Council approves wastewater-plant demolition contract, donates surplus police vehicle and ratifies emergency AC replacement

Interim Public Services Director Janelle Guerrero recommended awarding the construction contract for the wastewater treatment plant demolition (Bid No. 202519, CIP 849) to Willock Contracting, the lowest responsive and responsible bidder; Guerrero said the low bid came in below the engineer’s estimate and that the firm met all responsiveness and licensing requirements. The council approved awarding the contract by unanimous vote.

Chief Aaron Wheel asked the council to authorize surplusing a 2014 Chevy Silverado from the police department and donating it to the Imperial Valley College Public Safety Academy for training purposes; council approved the donation authorization 3-0.

Guerrero presented the previously added emergency item seeking ratification to bypass competitive procurement for a replacement air-conditioning unit that serves the MBR room and SCADA/IT equipment at the wastewater plant. She said the failed 2-ton unit was undersized for the room and repeatedly failed; staff recommended upgrading to a 3-ton unit to avoid overheating critical systems. Imperial Valley Air Conditioning provided a quote of $9,725 (including prevailing-wage considerations) and could install the unit within about one week; council ratified the emergency procurement and installation 3-0.

All three items were approved by unanimous vote; Guerrero emphasized the operational risk to the wastewater plant if the cooling failure continued.