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About SPU
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Water Quality & Treatment
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Tolt Treatment Facility
Solicitation Process
The Request For Proposals
In the summer of 1996, a City Council ordinance authorized the issuance of the Request for Proposals (RFP) and continuation of this process subject to the condition that the DBO proposals meet the City's technical and business specifications and produce savings of at least 15% over the estimated cost of pursuing the project using a conventional procurement process (that is, the net present value of the proposals was required to be 15% below the benchmark of $156 million). In seeking proposals, the City also required proposers to comply with the City's minority and business contracting standards, to ensure that workers were paid prevailing wages, and to pursue environmentally-sensitive approaches to plant design and operations.
The RFP included a draft Service Agreement, setting forth SPU's risk posture, and 25 draft schedules, which set forth requirements for the treatment process, facilities, and operations. The RFP required proposers to submit two separate Proposals: Proposal A and Proposal B.
Proposal A facility specifications were intended to result in a facility that meets currently-enacted regulations and those which could be reasonably anticipated as of the projected facility on-line date. Selection of a Proposal A facility would most likely result in treatment processes similar to those envisioned during the pre-design (the benchmark of $156 million is based on a Proposal A facility).
Proposal B specifications were intended to result in a facility that meets current regulations, takes a more conservative estimate of potential Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule requirements, and addresses other enhancements that could be desired in a long term operational period for the facility. Proposal B would likely require additional treatment processes such as ozonation. Proposers were also asked to include costs and methods for upgrading a Proposal A facility to Proposal B performance levels in the future.
Proposal Evaluation
Proposals were received on November 27, 1996. SPU's evaluation committee conducted a series of internal work sessions to better understand various aspects of the Proposals and concluded that issuing requests for Best and Final Offers would serve the City's interests. Best and Final Proposals from the four short-listed proposers were received on February 7, 1997.
The RFP set forth specific criteria to be used by SPU in evaluating proposals. These criteria included both team/technical criteria and economic criteria.
Team/technical criteria were allotted a total of 60 points (out of 100) and included: Project Implementability, Technical Reliability, Technical Viability, Environmental, Proposer and Staff Past Performance, and Women and Minority Business Enterprise (WMBE) Utilization.
Financial criteria were allotted 40 points (out of a total of 100) and included Cost Effectiveness and Financial Qualifications.
On March 3, 1997, the Seattle City Council formally authorized SPU to proceed with the DBO process based on SPU's findings that all Best and Final Proposals met SPU's technical requirements and substantially exceeded the required 15% savings over the benchmark. The cost range for the Best and Final A Proposals was $83 to $108 million and for the B Proposals was $103 to $124 million (net present value, 1998 basis).
Contract Award
The contract was awarded to Azurix CDM, then called CDM Phillip, a partnership of Camp Dresser McKee (CDM), Philip Utilities Management Corporation and Dillingham construction created specifically to design, build and operate the Tolt Treatment Facility. Construction began in 1998, and was completed in 2000.
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