Council Meeting: June 25, 2002 Santa Monica,
California
TO: Mayor
and City Council
FROM: City
Staff
SUBJECT: Contract 7997 (CCS) With XENERGY for Services Related to the Bay Saver Water Conservation Program
INTRODUCTION
This report
recommends that City Council authorize the City Manager to extend the contract
with XENERGY for a second year in the amount of $115,000 for administrative and
inspection services related to the Bay Saver Retrofit Program for the period
July 1, 2002 to June 30, 2003.
BACKGROUND
Since 1989, the City of Santa Monica has implemented aggressive water conservation programs, including the Bay Saver Retrofit program, and the No Waste Water and Retrofit Upon Sale ordinances. These programs are largely responsible for the City’s reduction in water usage and contribute to the Resource Conservation goals of the Sustainable City Program.
On July 10, 2001, Council extended the Bay Saver Retrofit Program and the accompanying Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) Rebate Program to June 2003. The Bay Saver program provides incentives to residents and businesses to install ultra low-flow (ULF) water efficiency devices, including toilets, aerators and showerheads. A portion of Bay Saver incentives are provided by MWD, with the remainder budgeted from City funds. By replacing water-wasting plumbing fixtures with ULF toilets (1.6 gallon per flush) and low-flow showerheads and aerators, residents help the City achieve its Sustainable City Water Efficiency Goals, and reduce their water and wastewater charges. Residential ratepayers also eliminate the monthly Bay Saver Fee when they install water-saving devices.
To date,
almost 47,000 ULF toilets have been installed in homes and businesses in the
city. Each ULF toilet is estimated to
save an average of 35 gallons of water per day compared to a non-ULF
toilet. When compared to City water use
and wastewater production without the Bay Saver Program, the City has achieved
a permanent reduction in water usage and wastewater generation of 1.6 million
gallons per day (MGD), representing a 13 percent reduction in Santa Monica’s
total daily water demand and an 18 percent reduction in average daily
wastewater flows. These figures
exclude savings from the installation of low-flow aerators and showerheads,
which are more difficult to accurately quantify.
Contracting is
the most cost-effective manner to administer the program due to the high number
of transactions per year. The City has
employed a contractor to assist in the program’s administration and
implementation since its inception (1989).
Following a recent program evaluation, staff recommended that the City
continue with this approach, and in the August 14, 2001 staff report approved
by Council, a contract was authorized with XENERGY to administer the Bay Saver
Program through FY01-03. The contractor
provides customer service, data and financial management, and inspection services.
The proposed
contract for FY02-03 includes improvements in the vendor’s scope of work, based
on experience to date and feedback from customers, XENERGY and City staff. In addition, the City will add several new
water conservation programs to Bay Saver to improve water efficiency. Moreover, the proposed FY02-03 contract is
for a complete year instead of seven months as the case for 2001. These changes resulted in a higher contract
amount for FY02-03 than was contemplated in the contract executed in 2001,
about $2,500 more per month.
BUDGET/FISCAL
IMPACT
This contract
is for the period of July 1, 2002 through June 30, 2003. Effective July 1, 2002, budget authority
will be available at account number 31662.544390 .
RECOMMENDATIONS
Staff recommends
that the City Council authorize the City Manager to extend the contract with XENERGY for a second year in the amount of
$115,000 for administrative and inspection services related to the Bay
Saver Program for the period July 1, 2002 to June 30, 2003.
Prepared
by: Craig
Perkins, Director, Environmental & Public Works Management
Brian
Johnson, Manager, Environmental Programs Division