File photo from April 2022 shows where raw sewage spilled from a leaking forced main running under Hwy 1, and flowed back to puddle in the storm drain at The Cloisters, where the City cleaned it up. That forced sewer main is being replaced and upsized. Photo by Neil Farrell
The City of Morro Bay has several contracts for infrastructure repairs including a huge contract for the biggest regular street repair project in years.
Storm Drain Job
The City awarded an over $400,000 contract to repair a major storm drain on Sequoia Court.
AAAA Engineering Contracting, Inc., of Templeton was the only bidder on the “Sequoia Court Storm Drain Repair Project,” with a bid of $394,000, according to an Aug. 27 staff report. Add in a 10-percent contingency and the construction contract total amount is $433,000. The engineer’s estimate for the repair work was $328,000.
The job would replace a failing storm drainpipe located on an easement through private property. It’s a problem that has been around for many years but was worsened by the big storms of January and March 2023, “making the need for immediate action clear,” reads the report.
The City was able to secure a $300,000 grant from the State Department of Water Resources, which paid for the planning and design work. MNS Engineering was hired in 2023 “to provide plans, specifications, and an engineer’s estimate for the storm drain replacement.” Design work was completed earlier this year for over $125,000. So overall, the entire project is costing upwards of $559,000.
The City coupled together funding from a trio of sources — $300,000 from DWR; $120,000 in the 2023/24 City Budget; and $164,000 transferred from another project, the Elena Slope Repair Project, according to the report.
The drain’s location in an easement on private property surrounded by landscaping and buildings, “present challenges for maintenance and replacement activities,” the report said. “To address these challenges, the City has collaborated closely with the private property owners to ensure that the work is carried out in the least intrusive manner possible.”
The job entails digging up and replacing a 36-inch, failed drainpipe but getting to it could be tricky. In addition to a new pipe, the job entails: “connection to existing headwall, laterals, and storm drain manhole, curb and gutter, sidewalk, curb opening catch basin, pavement restoration, and specified hardscape restoration. All utilities not replaced will be protected in place, including manholes, and returned to their prior condition.”
The folks in the immediate area will be notified when the work is to begin and the City will post temporary, “No Parking” signs where needed.
Though AAAA Engineering was the only bidder, the City evaluated the bid to make sure it was competitive, despite there being only one company interested. Plus, “bidder is well regarded as having successfully completed similar public works projects in the recent past,” according to the report.
Lift Station Job
The City Council awarded another contract for “Lift Station 1 Forced Main Replacement Project,” another nearly half a million-dollar project that will replace a pipe that runs under Hwy 1 and services the Cloisters and Beach Tract neighborhoods.
That line blew out over 2-years ago and spilled raw sewage back onto a storm drain at The Cloisters. Normally the 6-inch pipe drains into a sewer manhole on Main Street and joins the gravity fed collection system.
That old pipe, which had been on the replacement list with a target date of 2029-2040, got a temporary fix after the April 2022 blowout.
The leak spilled an estimated 10,000 gallons of sewage, which for the most part flowed back along the pipe and puddled at the mouth of the highway storm drain, which crosses the sewer line underground.
The City sucked up most of it with its pumper truck and some residual mess remained in the soil.
While the lift station was down, a temporary sewer pumping facility was brought in to get it back up and running again. The sewage was pumped into a tanker truck, which then emptied it into a manhole and the sewer main on the other side of the highway.
Though it was scheduled to be replaced sometime in the future, the spill changed everything. “The recent leak has highlighted the urgency of addressing this deficiency sooner to minimize the risk of a Sanitary Sewer Overflow.”
The project will replace some 225-feet of forced sewer main and increase its diameter from six to eight inches. The City believes that will be large enough to handle the increased load that was put upon the pipe with the building of the homes in Cloisters.
Again, the City’s notice for bids drew only one bid from Hartzell General Engineering Contractor, Inc., of Cayucos at $376,000. Add in a 10% contingency ($37,000), and the construction portion rises to $414,000. The City also spent $34,000 for design work, and $20,000 for “support” and the total project budget hit $469.000.
The City budgeted $400,000 in FY 2022/23, leaving the project some $69,000 short. The City took another $69,000 out of its sewer department budget to cover the shortfall.
“As of June 30, 2024,” the report reads, “the Sewer Operating Fund’s available working capital fund balance is estimated to be approximately $19 million, satisfying the City reserve policies for that fund.”
Budgets and reserve balances for the water and sewer departments have been showing huge numbers for the past several years due to the Water Recycling Facility or WRF Project, the $179 million project that built a new sewer treatment plant far away from coastal hazards — as required by the Coastal Commission — added two new lift stations and new collection system pipes running from Atascadero Road through town to the hills above the terminus of South Bay Boulevard. A return discharge system to both recycle the wastewater and discharge the brine also had to be built.
The job is supposed to last 30 days once it gets underway and it will likely disrupt traffic on North Main Street.
“The work is being performed on either side of Highway 1,” the report said. “Motorists, cyclists, and the walking public may experience inconveniences during the project’s construction due to temporary closures of streets, traffic lanes, the presence of the construction equipment, and traffic control efforts. Project rollout will include public notification and temporary ‘No Parking’ signs as applicable. These efforts are intended to allow residents to prepare for the project impacts by adjusting their routes of travel and/or schedules during construction work.”
Annual Street Repairs
A familiar company has landed the contract for the City’s annual street repaving work, and they have the most money ever for the job.
Souza Const., of SLO bid $3.98 million and was the lowest of three bidders, according to the report. Souza’s bid varied, as different “alternates” were thrown in.
The base bid was for $3.02M. Add in Alternates 1 ($137,000), Alt-2 ($358,000); Alt-3 ($200,000); and Alt-4 ($265,000), and the overall bid by Souza was for $3.98M, according to the report.
Also, Filippin Engineering of Goleta in Santa Barbara County, was awarded a $334,000 contract for construction management and inspection services for the paving work.
The City has been saving up for the project, as the City Council budgeted $1.73M in FY 2022/23; $2.1M in FY 2023/24; and $1.61M in the current, FY 2024/25 budget.
The overall budget breaks down as: $164,000 for design; $334,000 for management and testing; $3.98M for construction; $398,000 construction contingency; and the total recommended budget sits at $4.88M. However, the available funds top $5.03M (minus the money for management services), so there was no need to allocate any more money.
The report lays out the issues the City has faced over the past several years that led to work being scratched a few years ago and the allocated money held over.
“In August of 2023,” the report by City Engineer Cindy Cecil and Senior Civil Engineer Austin Della, “the City completed its FY 21/22 Annual Pavement Management Program Project, which included dig-outs throughout the City including Main Street and South Bay Boulevard. A slurry project was slated for the FY 22/23 Annual Pavement Management Program Project, but due to the delay of the FY21/22 Annual Pavement Management Program project, the slurry project was delayed.”
This project will do more than slather the streets with tar. “This project will consist of slurry seal, cape seal, and dig-outs, in order to cost-effectively manage the City’s pavement infrastructure.”
Dig-outs involve use of a machine to dig up the layers of pavement, built up over the years, and fixing the spot with new road base and several inches of new asphalt. It’s usually done in large patches in places where the pavement has “alligatored” or broken into small patches resembling a dry lake bottom or the skin of an alligator. It is also done on longer stretches of roadway when the surface is too far gone for slurry work.
Like all pavement failures it’s usually caused by poor road base, as Morro Bay’s rather colorful infrastructure history includes whole neighborhoods paved using pretty much anything handy for base, including crushed abalone shells, of which there were numerous giant mounds from the decades when Morro Bay was the Abalone Capital of the World (as proclaimed in a documentary).
This job is supposed to take 90 days once it gets started, depending of course on how cooperative the weather is.
Readers are reminded to drive slowly through construction zones and obey the flagmen at all times.
