Wichita council approves $500 million water plant contract; calls rebid ‘too risky’

Wichita City Council moved forward with plans to build a new water treatment plant Tuesday, awarding a $500 million contract to Wichita Water Partners. The group includes two companies that spent thousands of dollars on Mayor Jeff Longwell’s golf outings and meals before he steered the contract in their favor.

City Council members voted unanimously to award the contract - the biggest single contract in the city’s history - saying they didn’t want to risk losing federal funding for the project and that they weren’t sure if any other companies would bid on the project.

None of the council members mentioned Longwell’s relationships or gifts, which became a key election issue. They did say they have been fielding questions from concerned citizens since The Wichita Eagle reported Longwell’s relationships with some of the water partners in September.

“It’s been, in some weird ways, nice to have all the engagement that we’ve had,” Council member James Clendenin said.

“Normally we don’t have citizens that are this engaged in things such as water infrastructure,” he said.

Most of the public outcry has centered on Longwell’s role in awarding the contract.

After months of deliberation, Longwell called for a change in the bid process that steered the contract away from Jacobs Engineering, the team picked by a city selection committee, to Wichita Water Partners. He later cast the deciding vote to keep Wichita Water Partners involved.

He did so despite concerns from city staff that Wichita Water Partners lacked experience designing and building large water treatment plants from start to finish.

A report released by the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office in October found that Professional Engineering Consultants and Wildcat Constructions, along with its parent company, spent more than $3,500 on Longwell’s golf outings and meals in the past three years. Both of those companies have substantial roles on the Wichita Water Partners team.

‘There’s something wrong here’

Wichita Water Partners and Garver, an engineering consulting firm which will oversee the project for the city, were each sole bidders for multi-million-dollar city contracts, and a former contractor says that exposes an underlying issue at City Hall.

“The way you guys are writing those requests for proposals is flawed — big time,” Doug Ballard, a retired Wichitan with decades of experience with construction contracts, told the City Council on Tuesday.

Ballard said he has been following the city’s water projects closely for several years, and Tuesday he unsuccessfully pleaded with the council to put the project back out for bid.

“Stop right now, and put it out for bids,” he said to the council. “And if you can’t get three prices, you just re-word it until you do,” Ballard said.

Ballard said it’s “crazy” for the city to award a $500 million contract without a competition. It’s especially troubling considering that the city rejected a sole-bid contract Tuesday for its Aquatics Master Plan after it received a single bid that was substantially higher than the city’s estimate, Ballard said.

“Surely there’s more than one guy that can build a pool,” Ballard said.

Ballard isn’t alone in his frustrations with a lack of competition on city projects.

Clendenin, who voted against awarding the contract to Wichita Water Partners in February because of a lack of competition, said that he still has concerns with the way the city awards its projects.

He said he appreciates Ballard’s concerns and plans to work with City Manager Bob Layton to fix the process.

“We have some very, very big projects still within our water and sewer system that need to be done, and I think we have a great opportunity,” Clendenin said.

The contract with Wichita Water Partners to design and build the Northwest Water Treatment Facility was part of a package approved unanimously by the City Council. Also included was a $29 million budget increase for the project, a 5% water and sewer rate increase and a $17.1 million contract with Garver to continue as the city’s owner’s representative on the project.

“I’ve been impressed with Wichita Water Partners, their dedication, how they’ve listened to concerns and challenges of their proposal, and they’ve worked to develop solutions,” said council member Bryan Frye.

He said he’s also impressed with Garver, who has been managing the project on the city’s behalf and providing oversight to keep the project on schedule and in compliance with federal and state law.

Plans call for the plant to be built near 21st and Hoover and provide up to 120 million gallons of treated water a day, replacing the city’s 80-year-old water plant in Riverside. It will be completed by Sept. 17, 2024, according to the contract approved Tuesday.

Ballard said he was “very disappointed” after the City Council approved the contract.

“I’m all in on this project. I have nothing against the Wichita Water Partners contractors, many who I recognize from work in the past,” Ballard said after the meeting. “But there’s something wrong here. If we can’t get more than one bidder on our projects, we’re in trouble.”

A unanimous decision

On Tuesday, the entire council agreed to keep the contract with Wichita Water Partners, saying changing contractors could risk federal funding for the project.

Council member Becky Tuttle said her constituents support keeping the contract with Wichita Water Partners.

“I’ve reached out to my constituents in District 2. I’ve talked to family members, community members, residents as well as industry, and everyone has been supportive,” Tuttle said.

Frye, in whose district the plant is being built, said he has heard from people that want to put the project back out for bid.

“There are some in our community who would like us to slow down or even start over,” Frye said.

“We’re past that,” he said. “We’ve delayed and deferred this project for way too long. It’s now time for action.”

The city is applying for a $270 million loan from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act fund and a $267 million loan from the State Revolving Fund, low-interest EPA loans with deferred repayment schedules.

Neither of those programs require a city to have a contract in place before approving the loan. But council members Brandon Johnson, Becky Tuttle and Cindy Claycomb said delaying the project any further isn’t worth the risk.

“At this point it’s just going to be too risky to pursue another option, especially if we have to increase water use rates for our residents. That just wouldn’t be fair,” Tuttle said.

Johnson, who is on the steering committee for the water plant, said if the city put the project back out for bid, it’s not clear if anyone would bid — and if so, the price could be higher than Wichita Water Partners’.

“It’s too risky, in my opinion, to go back out,” Johnson said.

Wichita Water Partners, a consortium of national and local contractors led by Missouri-based firms Burns & McDonnell and Alberici Constructors, has completed the first $6 million of work on the $500 million contract to design and build the plant. The council approved the first $6 million of work in February.

The council also approved a $17.1 million contract with Garver to continue as the city’s owner’s representative.

Frye, an early opponent of awarding the contract to Wichita Water Partners, said he trusts the city’s owner’s representative and the steering committee to keep the contractors in check.

“A new water treatment plant is more important than an arena, an airport, Kellogg, library, convention center, or performing arts center. Water, after all, is a basic necessity of life. It’s the one thing more than all the rest which can determine the growth of our community,” he said.

This story was originally published December 3, 2019 at 5:46 PM.