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When the Irby Ranch property owners (subsequently bought by Meritage Homes) came forward with a plan for development, the opportunity arose for the City to acquire the right-of-way and complete the needed water pipeline connection. The Meritage Homes project includes the section of Nevada Street along the Arroyo Del Valle in much the same alignment as the earlier proposed Del Valle Parkway. The project connects Stanley Boulevard to the section of Nevada Street between California Street and Bernal Avenue that was constructed as part of the Stanley Business Park that was developed in mid 1980s. The plans for the Irby Ranch development included the water pipeline connecting to the existing pipeline at Stanley Boulevard, and also showed it connecting to what was thought to be an existing 16-inch pipeline in Nevada Street at the intersection with California Street. This pipeline would complete the long-anticipated water connection from the Zone 7 turn-out to the south and west within the City. All the water improvements included in the Irby Ranch plans have now been constructed, except for the connection to the pipeline at the intersection of Nevada Street and California Street. This is because during the construction of the Irby Ranch improvements it was found that the pipeline thought to be in Nevada Street between California Street and Bernal Avenue was never installed. Subsequent research revealed conflicting information on the record drawings for the area: some plans, such as the more recent plans for Fire Station No. 1, indicate that the 16-inch pipeline is in place; other plans, such as the older street improvement plans for the Stanley Business Park, do not show a 16-inch pipeline in this section of Nevada Street. Unfortunately, the project design engineer made their assumption based upon the fire station plans. City staff, when reviewing the Irby Ranch development plans, focused on the new improvements to ensure they complied with City requirements, and assumed that the existing pipelines were shown correctly. DISCUSSION Regardless of how the mistake occurred, the16-inch pipeline in Nevada Street, from Bernal Avenue at the Zone 7 turn-out west to Stanley Boulevard, is necessary for all the reasons previously described. As stated, Meritage Homes has constructed most of this pipeline as part of their development. It is only the approximately 1,000-foot section between California Avenue and Bernal that is missing. Since the discovery, Meritage Homes, along with their engineering design consultant, has prepared plans for the installation of the pipeline in this section of street. The plans been reviewed and approved by both City Engineering and Operations Services staff and meet all City standards. After the plans were complete, Meritage Homes solicited bids for the construction of the pipeline. Four bids were received, from a low bid of$764,479, to a high bid of $1,058,295. The low bid was submitted by J & M, Inc. of Livermore, CA. While the high bid is significantly higher than the J & M, Inc. bid, the other two bids were more in line with the J & M, Inc. bid, at $840,927 and $847,480, respectively. J & M, Inc. is an underground pipeline contractor and has done significant public water pipeline infrastructure work of a similar type throughout Bay Area. They are also the same contractor that Meritage Homes used to complete the underground pipeline work Page 3 of 5