Water Reclamation Facility Improvements Phase Three
At a glance
Based on auto-generated captions; names and numbers may be misheard.
- What: Items 34 and 35: a construction manager at risk award of about $50.8 million to McCarthy and a construction management services contract of just under $5 million to Wilson Engineers, for rehabilitation of the Airport and Ocotillo water reclamation facilities.
- Where it stands: called in on 2026-10-12 by Councilmember Hawkins, Councilmember Ellis and Councilmember Orlando; the conflict-of-interest question was answered.
- Next: consent agenda action on Thursday; the utility rate discussion the same week.
Details
- Three-year project covering about half of the Airport plant (built 1998): diffusers, headworks, odor scrubber, a sixth disc filter and clarifier structural work.
- Construction management is about 9.75% of construction cost versus a typical 12 to 15%; a team of up to about 34 professionals.
- Two separate firms, so the manager at risk is not overseeing itself.
- Doing nothing risks plant failure, loss of the aquifer protection permit and loss of reclaimed water supply.
- The cost ties to the water rate increases discussed later that week.
Sources
Discussion time
About 13 minutes across 1 meeting (from transcript timestamps; approximate).
| Meeting | Minutes |
|---|---|
| 2026-10-12 - City Council Study Session | 13 |
Log
- 2026-10-12 - City Council Study Session - Items 34 and 35 presented; Ellis and Harris questioned the oversight cost and potential conflict; staff said different firms; Hawkins and Orlando stressed need.