John Scarffe, Nederland.   After Nederland received a $950,000 Colorado Department of Local Affairs grant, the Nederland Board of Trustees approved a contract for construction administration with the Town’s on-call Engineers, JVA, Inc., for the Biosolids Handling Project during a regular meeting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, September 4, 2018, in the Nederland Community Center. The Board also appointed a new Town clerk and a new Planning Commission member.

The Board approved a resolution to appoint C. Hope Jordan as Town Clerk, with the departure of previous Town Clerk Nicole Cavalino. Town Administrator Karen Gerrity said that tonight we are asking Hope Jordan to be our next Town Clerk.

“She was already working with us, and we were impressed by her background. She has been working as interim Town Clerk for two weeks,” Gerrity said.

Jordan said she moved here a year ago, and she is glad she is here. She has served as Town administrative assistant for the past three months and previously was an Educational Advisor for the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth.

The Board also appointed of Jim Reis to the Nederland Planning Commission. Town staff originally received applications for appointment in May from Pamela Miley and Jim Reis, according to background, although Miley and Reis asked to temporarily withdraw as neither was able to attend the May meeting.

The vacancy was filled by another applicant and approved by the Board of Trustees on July 17. Miley and Reis both expressed continued interest, so the Board of Trustees approved adding an additional member, according to background.

At the August 22 meeting, the Planning Commission interviewed both candidates and voted to recommend Jim Reis for appointment. Reis is a resident of the Town, as per the Bylaws.

Pamela Miley expressed her interest in being considered for one of the Board of Adjustment openings. Staff will forward her application accordingly.

Gerrity told the Board that the Trustees passed an ordinance allowing for an additional commissioner, so the Planning Commission posted the opening for a couple of weeks, interviewed two candidates, and recommended Reis. Reis said he can be instrumental with short-term rentals and zoning issues and will come prepared to the meetings.

Nicole Bratsos Ferdinandsen, Town utilities supervisor, introduced Andrew Sparm and Josh McGibbon, vice president of the environmental department for JVA, Inc., the Town’s on call engineers, here tonight to propose a contract for Construction Manager At Risk (CMAR).

JVA Inc. has been working with the Town for many years and offers vast amounts of experience when guiding the Town through projects, according to background. JVA will offer an alternative method to the standard hard bid type of project awards called CMAR.

Rather than select contractors solely on proposed cost to construct, the town can enter into an agreement with the selected contractor to value engineer the project in a transparent way, according to background. The town will select a contractor based on several factors, such as firm experience, safety records, schedule, overhead and profit margins, to name a few.

Based on this criteria, the Town will select and work with the contractor to see if a project is viable with opportunities to save money. This is an effort to show as much transparency as possible with the Board as Staff makes decisions about the construction process.

There is a cost agreement consideration when selecting a contractor, according to background. The cost is essentially the value of cooperating with the contractor in an open and transparent way.

These costs generally do not exceed the limitations of the Town’s procurement process. Staff will work within the Town’s procurement policy and be sure the Board is involved when it’s necessary to make financial decisions. It is also the intent of Staff to control costs of the project, according to background.

Sparm with JVA told the Board that this presentation is in the future. It’s tomorrow. The original budget didn’t account for Biosolids just emptying into a pond.

Sparm presented the history of the project. In February 2015, the Town received a letter from the State about odors from the Waste Water Treatment Facility storage pond and a potential fine. Staff has tried to mitigate those odors and hauling a lot down the hill, spending tens of thousands of dollars.

In June 2015, a Biosolids study was completed and presented to the Trustees, Sparm said. Subsequently, JVA and staff narrowed 20 alternatives to five. In 2016, JVA commenced design for the Biosolids Handling Project.

In 2017, JVA pursued permitting, design and funding, submitting a state revolving loan application and a Tier 2 grant, Sparm said. The sweet spot for starting construction will be this fall with completion in July 2019 and final completion in August 2019.

Regarding the budget, the Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) grant was received at $950.000, and the Town received a State revolving loan for $2 million, Sparm said. McGibbon said the goal is to deliver within the defined budget, so they need an alternative delivery, or the Town could go through the entire bidding process and find it is half a million dollars over budget.

CMAR is a version of design/build, but you have your on-call engineer and then a contractor, and both are contracted separately with the Town, McGibbon said. You have a three-legged stool -- town, engineer, contractor.

We will bring in the contractor early and do it in an open book way.

The contractor is responsible to bid out to every part of the project -- concrete, electricians and plumbers, and they become part of the team, McGibbon said. When they go out for a bid, they ask the contractors for overhead and actual numbers.

“We’re at that magical 60 percent design, so we’re ready for CMAR. It gives you an opportunity to work together to form that team,” McGibbon said.

“We’ve found that this meets your requirements and you get the best value.

“This is the only way we’ve found to deliver a project in this construction environment. We’ve delivered 10 projects this year.” JVA will receive multiple bids and rate them on contract requirements. “We’re excited to work with the Town on this process,” McGibbon said.

The projects that JVA works on range from half a million to five million dollars, so the company is scaled for this kind of project, McGibbon said.
This is not the cheapest project. “We want a long lasting project. We’re going to have to work together to find ways and make changes to better the project,” McGibbon said.

Trustee Kristen Conrad asked how the Board will be informed of changes. McGibbon said that JVA assigns a contingency, a little pocket of money over here if there is a change order. “We say here’s the budget, and, generally, the boards have been okay with that. Generally they trust staff to manage that as long as it’s within the budget that was approved. Sparms said that JVA will be back in front of the Board with the costs.

Trustees will see the numbers when they have decided to hire the CMAR, and then it’s up to the Trustees how much they want to be involved in the process. In terms of hiring local contractors, the Trustees have a say in that because they are a partner in the selection process.

Mayor Pro-Tem Julie Gustafson asked if a commission agent was involved in the project for a-third party review. McGibbion said that JVA generally fulfills that role and participates in training and warranty walks, and works with staff to make sure things are up and running. “There is not a third party intended for this project.”

Trustee Dallas Masters asked how much the price has gone up since May 2017 to now. “Our concern here is we budget $2 million, which includes all costs. As we get farther along in the process, that $2 million number grows to $2.5 million.”

McGibbon said that he won’t know exact costs until JVA sees pricing. Steel is going up every 30 days. Getting the CMAR on board, what you get is a guaranteed project. “We know what the budget is. That’s what we’re shooting for.”

Sparns said that JVA has advertised for contractors and received two bids. Masters said he trusts JVA, which has done good work with the Town, but it seems like a few steps are out of order.

McGibbons said that as soon as word on the grant came in, JVA basically dropped everything. A lot of this stuff was in the background waiting.

Gerrity said it really was about getting the project moving this year, so Public Works Director Chris Pelletier was anxious about keeping the project moving. Sparns said that Pelletier made out a schedule of when items need to be approved at Board meetings.

Masters said that it’s almost a done deal before it gets before us. We need to stop this process. “You don’t have the presentation by the firm that will benefit from the project, and act on it the same night.”

During action items, the Board then considered approving the Construction Administration proposal and scope of work with the Town’s on-call Engineers, JVA Inc., for the Biosolids Handling Project.

JVA Inc., has worked closely with the Town in support of this project for several years, according to background. “It has been through JVA’s efforts and collaboration with Town staff that has made the Biosolids Project a reality. Hiring JVA to represent the town during construction is a necessary next step to beginning construction.”

Staff recommended approving the Construction Administration proposal for JVA Inc., and Brastos told the Board that Public Works would like to move forward on this project.

Gustafson said she feels comfortable with the agenda and how it played out. She doesn’t see this as a completely linear process, because it has a lot of moving parts. The Town values what JVA does for the Town and your relationship with the staff. Support from the community allows funding for the project.

Because of the success of the DOLA grant and because of the success of the loan, it’s not a linear process, Gustafson said, speaking as an individual at the Board meeting. The Board unanimously approved the proposal and scope of work.

(Originally published in the September 13, 2018, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)