Explanation
1. BACKGROUND: This legislation authorizes the Director of Public Utilities to enter into an agreement with CDM Smith, Inc., for professional engineering services for the Watershed Master Planning Project, in an amount up to $904,750.00, for the Division of Water.
The Department of Public Utilities’ Division of Water supplies clean, safe drinking water to over one million residents of central Ohio and has long had an active watershed protection program. The Division desires an evaluation of the risks to its drinking water sources, and the development of short and long term action plans to cost-effectively mitigate those risks.
This project will provide master planning for watershed management and source water protection operations. It will provide strategic direction and recommend best practices and actions to safeguard the environmental health and viability of Columbus's raw water supplies and associated watersheds.
2. ECONOMIC IMPACT/ADVANTAGES; COMMUNITY OUTREACH; PROJECT DEVELOPMENT; ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS/ADVANTAGES OF PROJECT: Activities and land-use within the watersheds directly affect the quality of the raw drinking water source. This project will evaluate current and future pollutants of concern and recommend best practices for the long-term management of quality source water supplies. It will also include evaluation of specific pollutant impacts within defined watershed areas, consider flow, stormwater and land use characteristics pertaining to contaminant sources, and recommend strategy for communication and partnership to sustain quality reservoirs, healthy riparian corridors, and effective land-management for water resource protection.
3. BID INFORMATION: The selection of the firm providing the professional engineering services has been performed in accordance with the procedures set forth in Columbus City Code, Section 329.14, "Awarding professional service contracts through requests for proposals." The evaluation criteria fo...
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