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University Place authorizes up to $205,000 to buy hydrodynamic stormwater separator
Summary
The City Council authorized the city manager to purchase a hydrodynamic separator to meet a consent‑decree timetable, waiving competitive bidding for up to $205,000 while staff investigates a potentially cheaper, faster alternative vendor.
The University Place City Council on Aug. 3 authorized the city manager to purchase a hydrodynamic separator to meet a court‑ordered timeline for stormwater treatment, approving a purchase limit of $205,000 with the competitive‑bidding requirement waived.
Public Works Director Jack Eklund told the council the city has a sole‑source procurement on record for a concrete‑vault separator that meets the consent decree specifications and carries a roughly 12–16 week lead time. He said the quoted purchase price from that vendor is $203,009.25 and that the city added the item to its carry‑forward budget. "We have an 8, 18 month time frame to get this installed in accordance with that consent decree," Eklund said, urging the council to preserve the schedule while staff verifies an alternative.
Eklund also said a second vendor contacted the city that morning and may provide a device with a shorter lead time and lower cost. "They gave us a price that's probably in the ballpark of about $50,000 less, and a delivery time of less than .5 [months]," he said, adding the company still must demonstrate it meets the Department of Ecology pretreatment criteria before staff would recommend changing course.
Council members asked how the separator works, who would install it and where the funding would come from. Eklund described the device as a large, buried swirl chamber that traps heavier sediments before stormwater flows to downstream systems and said the city would procure materials and bid installation to a contractor; he told the council the money is drawn from a previously approved carry‑forward budget item.
After discussion, Mayor Pro Tem McCluskey moved to authorize the city manager or designee to purchase a hydrodynamic separator in an amount not to exceed $205,000 with the competitive‑bidding requirement waived; the council approved the motion unanimously. Eklund said staff will notify the council if the alternate vendor demonstrates compliance and offers terms that warrant a superseding recommendation at a future meeting.
