REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Urgency Declaration and Action to Approve Expenditures and Ratify an Agreement with Preston Pipelines, Inc. Related to the Lafayette Street Emergency Sanitary Sewer Pipeline Project
Report
BACKGROUND
The City of Santa Clara Water & Sewer Utilities Department (Department) owns and maintains approximately 300 miles of sewer main, 5,800 manholes, and seven (7) pump/lift stations in the City's sanitary sewer collections system. The sanitary sewer collections system serves approximately 26,000 customers in the City of Santa Clara.
DISCUSSION
On March 17, 2019, the Department was notified of a four-foot by four-foot sinkhole on the northbound fast lane of Lafayette Street, approximately 1,000 feet north of the intersection with Calle Del Mundo. Staff discovered that the 42-inch diameter reinforced concrete sanitary sewer pipeline, approximately 10 feet deep, had collapsed, compromising the supporting ground structure and subsequently causing the sink hole.
As an immediate response, staff reached out to several contractors to divert traffic away from the sink hole. Preston Pipelines, Inc. (PPI) was the first contractor to respond and secure the area. Using closed-circuit television (CCTV) to inspect the pipeline, staff discovered that approximately 130 feet of the sanitary sewer pipeline that carries about 65% of the total City's sewage to the treatment plant north of the sink hole was severely corroded. Staff determined that the 130-foot pipeline needed to be replaced and the sanitary sewer manholes in the affected segment needed to be repaired/replaced immediately.
Given the threat to public health, property, and safety of the people, staff determined that the situation met the definition of "urgent necessity" under City Charter Section 1310, allowing for the execution of public works contracts without going through the standard bidding process, which would have otherwise required newspaper publication followed by a ten-day wa...
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