WES advisory committee hears capital projects update as spending lags and emergency river pipeline work begins

WES Capital Manager Jeff Stallard told the committee on July 14 that the utility's FY capital budget was $43,875,000 and that the utility had spent roughly $32,000,000 through the end of May, or about 72.8% of the approved CIP. He said the utility's strategic target is to reach 80% spent this year and to move toward a longer-term goal of 90%.

The shortfall reflects a mix of planned sequencing and unexpected delays, Stallard said. He identified five major impacts: procurement problems for long-lead electrical equipment on an influent pump station that forced a change in delivery method; pausing a Tri City lab HVAC retrofit to accommodate a later full remodel; I-205 contractor delays that left large project dollars held in escrow and produced timing swings; a missed in-water work window on the 3 Creeks contract; and additional structural analysis required for a Kellogg UV replacement. "We shifted our delivery method and brought a contractor on board to help with procurement and constructability," Stallard said of the pump-station work.

Stallard said the Tri City Outfall project was an exception: the pipe was brought online in December, performed well during two major rain events, and came in on time and effectively on budget after the team managed a small differing-site-conditions change order.

On the Kellogg UV replacement, Stallard said pre-procurement bids came in below the engineer's estimate (engineer estimate about $1.5 million; supplier bids roughly $1.0 million) but that the retrofit sequencing will push equipment purchases into the next fiscal year and require temporary disinfection arrangements during construction. For the 3 Creeks project, he said the contractor missed the in-water window last year and was given an amended contract with liquidated-damage milestones to better enforce schedule.

Stallard also described efforts to reduce constructability risk and cost, including bringing a contractor on board under a construction-manager/general-contractor arrangement for complex work such as the influent pump station. That contractor proposed a "spool-piece" approach that could avoid months of concrete removal and save significant bypass-pumping expense if inspections confirm the plan.

On unplanned emergency work, Stallard told the committee a Sandy River crossing had exposed pipelines; the board approved alternate delivery and the utility had emergency approvals from federal and state reviewers. "We are targeting and it looks like we'll get some disaster funding to replace this pipeline," he said, noting FEMA and other funding paths were being navigated.

The committee asked questions about contingency and risk accounting, and Stallard described a negotiated risk-register approach used to assign likely-dollar values to specific risks rather than purchasing an external insurance product.

The advisory committee received the report; next steps include continuing design work, preparing the five-year CIP for board consideration in the winter and following up on procurement and construction sequencing as the team verifies contractor proposals and inspects existing spools.