It is recommended that the City Council:

1.  Adopt the attached resolution expressing Official Intent to Reimburse expenditures with proceeds of future enterprise fund debt for the Clear Fork Lift Station and Force Main Project;

2.  Adopt the attached appropriation ordinance reducing unallocated appropriations and increasing appropriations for the Clear Fork Lift Station and Force Main Project in the Water and Sewer Commercial Paper Fund in the amount of $3,591,570.00; and

3.  Authorize execution of an Engineering Agreement with Kimley-Horn and Associates, in the amount of $1,795,070.00 for the Clear Fork Lift Station and Force Main Project (City Project No. 100996).

This Mayor and Council Communication (M&C) is to authorize the preparation of plans and specifications for the Clear Fork Lift Station and Force Main Project. Additional wastewater conveyance is needed in order to eliminate repeated sanitary sewer overflows over the years near the intersection of University Drive and Rosedale Street. Flow projections indicate that the existing collection system is undersized in the Clear Fork corridor from the University Drive/I.H. 30 intersection to 7th Street. There are two existing collector mains (M-272 and M-439) conveying sewage flows, that parallel the Clear Fork of the Trinity River from University Drive, downstream through Trinity Park, and ultimately connecting to the downtown deep tunnel sewers. These two collector mains vary in size from 48-inch to 54-inch in diameter. The Fort Worth Wastewater Master Plan recommends two projects (Nos. 6 and 8) to increase the capacity of the Clear Fork collector sanitary sewer system by replacing M-272 with a gravity sewer main that is 66-inch to 84-inch in diameter.

Due to the cost involved with installing a deep tunnel large diameter gravity main in this congested corridor which includes Trinity Park, staff is recommending the installation of a 10 – 20 million gallon per day lift station and a 14,000 linear feet, 30-inch diameter, sanitary sewer force main (in lieu of a gravity main) that would operate under both normal and peak flow conditions. The proposed lift station and force main could also be utilized to perform bypass pumping operations during rehabilitation work on the existing two sewer trunk mains, which would save significant rehabilitation costs in the future.

Kimley-Horn and Associates proposes to provide all the necessary design services for the Lift Station and Force Main for a fee of $1,795,070.00. Staff considers the proposed fee to be fair and reasonable for the scope of services proposed.

In addition to the contract amount, $1,796,500.00 is required for project management, utility coordination and real property acquisition.

Engineering for the Clear Fork Lift Station and Force Main project is one component of the overall project that includes project management, real property/easement acquisition, utility coordination, material testing, inspection, construction and contingencies. The overall project budget is $22,591,570.00. Design is expected to start in February 2018 and be completed by April 2019. Construction is anticipated to commence in August 2019 and be completed by December 2021. This project is part of the Water Department's Sanitary Sewer Overflow Initiative Program.

This project is anticipated to be included in a future revenue bond issue for the Water and Sewer Fund. Available cash within the Water and Sewer portfolio and the City's portfolio along with the appropriation authority authorized under the Callable Commercial Paper Program (CP) will be used to provide interim financing for this project until debt is issued. To the extent resources other than the Water and Sewer portfolio are used to provide interim financing, the Water and Sewer Fund will be charged interest that is equivalent to the overall rate of return being earned by the City portfolio (currently approximately one-percent annually). Should the City's portfolio not support the liquidity needed to provide an interim short-term financing source, another funding source will be required, which could mean issuance of securities under the CP Program or earlier issuance of Water and Sewer revenue bonds than is currently planned. Once debt associated with this project is sold, bond proceeds will be used to reimburse the Water and Sewer portfolio and the City's portfolio in accordance with the attached Reimbursement Resolution.

The City Council adopted the Water Department's Fiscal Year 2018-2022 Five Year Capital Improvement Plan on December 12, 2017, Mayor and Council Communication (M&C G-19187). This City Council adopted plan includes this specific project, with funding identified through the CP program to be reimbursed with future revenue bonds. In accordance with the provisions of the Financial Management Policy Statement, Staff anticipates presenting revenue-supported debt issuances to the City Council for consideration within the next three years. This debt must be issued within approximately three years to provide reimbursement for these expenses. If that does not occur, the costs will no longer be reimbursable by issuing tax-exempt debt and the funding source will have to be made whole through budgetary methods. Adoption of this resolution does not obligate the City to sell bonds, but preserves the ability to reimburse the City from tax-exempt bond proceeds.

This project will have no impact on the Water Department operating budget.

M/WBE OFFICE: Kimley-Horn and Associates, is in compliance with City's BDE Ordinance by committing to 24 percent SBE participation. The City's SBE goal on this project is 13 percent.

The project is located in COUNCIL DISTRICT 9.