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Committee forwards amendment for Southeast Water Reservoir design after bedrock and stormwater challenges
Summary
Staff asked the committee to forward amendment #2 with RH2 Engineering to address shallow bedrock on 93rd Avenue and non‑infiltrating soils for the reservoir access road; the committee recommended placing the amendment on the June 16 consent calendar.
Jeff Quarry, project manager in the city’s Transportation and Engineering Department, presented amendment number 2 for the Southeast Water Reservoir design on June 4 and asked the committee to forward the item to the June 16 council consent calendar with a recommendation to approve.
Quarry described the reservoir as a 3,000,000‑gallon tank intended to serve the city’s 350 pressure zone and provide additional domestic, commercial and fire‑flow capacity for growth in the area. He said the design is roughly 90 percent complete but geotechnical testing uncovered shallow bedrock along 93rd Avenue and non‑infiltrating soils for the planned access road.
"During design, geotechnical testing ... discovered shallow bedrock along 93rd Avenue," Quarry said, explaining that keeping the original alignment would require blasting or other expensive measures and could be conflict with future roadway grading. Quarry said staff coordinated with the Tumwater School District and identified an alternate alignment that shifts the water main onto school district property to avoid the bedrock.
Quarry also said stormwater design for the access road must change because soils in the area do not infiltrate; the team therefore plans to direct runoff to off‑site subsurface infiltration facilities to meet environmental regulations and county drainage standards. He said a tree survey identified heritage trees that staff intend to preserve and that Thurston County is handling the land‑use permitting for the site because the reservoir parcel sits in Thurston County.
Quarry reviewed contract history, saying the original design contract was a not‑to‑exceed amount of $1,658,845 and that an earlier director‑approved amendment was about $81,215. Staff presented amendment #2 to cover the additional design work; the committee discussed tree impacts and downstream drainage analysis and then voted to forward the amendment to the council consent calendar.
The committee voted to recommend placing service provider agreement amendment number 2 with RH2 Engineering on the June 16 consent calendar with a recommendation to approve and authorize the mayor to sign. The council will consider the amendment on June 16.
