DATE: February 5, 2025
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers
FROM: Water Utilities Department
TITLE: COMPLETION OF EMERGENCY WORK TO REPAIR THE 6TH AQUEDUCT PIPELINE
RECOMMENDATION
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Staff recommends that the City Council authorize the City Engineer’s office to file a Notice of Completion with the County Recorder’s Office for emergency work performed by Orion Construction to repair the 6th Aqueduct Pipeline, and replenish the balance of the Purchase Order.
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BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS
On December 12, 2024, Water Utilities staff identified water surfacing in the southbound lanes of North Santa Fe Avenue near the Mesa Drive intersection. Upon investigation, the source of the issue was traced to the 6th Aqueduct pipeline, a major water transmission line that supplies multiple pressure zones within the City of Oceanside. The transmission line was promptly isolated and taken offline, with no interruption to water service for customers.
To expedite the repair process, Orion Construction, an approved emergency contractor, arrived on-site on December 13, 2024, to locate and identify leak for repair under City Code Section 28A.24(a) for emergency procurements through the City Manager’s Office. On January 8 and 22, 2025, the City Council approved the continuation of repair work as emergency work to ensure the protection of life, health, property, and essential public services.
The leak was located within a large buried valve vault, which has since been uncovered for assessment and repair. The vault with limited access through a circular manway and rectangular opening was completely filled with dirt, rocks, and water. City crews successfully drained the transmission main on December 28, 2024, in preparation for the necessary repairs.
On January 2, 2025, a leaky dresser coupling within the valve vault was replaced with a welded steel buttstrap by Field Maintenance crews in lieu of replacing the coupling to expedite repairs. City crews returned on January 8, 2025, to expose and troubleshoot a buried isolation valve located north of Mesa Drive. Facilities Maintenance staff successfully fabricated new operating gears and nuts that same day and were able to successfully operate the valve and initiate filling of the water main.
On January 13, 2025, the Aqueduct #6 main was tested, fully charged, and returned to service.
To facilitate future maintenance and access, the valve vault will remain empty, and access openings and manways will be raised to grade to ensure visibility and avoid paving over of the lids. The design is in-house and procurement of materials will be separate from the emergency procurement policy. With Orion Construction’s support on traffic control, City forces successfully completed the water main repairs that was limited to work within the existing valve vault.
To minimize traffic disruption, a trench plate has been installed in the number two lane of the southbound direction of North Santa Fe Avenue and will remain in place during non-working hours. Design and procurement of materials to raise the access ways to grade and clear out remaining soil and rock in vault is ongoing. Once this work is completed, the trench plate will be removed for final paving of the disturbed areas.
FISCAL IMPACT
Total expenses by Orion Construction in the amount of $52,588 will be charged to the Water Pipeline Replacement account 908163620712.5703.10600 which has a current available balance of $2,906,888; therefore, sufficient funds are available. Staff is also asking for Council to approve replenishing the purchase order on this account to the full $100,000 to allow for mobilization should the need for urgent repairs arise in the future. The contractor for this event was selected via an RFP process that pre-qualified contractors who can quickly mobilize to respond to an urgent or emergency situation. Because not all events that they respond qualify as a life and safety emergency, staff requests the PO be replenished to allow for rapid mobilization when circumstances don’t qualify as an emergency.
Water usage and service charges, in the Water Fixed Asset Replacement Fund, are the source of funding for this project.
COMMISSION OR COMMITTEE REPORT
The Utilities Commission will receive a project update at its regularly scheduled meeting on March 18, 2025.
CITY ATTORNEY’S ANALYSIS
Emergency procurements for public projects without competitive bidding are authorized according to the provisions of Section 28A.24 of the Oceanside City Code and California Public Contract Code Section 22050. The emergency action should be terminated at the earliest possible date that conditions warrant so that the remainder of the work, if any, may be completed pursuant to the City’s regular competitive bidding process.
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Prepared by: Mabel Uyeda, Principal Water Engineer
Reviewed by: Lindsay Leahy, Water Utilities Director
Submitted by: Jonathan Borrego, City Manager