Report Prepared by: Johnnie Baptista, Public Works Manager - Water
Title
SUBJECT: Approval of Consulting and Professional Services Contract with ControlPoint Engineering, Inc., for Software Maintenance Services Related to the City’s Water SCADA System for a Three-Year Term, not to Exceed $300,000 for the Initial Term and the not to Exceed Amount of $100,000 for the Optional One (1) Year Extension
REPORT IN BRIEF
Considers approving a three-year Consulting Agreement for software maintenance services and related tasks for the City’s SCADA system not to exceed $300,000 for the initial term.
RECOMMENDATION
City Council - Adopt a motion:
A. Approving the Consulting and Professional Services Contract with ControlPoint Engineering, Inc., for a three-year term, for up to $300,000 in the initial 3-year term and $100,000 in the optional 1-year extension term; and,
B. Authorizing the City Manager or designee to execute the necessary documents.
Body
ALTERNATIVES
1. Approve as recommend by Staff; or,
2. Approve, subject to modifications as conditioned by Council; or,
3. Deny; or,
4. Refer back to Staff for reconsideration of specific items as requested by Council; or,
5. Continue item to a Council future meeting.
AUTHORITY
City of Merced Charter, Section 200 - Powers.
Merced Municipal Code (MMC) Section 3.04 - Purchasing System.
COUNCIL PRIORITIES
As provided for in the FY 2025/2026 adopted budget.
DISCUSSION
The City of Merced is supplied entirely by groundwater extracted by traditional turbine-motor driven deep-well pumps that range from 100 to 300 HP. Fifteen (15) of the eighteen (18) wells have Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) and Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) systems, while 3 wells still have pressure actuated soft-starts that will eventually be converted to PLC/VFD. There are two new wells almost completed, but not yet on-line. All wells have a very robust Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) monitoring system accessed through Ignition. There are several custom-built software programs in place used to standardize SCADA data and facilitate State regulatory reporting.
We have approximately 25,000 service connections and pump between 6 and 8 billion gallons annually to meet the demand. We have one Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) treated well with stand-alone automated valving and controls. All wells are injected with sodium hypochlorite and saturated sodium fluoride. There are residual analyzers for the injected solutions. We have one electrician on staff with experience in low voltage supervisory controls and PLC programing. We have future Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) that include a surface water treatment drinking water plant, several above ground storage tanks to flatten demand curves. We have two new well sites in the planning stage, along with continuous fine-tuning of the software and programming as it relates to data collection and report creation.
The SCADA system utilized at Municipal water well sites requires a specialized electrical engineering firm to provide software maintenance / troubleshooting, as well as software programming for integration of new or upgraded well sites. In order to expeditiously address issues that arise with the SCADA software system in the field, an on-call consultant is needed. In addition, to address programming standards of new or upgrade well sites, having a single firm design future software integrations allows for uniformity within the system.
The City of Merced issued a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to provide specialized electrical engineering services as mentioned above. Three (3) responses to the RFQ were ranked as follows:
1. ControlPoint Engineering, Inc. (El Dorado Hills, CA)
2. Telstar Instruments (Sacramento, CA)
3. Aspect Engineering Group (Bakersfield, CA)
City staff convened an evaluation committee consisting of staff from the Public Works Water Department. The proposals were evaluated on criteria including, but not limited to: staff qualifications, project experience, project understanding, completeness, and overall approach.
The committee selected ControlPoint Engineering, Inc. as best meeting the needs of the City. The Consulting and Professional Services Contract will be for a three-year period. Staff recommends approving the agreement with ControlPoint Engineering in an amount not to exceed $300,000 for the initial 3-year period and $100,000 in the optional 1-year extension period.
IMPACT ON CITY RESOURCES
No appropriation of funds needed. Funding is available in FY2025-26 approved budget. Future years funding will be contingent upon budget approvals.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Consulting and Professional Services Contract