Long Range Planning Committee Report

The USDA Project is officially complete! Project construction was completed mid‐January and the final closing/recording date of our USDA loan occurred on January 20th. In the final USDA total allocation of $12.226M, the cost breakdown was 74% for construction, 18% for engineering and construction management, 5% to cover BLSMWC purchased parts including all the new…

Over the past couple months the primary focus has been on-going close coordination with MC Engineering on managing the USDA Project completion and closeout as effectively as possible to reduce further schedule delays and/or cost impacts. Based on weather delays, construction manpower issues and multiple attempts to get the new pump station working properly, the…

Over the past couple months, LRPC efforts have focused on the remaining USDA Project scope and continuing the development of Asset Management Plan funding options. The LRPC has been working with MC Engineering to complete fact-finding and negotiation of their proposed Amendment 7. Based on construction weather delays from this past winter and previous new…

As we approach the completion of the USDA construction project, the Long Range Planning Committee (LRPC) continues to keep a close eye on our approved funding versus total estimated costs.  Based on our latest estimates, with all potential change orders included, there is adequate funding remaining to add 3‐4 high priority new scope tasks (pending USDA…

The Long Range Planning Committee (LRPC) efforts continue to focus on MC Engineering (MCE) Amendment 6 and Asset Management Plan approvals and implementation. Over the past month, through multiple communications and additional data received from MCE, the LRPC obtained the details required to make informed recommendations to the board at our March 14th Meeting. Amendment…

Over the past month, the continuing emphasis of the Long Range Planning Committee (LRPC) has been to finalize the Asset Management Plan and Amendment 6 submittals from MC Engineering. There have been several additional discussions to ensure that the content is complete and accurate. This has resulted in further revisions to both documents received in…

Well, we are finally approaching the completion of our USDA contract, with Closeout estimated to occur on January 15, 2021. To give some perspective on the time and commitment this took, the USDA loan was approved December 27, 2016, Engineering & Design started in June 2017 and Construction in September 2018. In the end, a…

Over the past couple months, on‐going efforts have resulted in two revisions and reviews of the “Draft” Asset Management Plan. The progress has been delayed due primarily to (1) the GIS mapping of assets and GIS database development taking significantly more time than planned, and (2) the extra coordination required between the BLSMWC staff and…

The Preliminary New Rate Structure as presented to the board for review in October was approved, in conjunction with the 2020 budget, at our November 9th Board of Directors Meeting. As described in last month’s Bubbler, all components of the new rate structure are basically unchanged from 2019, with the exception of now including the…

The Preliminary Rate Structure Design recommendation was presented to the Board for consideration at the Oct 5th BOD Meeting. The Board will now ensure the proper implementation process steps are taken prior to formal adoption at the Nov 9th BOD Meeting. The BLSMWC proposed rate structure is in‐line with typical rate design objectives as referenced…