Item 6-C

Council Meeting: June 29, 1999

Santa Monica, California

TO: Mayor and City Council

FROM: City Staff

SUBJECT: Recommendation to Authorize the City Manager to Negotiate and Execute a Contract Modification with Arthur D. Little, Inc. to Provide Operation and Maintenance Services for the Interim Landfill Gas Extraction System

This report recommends that the City Council authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute a contract modification with Arthur D. Little, Inc. for $95,000 to operate and maintain the interim landfill gas extraction system currently operating at the City’s Municipal Yard.

Portions of the City Yard and Stewart Street Park lie over an inactive landfill. In response to the potential hazard posed by landfill gas, the City executed contract No. 6642 with Arthur D. Little, Inc. (ADL) in March, 1997 in the amount of $383,100 to design, install and operate an interim landfill gas extraction and treatment system to collect and treat landfill gases generated from the former landfill. The system was designed primarily to mitigate potential landfill gas emissions along the southern boundary of the City Yard and Stewart Street Park and has been permitted by the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) and the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (LACDHS).

The contract was modified in 1997 and in 1999 to add and address out-of-scope contingencies which arose during the actual installation and completion of the gas extraction and treatment system. The extraction system has been operating on a continuous basis since July, 1998.

Currently, permit and operational conditions require periodic monitoring and adjustment of the system to maintain maximum gas extraction and treatment effectiveness. Due to the complexity and specialized nature of the engineered system, it is appropriate that these services be provided by a qualified and experienced contractor.

Since placing the system on-line, Arthur D. Little, Inc. has provided cost effective operating, maintenance and monitoring services to the City. The current contract with ADL to provide these services expires in June, 1999.

Staff anticipates the distribution of a request for proposals in September, 1999 for a substantial scope of services related to expansion of the interim system to additional areas of the former landfill, the implementation of an SCAQMD-required Compliance Plan and the long term operation and maintenance of the system.

The Compliance Plan, which specifies additional monitoring and operational standards, was submitted to AQMD earlier this year. The plan is expected to be approved by AQMD in August, 1999.

It is most cost effective to request proposals to provide the full scope of future activities noted above, and therefore recommends distributing the request for proposals following approval of the Compliance Plan in August. This will result in the award of the contract in October. This timeline creates an interim period from July to October during which the landfill gas extraction system must continue to operate. Extending the existing operation and maintenance contract with ADL through the interim period in accordance with existing contract conditions is the most efficient approach to the continued operation of the system.

Funds are available for the contract modification in the amount of $95,000 in the General Fund Capital Improvement Project account #01-710-662-20099-8900-99798.

Staff recommends that the City Council authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute a contract modification not to exceed $95,000 with Arthur D. Little, Inc. to operate and maintain the interim landfill gas extraction system currently operating at the City’s Municipal Yard.

Prepared by:
Craig Perkins, Director of Environmental and Public Works Management
Brian J. Johnson, Environmental Programs Coordinator