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Initial consultant work on reservoir repairs could cost $1 million

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By BAIRD HELGESON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 16, 2009

Tampa Bay Water officials want to spend nearly $1 million on a consultant to help them hire the best company to repair the utility's faulty reservoir.

The regional water board is scheduled to vote Monday on whether to sign a $908,000 contract with KPMG to help with hiring a company to fix the cracked reservoir. The reservoir is designed to serve as a prime source of drinking water for the Bay area.

Tampa Bay Water withdrew plans to vote on a separate $1 million contract with the National Research Council. The research institute would have reviewed plans for the $125 million repair, which will be paid in part through higher water rates.

The National Research Council opted out of the project in September, according to a memo by utility general manager Gerald Seeber.

Utility staff remains in talks with the institute to determine if a retooled peer-review agreement can be reached, said William Kearney, a spokesman with the National Research Council.

The utility is also exploring whether to hire Black & Veatch to ensure repairs are done correctly. It is the same engineering firm that reviewed initial design of the reservoir project, decided how much surface water could be captured and determined the size of pumps needed. The agenda item doesn't include a dollar amount for the contract.

Tampa City Councilman Charlie Miranda, who serves on the utility board, said he is concerned about ballooning consultant costs.

Under the contract with KPMG to find a company to do the repairs, Tampa Bay Water must to pay a senior partner $350 an hour for 680 hours and senior staff members $300 an hour for 1,440 hours.
"I just don't know that we need that," Miranda said today.

In the tough economy, Tampa Bay Water should be working especially hard to find ways to cut costs, he said. "We have six government bodies represented on the board; don't any of them have some expertise in this?"

New Port Richey Mayor Scott McPherson, who serves on the utility board, said he favors hiring experts up front to spare higher costs down the line if things go poorly.

Fixing the reservoir properly poses a unique challenge because there are few – if any – facilities quite like it in the world, McPherson said.

That means only a handful of companies have the qualifications and experience to take on the project, he said.

"We are not fielding interest from 20 different companies," McPherson said.

Only two companies offered the expertise the utility sought to serve as its engineer to oversee the repairs.

Staff preferred Black & Veatch to the other candidate, Robert Cole and Associates, according to an Oct. 6 memo.

The repair costs are already expected to come close to the $147 million the utility spent to build the 15-billion-gallon reservoir in eastern Hillsborough County. It could be five years before repairs are finished.

Repairs are needed to prevent further cracking of the soil cement that covers the reservoir sides and bottom. Utility workers first noticed cracks in 2006, a year after it opened.

The C.W. Bill Young Regional Reservoir was designed to store water drawn from the Alafia River, Hillsborough River and Tampa Bypass Canal. Today, it holds more than 13 billion gallons of water.

The utility provides drinking water for Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Tampa, St. Petersburg and New Port Richey. The reservoir will be drained dry during repairs.

The utility has sued the designer, builder and construction supervisor of the reservoir to recover repair costs.

Tampa Bay Water's meeting starts at 9 a.m. at its headquarters building, 2575 Enterprise Road, Clearwater.

Reporter Baird Helgeson can be reached at (813) 259-7668.

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