Issue
Approve and recommend to Council to hire Fehr-Graham for Engineering services for lead service line replacement project with 80% ($1,022,000) Congressional Directed Spending Grant and 20% ($255,500) City of Monroe Match.
The attached proposal from Fehr Graham includes the scope as required for the grant application; design, specifications, and bidding documents; construction observation and grant management during construction as required by the federal guidelines. In addition, there is a line item to assist the city in completing the Lead Service Line before October 2024, as required by Wisconsin DNR. The engineering fees are within EPA expected fee percentages and are eligible costs which count as part of the City’s 20% match requirement.
Background Information
The City has approximately 500+ suspected lead service lines (LSLs), which are currently being identified through surveys and physical inspections. These service lines are made of toxic lead that can contaminate the water that runs through the pipe into people’s homes. This is a health risk to the homeowner’s and citizens of Monroe. The Environmental Protection Agency has mandated that all lead service lines be inventoried by October 2024 with 7% of the lines to be replaced every year after 2024. Monroe has been proactive in trying to meet this requirement and replaced 42 services as part of a City-funded project in 2022. Monroe currently has budgeted $100,000/year as part of its capital improvement plan to replace the services, but at that current rate, it will take over 40 years to replace all the lead services throughout the City.
The City was awarded a much needed congressional spending grant from Tammy Baldwin’s office in 2022 to help replace these lead services. The $1,022,000 grant is to be used for Lead Service Line Replacement (LSLR) and is expected to replace approximately 100 of the known lead services. This grant requires a 20% match from the City totaling $255,500 with an anticipated deadline of October 2025.
In October 2022, the city sent out Requests For Proposals (RFPs) to engineering firms to complete the next steps in the grant process. Fehr Graham was the selected firm to complete the design and engineering associated with the grant process based on their qualifications, experience, and familiarity with the application. This selection followed federal requirements for Qualifications Based Selection (QBS
Financial Impact
The City of Monroe is required by the grant application guidelines to contribute 20% ($255,000) to the lead service line replacement project. This money will come out of the Water Utilities depreciation / checking account.
Recommendation
I would recommend that we proceed with the project and contract with Fehr Graham for engineering services for the lead service line / Inventory project.