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City staff proposes collaborative procurement (CMAR) for five sewer force‑main projects to limit change orders and disruption
Summary
Senior civil engineer David Powell recommended using collaborative construction management (CMAR) or design–build approaches to replace five aging sanitary sewer force mains to reduce surprises, share risk with contractors and limit disruption; the method is listed on tonight’s consent agenda for council approval.
Senior Civil Engineer David Powell briefed the council on a proposed pilot to use collaborative procurement methods — including construction management at risk (CMAR) and design–build — for several sanitary sewer force‑main replacement projects.
Powell said roughly five force mains need repair or replacement to meet consent-order obligations. "We have 5 sanitary sewer force mains that are in need of repair or replacement to maintain consent order compliance," he told council, and said bringing a contractor into design conversations earlier provides better cost certainty, shared risk for unknown subsurface conditions and fewer change orders during construction.
Powell contrasted traditional design–bid–build, where designers and contractors work sequentially, with collaborative models that hire designers and contractors earlier and encourage real-time coordination. He said Aberdeen Road (a project over a mile long serving three pump stations) and several pump-station-adjacent mains present complex access and phasing constraints that would benefit from contractor input during design to minimize resident disruption and traffic impacts.
Powell told the council that procurement and legal staff will pursue training on the method and that the proposed CMAR procurement is item number 2 on tonight’s consent agenda, which the council will be asked to approve. There was no formal approval recorded in this work session; Powell opened for council questions and said staff will return with procurement materials for the consent agenda vote.
