West Water Plant Improvements

PROJECT STATUS:

5.8.25: No update. Staff is still awaiting final plans from McKim and Creed.

4.14.25: Staff anticipates receiving the final bid documents from McKim and Creed by April 30; then the project will be sent to Procurement and the City Attorney for review and approval prior to advertising.

3.10.2025 The city reviewed the final plans and determined that the hydropneumatic tank needed to be included in the project. Therefore, the engineer is updating the plans to reflect this addition. McKim & Creed anticipates having the final plans to the City for review at the end of this month, and then staff will seek approval from the city council to advertise the project.

The City received the final 100% design plans from McKim and Creed on November 11th. A review meeting was held with city staff. On December 5, 2024, the City will meet with McKim and Creed to discuss edits and finalize the plans. Following this meeting, staff will prepare the documents needed to advertise the project for bidding.

On July 9, 2024, the City had a review meeting with the engineer of record (McKim & Creed) to discuss the elevated storage tank and the west water plant improvements. It was determined that if a hydropneumatic tank is added to the west water plant (booster station), the elevated tank can be eliminated. MKC will add the hydropneumatic tank and submit a change order.

On May 1, 2023, the City Council approved the recommendation of the Gulf Breeze Regional Water System Board. It approved the professional services fee of $196,376 for the West Water Plant Improvements under the master services agreement with McKim & Creed.

Total Estimated Cost: $1,200,000
Funding for this project:
Design Phase: $200,000 - funded from the City's Capital Budget for FY 2023, the Capital Improvement Program, and the deferred maintenance program.
Construction Phase: $1,000,000 budgeted for FY 2024

The original west water plant was constructed in 1977 near the border with the National Seashore in Gulf Breeze. The facility has undergone minor improvements and pump replacements over the years. A used emergency generator was added in the late 1990s and replaced in 2016. The piping and facility structure have gone beyond their useful lives and the structure would be expensive to rehabilitate; the preferred suggestion is to purchase a prefabricated pumping station with pipework to connect the existing feed and discharge water mains, which allows the installation on the site without taking the existing plant offline.  The design will include the ability to remove and replace the prefabricated station in the future with minimal disruption to the facility. The project will also involve demolishing the existing structure and the filter structure installed in 1998 but not used since 2004 when the Fairpoint Regional Water System became the utility's primary water source. The existing generator will be retained and utilized for the new plant. The existing ground storage tank will be rehabilitated under a separate project but does not need to be replaced.