By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
“Cooperation began breaking down” between the city of Hays and CDM Smith, the Wichita firm hired in January 2016 for the Phase 1 design services and development of a GMP (Guaranteed Maximum Price) for rebuilding the city’s aging wastewater treatment facility.
That’s what Project Manager Stan Christopher of HDR Engineering, hired as Owner Representative by the city in April 2015, told city commissioners Thursday night.
CDM failed to meet the required deadlines and failed to stay within the city’s $27.6 million budget, Christopher reported. “They were way over their head in their submittals. I truly believe they did not have the resources to do the job and get it done in five months. They were behind in the first milestone,” he said.
CDM’s winning bid included engineering fees about half a million dollars less than the other two finalists. CDM Vice President Bruce Barnes appeared before the commission Dec. 10 and said he expected the project to be completed 45 days ahead of the deadline. Barnes was fired from CDM four months into the project, according to Christopher.
Commissioners were pleased with the agreement at the time, but Thursday night, Vice-Mayor James Meier said now “it feels like a ‘bait and switch.'”
“(Barnes) also said it was going to be under budget…So, I don’t know how you sit here now looking back on that from a year ago and not feel like it was just a complete bait and switch and we were just bald-faced lied to,” Meier said.
The city notified CDM Aug. 18, 2016, it would not accept the firm’s $30.7 million GMP.
Commissioners agreed to the recommendation from Christopher and Water Resources Director Johnny O’Conner to issue an RFP (Request For Proposal) to the two other finalist design-build teams, Burns & Mac/CAS Construction and Black & Veatch/Garney, asking them to submit lump sum proposals for the Phase 2 construction agreement. The recommendation will be voted on during the Feb. 9 commission meeting.
“We dodged a huge bullet,” said Commissioner Henry Schwaller. He pointed out the decision to use the Design/Builder process for the $30.26 million makeover–the city’s most expensive project ever undertaken—was a good one. “We would have gotten that plant. We would have paid for it and been litigating if not for Stan and city staff following through,” he said as the other commissioners nodded in agreement.
The Hays wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) was built in 1953. The rebuild to meet stricter effluent discharge requirements is being financed by the city’s State Revolving Fund loan from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE). The work was to have been completed by July 1, 2018. KDHE has agreed to extend the deadline until August 1, 2019. “They were very accommodating,” said City Manager Toby Dougherty. “They even asked if we needed more money. We told them ‘no,’ we’re okay on the money side.”
City staff has reported they are “confident any added costs can be absorbed without increasing the amount borrowed from the State Revolving Loan Fund or increasing wastewater rates.”
There have been major equipment repairs made recently at the WWTP, according to O’Conner, who assured commissioners “we’ve got it in our budget to maintain the plant and trying not to purchase new equipment to keep it running and repaired.”
Commissioner Lance Jones was absent from the meeting.