contract authorizations to council per city procurement rules.
