The San Juan Water Conservancy District (SJWCD) Board of Directors discussed amendments to its request for proposals (RFP) for a general project manager for the district’s reservoir project at its Aug. 19 meeting.
The board ultimately tabled the issue to allow it to receive legal advice on potential revisions to the structure and scope of the RFP at its September meeting.
SJWCD board president Candace Jones updated the board on the RFP, explaining that the board previously tasked her and SJWCD board member Charles Riehm to work on the RFP and that they had drafted an RFP that was sent to seven firms, including Ehat Consulting, Davis Engineering Service, Harris Water Engineering, Short Elliott Hendrickson (SEH), SGM Engineering, J-U-B Engineers and Wright Water Engineers.
She stated that Rick Ehat of Ehat Engineering declined to work on the project due to his expertise being in construction, not planning.
SEH stated it is not interested in the project, Jones explained, and J-U-B — which is located in Palisade, Colo. — stated that it has limited contacts in the area and thus is not interested in the project.
SGM excluded themselves from the project due to a conflict of interest, she stated.
All three of the remaining companies were “leery” of making a proposal given the scope and one-year timeline of the RFP, Jones and Riehm explained, with Riehm adding that the firms felt that the project would be possible over a longer timeline, but the master planning and other work included could be difficult to complete in a year given the staff and resources available to the firms.
Jones stated that the firms were also concerned about providing cost estimates given the structure of the RFP.
She stated that all of the remaining firms “expressed interest,” but were not prepared to respond to the RFP as presented.
This was “good learning,” Jones commented, explaining that, in an executive session earlier in the meeting, the board discussed questions for its attorney aimed at helping clarify the RFP.
Jones explained that she and Riehm had spoken with Davis Engineering and Harris Engineering and had plans to meet with Wright Water Engineers in the future.
Following this, Jones stated, the board will conduct a planning exercise to help identify steps in the master plan, what organizations would be involved and what order these steps would need to occur in.
She commented that the scope of the RFP would likely be narrowed to focus on facilitating this planning exercise, although the specific details of this exercise and how this would relate to the already-released RFP would need to be further discussed.
Riehm added that this exercise would aim to determine the steps for creating the reservoir and what firms would need to be contracted for the work.
He stated that the planning exercise would likely involve all three firms and would help determine where their expertise could be useful in moving the project forward.
The exercise would help the board determine its goals and assist in SJWCD’s budgeting for 2025, Riehm added.
The master plan would also help the board identify grants and contract grant writers to help obtain funds, he commented.
SJWCD board member Rob Hagberg commented that this planning exercise could be a “good solution” to the board’s difficulty in determining next steps for building the reservoir.
Jones stated that the board had adjustments to the procurement process on its agenda — which she recommended tabling — and asked if any board members had comments on the proposed process.
SJWCD board member Rodney Proffitt commented that the planning exercise would help the district determine what steps are needed and be able to take concrete steps forward, which Riehm expressed agreement with.
Jones commented that having multiple firms involved in the planning process could help address the capacity issues raised by many firms.
Riehm stated that the remaining firms are variable in size and that the firms could take different portions of the project depending on their interests.
“We don’t know how that workshop will go,” he said. “We’re not trying to guide it, we’re just trying to figure it out with everybody in the room already having said, ‘We can’t do everything you’ve asked us but we’re willing to do something.’ And they’ve all indicated a willingness to get together in the workshop.”
Riehm added that the board would have to determine how having these firms attend the workshop would interact with the RFP and if the SJWCD would have to pay them for attending, which would potentially require terminating the current RFP.
SJWCD board member Randy Cooper commented that the workshop seems like an effective next step and that he would want the master planning process to move forward as quickly as possible.
Riehm commented that the RFP is part of a “cycle of learning” and that the board has now learned what firms might be interested in working on the project despite not receiving formal replies to the RFP.
Jones stated that she believed the board should table adjustments to the RFP and that it could discuss potential RFP changes and receive legal advice at its September meeting.
The board then unanimously voted to table the issue until the September meeting.
Prior to the vote, SJWCD board member Joe Tedder commented that he supports the board’s current direction and that he did not see any alternatives to its current approach.
josh@pagosasun.com
