2013 09 18 BAWA MinutesMINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
OF THE BAYTOWN AREA WATER AUTHORITY
September 18, 2013
The Board of Directors of the Baytown Area Water Authority (BAWA) met in a
Regular Meeting on Wednesday, September 18, 2013, at 8:25 A.M., in the Council Chamber of
the Baytown City Hall, 2401 Market Street, Baytown, Texas with the following in attendance:
Brenda Bradley Smith President
Brandon Benoit Director
Frank McKay Director
Mike Wilson Director
Robert D. Leiper General Manager
Karen Horner Assistant General Counsel
Leticia Brysch Assistant Secretary
President Bradley Smith convened the September 18, 2013, Baytown Area Water Authority
(BAWA) Board Regular Meeting with a quorum present at 8:25 A.M., all members were present
with the exception of Director Wayne Baldwin who was absent.
1. MINUTES
a. Consider approving the minutes of the Baytown Area Water Authority (BAWA)
Board Meeting held on August 21, 2013.
A motion was made by Director Brandon Benoit and seconded by Director Mike Wilson
approving the minutes with the correction of deleting Frank McKay III from all actions items as
his term was not yet effective. The vote was as follows:
Ayes: Director Brandon Benoit, President Brenda Bradley Smith, Director Frank
McKay III, Director Mike Wilson
Nays: None
Other: Secretary Wayne Baldwin (Absent)
Approved
2. BUSINESS ITEMS
a. Consider the election of officers: President, Vice President, and Secretary; and the
appointment of an Assistant Secretary.
BAWA Board Regular Meeting Minutes
September 18, 2013
Page 2 of 7
A motion was made by Director Mike Wilson and seconded by Director Brandon Benoit to
appoint the Office of the City Clerk as the Assistant Secretary. The vote was as follows:
Ayes: Director Brandon Benoit, President Brenda Bradley Smith, Director Frank
McKay II1, Director Mike Wilson
Nays: None
Other: Secretary Wayne Baldwin (Absent)
Approved
Director Benoit recommended Brenda Bradley Smith for President, Mike Wilson for Vice
President, and Wayne Baldwin for Secretary.
A motion was made by Director Brandon Benoit and seconded by Director Frank McKay
III electing Brenda Bradley Smith for President, Mike Wilson for Vice President, and Wayne
Baldwin for Secretary. The vote was as follows:
Ayes: Director Brandon Benoit, President Brenda Bradley Smith, Director Frank
McKay III, Director Mike Wilson
Nays: None
Other: Secretary Wayne Baldwin (Absent)
Approved
3. BAWA - 6 MGD SURFACE WATER TREATMENT PLANT
a. Receive presentations, review qualifications, and discuss architect
consulting/engineering firms for the Baytown Area Water Authority - 6 MGD Surface
Water Treatment Plant.
At 8:30 A.M., Mr. Wayne Ahrens of Dannenbaum Engineering opened their presentation and
introduced team members from Dannenbaum Engineering, Black & Veatch Corporation, and
HTS, Inc. Consultants. He stated that their team has been involved with many treatment plants
over the state of Texas and that Ms. Dehesus would present their presentation.
Ms. Dehesus, Engineering Manager, begin the presentation by stating that they ran basic analysis
and monitored samples from the canal water located upstream from the new proposed site
location of the treatment plant and found nothing out of the ordinary to date in the water sample.
She stated that since the proposed site was at the end of the canal line and to be sure that they
didn't need any type of inspection they contacted SEAWA (South East Alberta Watershed
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September 18, 2013
Page 3 of 7
Alliance) who stated that there wasn't a need for a special overflow facility inspection because
there's an overflow structure upstream of the process. In referencing the site plan, she stated that
the first facility would be the intake structure, in which most cases involving canals are pumped.
She stated that if the pump station flows by gravity and the water is stored in the forbay and not
be pumped, this could save money in capital and also some costs in operating the plant. Ms.
Dehesus stated that after the forbay, the water would be pumped to the process basin which is a
conventional treatment process. She stated that the chemical building would be stored very close
to the conventional process for the operator's convenience. She stated that once the process
leaves the treatment plant it will flow by gravity to the water storage tank then to a pump station
to bring out to the distribution system. She stated that they cited the solids away from the main
process and that it's important to have hydraulic capacity for future processing plans in which
they included space for future growth of the plant. Additionally, she stated that they would be
able to provide regular and timely communications with city staff, deliver an optimized site to
meet future needs, provide a delivery that meets the schedule and budget constraints, and provide
lower operational cost facility.
During further discussion, Director McKay inquired of Mr. Ahrens, if they had any experience
working with BAWA. Mr. Ahrens stated that they had no experience with working with BAWA
from a design standard, but that one of their team members have experience with BAWA on
other levels to include from an operational stand point. Further during the discussion, there was
an inquiry regarding the firm, as well as, their partner's locations. Mr. Ahrens stated that
Dannenbaum Engineering is headquartered in Houston. Other members from the other teams
stated that they would be working from the Houston offices. Deputy General Manager Bottoms
inquired as to the time expectancy for permitting and how practical it would be to design a
facility that's currently conventional, but is able to be modified at a later date to change intake
from fresh water to salt water. Mr. Ahrens stated that they are not aware of any environmental
permitting for this project and in respects to modifications to the plant, stated that the size of the
site property allows for the flexibility to make adjustments. Ms. Dehesus stated that the process,
in which the city is considering, is a proven process so they would not anticipate any issues with
TCEQ in terms of the water quality permits, but any permitting would be scheduled during the
design phase. Mr. McConnel, Project Engineer, stated that the permitting process, if any would
take approximately six (6) months. Ms. Dehesus stated that their focus would be to design in
elements to this project that can reduce the overall life cycle costs and build a more economical
plant for the city.
At 9:10 A.M., Mr. Gary Rabalais of Jones & Carter, opened their presentation and stated that
their plan proposed some ideas that have significant costs savings, as well as, schedule time
savings for the project. He stated that Jones & Carter works with sub - consultants AECOM and
McCarthy Construction, whom all have local offices. He stated that McCarthy would not be a
bidder on the project, but would be part of the team throughout the entire time of the project. Mr.
Rabalais stated that they have experience in working with the specific water that will service the
proposed plant, have experience in receiving grants from the state to assist with the costs of the
project, and they have an operations manager to assist during the design phase of the project. He
stated that their plan schedules for completion of the project within 2 1/2 years compared to the
baseline schedule of five (5) years. Mr. Rabalais stated that their proposal includes using the
following: a high rate clarification system which uses a 75% smaller footprint; a sell
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September 18, 2013
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backwashing filter which eliminates a need for a backwash pump station and additional storage;
a partially buried clearwell which avoids having three (3) different basins and saves capital and
operational costs; uses chlorine dioxide instead of chloramine; and uses bleach instead of
chlorine gas which is safer, a more affordable disinfection, and provides a lower safety risk. He
stated that they propose the new site as a satellite of the existing plant by using technology to
monitor the processes in the new plant and then relay the information to the existing plant
through the SCADA system, therefor eliminates the need for a lab and operations building at the
new site. He stated that depending on the site, if a forbay needs to be built, they would suppress
the forbay in relations to the canal so instead of having a pump station to pump out of the canal
and into the forbay, they would flow it by gravity. Mr. Rabalais stated that their overall approach
has costs savings in capital, operations, and scheduled time completion.
During further discussion, an inquiry was made as to what would happen to the new plant if the
existing plant was damaged. Mr. Rabalais stated that there would be a small supply room for
operations at the new plant which would be able to operate independently from the existing
plant. Director Wilson inquired if any of the costs savings were proprietary or just available. Mr.
Rabalais stated that they all are just available and with the exception one (1) that's proprietary.
Director McKay requested Mr. Rabalais's opinion in regards to preparing the plant for future
growth. Mr. Rabalais stated that they would start the plant site with sludge lagoons and as there
is growth, the lagoons can be closed and then go to a dewatering system. Additionally, he stated
that a portion of the plant is equipped to add an additional process if there became a need to pull
water from other sources.
At 10:17 A.M., Mr. Kent Slovak with KIT Professionals opened their presentation and stated that
their team is led by a local firm that specializes in water treatment. He stated that they partnered
with the leading national firm, HDR and other local firms that have experience working with
Baytown. He stated that KIT completed the feasibility study for the proposed water plant and
because they completed 25% of the preliminary engineering phase, they can accelerate and meet
the schedule resulting in the city not having to pay for work that has already been done. Mr.
Slovak stated that HDR has experience with working on the cities distribution system with water
modeling and elevated storage tanks meaning that they understand the hydraulics of the systems
that the plant would be pumping into. Mr. Slovak stated that the plant will have
interchangeability where any operator or maintenance staff could operate both plants. He stated
that they will have all necessary meetings that require permits or approvals to save time on
scheduling and save nine (9) months on having the project complete. Additionally, he stated that
they would deliver the design bid ready in twelve months.
During further discussion, there was inquiry as to what would Baseline's responsibility be on the
project. Mr. Slovak stated that Baseline is a surveying consultant in which David Hamilton is
one of the Principals who is also from Baytown. President Bradley Smith inquired if they
anticipate that the new plant would be a standalone from the existing plant in terms of
operations. Mr. Slovak stated that part of their interchangeability is to have operations and
maintenance procedures that are common to both facilities. General Manager Leiper requested
information regarding the plan for retrieving future water in the event there is no surface water.
In reference to General Manager Leiper's question, Mr. Stan Williams, Technical Advisor for
HDR, stated that there were many variables to ground water and one thing to always be
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September 18, 2013
Page 5 of 7
concerned about with combining desalination and surface water is the less expansive of those
two waters. He stated that desal water can be very aggressive and cause corrosion problems;
therefore there is a lot to take into account with desalination. He stated that sea water was four
times the cost of surface water because in addition to building a desalination plant, a surface
water plant would have to be built to clean the water good enough to put in the system. He stated
that where the discharge would go would have to be taken into account and twice as much water
would have to be pumped out of the ocean to treat for the plant. Additionally, he stated that as
water becomes scarcer, desalination will become more viable. There was an inquiry for
clarification regarding the site plan being expandable up to 12 MGD. Mr. Slovak stated that the
plans that they presented were up to 24 MGD.
At 11:03 A.M., Mr. Jonathan Howard, Project Manager for ARCADIS opened their presentation
and stated that 80% of their delivery team is local to the Houston area and up to 95% of the work
that they expect to get accomplished will be by those of the Houston office and the other percent
will be from a National level with ARCADIS as the prime and Klotz as the sub - consultant. Mr.
Howard stated that Mr. Kommineni would present the plan process portion of the presentation.
Mr. Sunil Kommineni stated that they are familiar with working with the canal water and
understand the source water quality. He stated that they are able to integrate advanced
technology with the current conventional process that is currently being used at the existing
plant. He stated that they would provide plans for a 12 MGD plant on a 24 acre site footprint. He
stated that some of the design features includes a gravity intake, which takes water from the
canal and minimizes the pumping costs; preset basins which means there is lower chemicals and
chemical costs; common work construction for large concrete structures which minimizes capital
costs and footprint of the plant; use onsite sludge processing which minimizes mechanical
dewatering and staffing. Additionally, he stated that there was enough space and hydraulics for
future growth.
Mr. Howard stated that in order to meet the 12 month design schedule as requested and since the
city is growing so rapidly, they would schedule tasks to run parallel with each other which could
save 10 months and have project done within four (4) years.
During further discussion, there was an inquiry for Mr. Kommineni to elaborate on the adverse
consequences of blending water. Mr. Kommineni stated that the city would want to avoid
delivering incomparable warrants from the two plants as water coming from two different
directions creates a hydraulic dead end in which the water sits for ages resulting in the water
quality declining. Further in the discussion, General Manager Leiper inquired about ARCADIS's
thoughts on design capability for future expansion as a desal plant. Mr. Kommineni stated that
they would desal a portion of the water to control the salt levels and blend it back with a bypass
stream that goes to the rest of the plant processes. Mr. Howard further stated that they have the
technical qualifications in desalination if the city decides to pursue in that direction. President
Bradley Smith inquired of the anticipated cost of the project. Mr. Howard stated that they could
deliver the project within the city's projected budgeted amount.
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September 18, 2013
Page 6 of 7
b. Recess into and conduct an executive session pursuant to Texas Government Code,
Section 551.071 to seek the advice of BAWA's General Counsel regarding legal matters
associated with the Baytown Area Water Authority - 6 MGD Surface Water Treatment
Plant.
There was no executive session.
C. Consider ranking the engineering firms and authorizing, based upon such ranking,
the negotiation of a professional services agreement for engineering services for the design
of Baytown Area Water Authority - 6 MGD Surface Water Treatment Plant.
During the discussion of the ranking of the engineering firms, there were strong points from each
firm that staff and directors made mention of. General Manager Leiper stated that, although KIT
did the assessment for the project, it was not with intent to nor did it endorse them for this next
phase of the project. Additionally, he stated that when the time comes to take action, the motion
would be to have a first choice selection and a backup choice selection.
The rankings of the firms numbering one (1) to four (4) with one (1) being the first choice were
as follows:
President Bradley Smith: Jones & Carter, Dannenbaum, KIT, ARCADIS
Director Mike Wilson: Jones & Carter, KIT, ARCADIS, Dannenbaum
Director Brandon Benoit: Jones & Carter, KIT, ARCADIS, Dannenbaum
Director Frank McKay: Jones & Carter, Dannenbaum, ARCADIS, KIT
In regards to the firm selection, the consensus of the board was to have Jones & Carter as the
first selection choice, Dannenbaum as the second selection choice, and KIT as the third selection
choice.
A motion was made by Director Brandon Benoit and seconded by Director Mike Wilson electing
Jones & Carter as the first selection choice, Dannenbaum as the second selection choice, and
KIT as the third selection choice. The vote was as follows:
Ayes: Director Brandon Benoit, President Brenda Bradley Smith, Director Frank
McKay III, Director Mike Wilson
Nays: None
Other: Secretary Wayne Baldwin (Absent)
Approved
4. MANAGER'S REPORT
There was no report.
BAWA Board Regular Meeting Minutes
September 18, 2013
Page 7 of 7
5. ADJOURN
A motion was made by Director Brandon Benoit and seconded by Director Mike
Wilson adjourning the September 18, 2013, BAWA Board Regular Meeting. The vote was as
follows:
Ayes: Director Brandon Benoit, President Brenda Bradley Smith, Director Frank
McKay III, Director Mike Wilson
Nays: None
Other: Secretary Wayne Baldwin (Absent)
Approved
With there being no further business to discuss, President Bradley Smith adjourned the
September 18, 2013, Baytown Area Water Authority (BAWA) Board Regular Meeting at 11:48
A.M.
Leticia Brysch, Assis Secre(&, ", Vii'
City of Baytown