04-04-11 BPU RPT 09 - Laserfiche WebLink

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W A-T E It ♦; N E R r, Y I I i 6 RIVERSIDE PUBLIC UTILITIES Board Memorandum P U B L I C U T I L I T I E S BOARD CE PUBLIC UTILITIES DATE: April 1, 2011 ITEM NO: 9 SUBJECT: UNDERGROUND LINE EXTENSION - CARBONLITE INDUSTRIES - WORK ORDER NO. 1111759 ISSUE: Board of Public Utilities approval is requested for Work Order No. 1111759. RECOMMENDATIONS: That the Board of Public Utilities: 1. Approve the estimated capital expenditure of $650,000 for Work Order No. 1111759 to install an underground electric distribution line extension to serve CarbonLITE Industries located northwesterly of Michigan and Palmyrita Avenue; and 2. Authorize the General Manager to Issue change orders for the civil construction contract awarded for this project in an amount not to exceed 20% of the estimated contract amount of $67,000. BACKGROUND: The project consists of extending electric distribution facilities to serve CarbonLITE Industries located at 875 Michigan Avenue in the Hunter Industrial Park. The project includes electric distribution system improvements required to facilitate reliable distribution service for the facility. Riverside Public Utilities (RPU) electric distribution facilities in the Hunter Industrial Park are underground. This work requires electric cables, switches and other equipment to be installed from the Hunter Substation to the customer site. Approximately 350 feet of conduits and a vault will need to be installed to facilitate a small portion of this work with an estimated contract amount of $67,000. Staff is seeking change order authorization up to 20% of the contract value because underground work in developed areas, such as Hunter Industrial Park, often results in interferences and conflicts with existing underground utilities (telecommunications, water, and electrical facilities) which requires additional civil work such as potholing, rerouting, and much deeper trench to resolve, Staff has experienced delays with this type of construction in this particular area due to these interferences and having to request re- approval of change orders for the civil contract amount. To ensure that the aggressive electric service date for CarbonLITE is met, staff is requesting authorization ahead of time in case it necessitates the need for unexpected change orders. The 20% contingency only applies to this civil work and would have a maximum value of approximately $13,400. Engineering was performed by RPU staff and the installation of the underground work will be performed by a contractor through the competitive bid process. Electric work will be performed by either RPU staff or by contractors using RPU's Contractor's Panel.