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2015-11-06_Agenda Packet--Dossier de l'ordre du jourCity of Saint John Common Council Special Meeting AGENDA Friday, November 6, 2015 4:00 p.m. Council Chamber Please use Chipman Hill entrance S'il vous plait utiliser 1'entree Chipman Hill Call to Order Pages 1.1 Safe, Clean Drinking Water Project - Approval of Preferred Proponent and 1 -7 Project Agreement 1.1.1 Safe, Clean Drinking Water Presentation 8-27 Powered BY; X AWE' Q , ifjio K\ COUNCIL REPORT M&C No. 2015-229 Report Date October 30, 2015 Meeting Date November 06, 2015 Service Area Saint John Water His Worship Mayor Mel Norton and Members of Common Council SUBJECT: Safe Clean Drinking Water Project — Approval of Preferred Proponent and Project Agreement OPEN OR CLOSED SESSION This matter is to be discussed in open session of Common Council. AUTHORIZATION Primary Author City Commissioner City Manager Melanie Tompkins Dean Price William Edwards Jeff Trail RECOMMENDATION WHEREAS on July 22, 2014, the City issued a request for qualifications (the "Request for Qualifications") for the design, construction, financing, operation, maintenance and rehabilitation of a water treatment plant and storage reservoirs, and the design, construction and financing of water transmission system improvements in the City of Saint John (the "Project"); AND WHEREAS six respondents submitted a response to the Request for Qualifications; AND WHEREAS all respondents were evaluated against the evaluation criteria set forth in the Request for Qualifications; AND WHEREAS the Request for Qualifications provides that the three highest scored respondents will be invited to participate in a Request for Proposals process for the Project; AND WHEREAS the three highest scored respondents to the Request for Qualifications were Port City Water Partners, Port City Water Partnership and Port City Water Solutions (collectively, the "Proponents" and each, a "Proponent"); AND WHEREAS on November 3, 2014, Common Council adopted a resolution inviting the Proponents to participate in the request for proposals process for the Project and, on January 8, 2015, the City issued to the Proponents a request for proposals for the Project (the "Request for Proposals"); -2 - AND WHEREAS in accordance with the requirements of the Request for Proposals, on July 29, 2015 each of the Proponents submitted a technical proposal for the Project and on October 7, 2015 each of the Proponents submitted a financial proposal for the Project; AND WHEREAS the Request for Proposals provides that from among the proposals that are technically compliant and financially compliant, the Proponent that offers the lowest cost on a net present value basis will be provisionally selected to carry out the Project (the "Preferred Proponent"); AND WHEREAS all Proponents were evaluated against the evaluation criteria set forth in the Request for Proposals and, based on such evaluation, the submission review committee responsible for the review and evaluation of the proposals and the steering committee for the Project have identified to the City Manager Port City Water Partners as the Preferred Proponent; AND WHEREAS the City has negotiated with the Proponents the final form of a project agreement which sets out the terms and conditions upon which the successful Proponent will carry out the Project (the "Project Agreement"), which agreement was provided to the Proponents on July 16, 2015, subject only to the addition of material which is necessary to fully and accurately reflect the Preferred Proponent's (a) technical and financial proposals, and (b) corporate and sub -contracting structures, the latter being determined, in accordance with the RFP solely by the Preferred Proponent; AND WHEREAS the Request for Proposals requires that the City treat each Proponent's proposal as confidential, and disclosure of the terms and conditions set forth in the Project Agreement prior to entering into the Project Agreement with the Preferred Proponent and the completion of the Preferred Proponent's financing for the Project could compromise the procurement process and the competitive tension among the Proponents to the financial detriment of the City; AND WHEREAS accordingly, on November 4th, 2015, at a meeting of Common Council closed to the public (the "Closed Meeting"), the Project Agreement, the Preferred Proponent's technical and financial proposals and a presentation from the City Manager regarding the foregoing matters and recommending that Port City Water Partners be declared the Preferred Proponent, were presented to and discussed by Common Council; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that, on the recommendation of the City Manager, Port City Water Partners is declared the Preferred Proponent and the City Manager is hereby directed to notify the Preferred Proponent of the same; AND FURTHER that Common Council hereby directs the City Manager to make those additions to the Project Agreement which are necessary to fully and accurately reflect the Preferred Proponent's technical and financial proposals, as well as the Preferred Proponent's corporate and sub -contracting structures, the latter two items being as determined by the Preferred Proponent; K -3 - AND FURTHER that Common Council hereby authorizes the Mayor and Common Clerk to duly execute the Project Agreement and all agreements attached as schedules to the Project Agreement to which the City is contemplated to be a party (the "Ancillary Agreements"), with only such additions as are required to fully and accurately reflect the Preferred Proponent's technical and financial proposals, as well as the Preferred Proponent's corporate and sub -contracting structures, the latter two items as determined by the Preferred Proponent; AND FURTHER that, except as expressly contemplated herein, there shall be no substantive change to the Project Agreement or to the Ancillary Agreements, and any proposed substantive change shall be put before Common Council for approval prior to execution of the Project Agreement and the Ancillary Agreements; AND FURTHER that City staff is hereby directed to make the final executed version of the Project Agreement publicly available on the City's website within 60 days following the completion of the Preferred Proponent's financing in connection with the Project; AND FURTHER that Common Council hereby authorizes the City Manager to take such further and other action as is consistent with this resolution and as may be necessary or desirable to complete the transactions hereby approved and authorized. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The purpose of this Report is to advise Common Council of the results of the procurement process related to the Safe Clean Drinking Water Project ("SCDWP") and seek approval of the Preferred Proponent and Project Agreement which is to govern the contractual relationship between the successful Proponent and the City during the construction and operating period of the Project (a total of 33 years). PREVIOUS RESOLUTION At its meeting held on November 3, 2014, Common Council resolved as follows: "Resolved that as recommended by the City Manager in the submitted report M&C 2014-185: Request or Qualifications Evaluation Process — SCDWP, Council adopted the following resolution: WHEREAS the City issued a Request for Qualifications on July 22, 2014 for the SCDWP; and WHEREAS six respondents submitted a response to the Request for Qualifications; and 3 -4 - WHEREAS all respondents were evaluated against the same evaluation criteria; and WHEREAS the Request for Qualifications provides that the three highest scored respondents will be invited to participate in the Request for Proposal process of the SCDWP; and WHEREAS the three highest scored respondents are Port City Water Partners, Port City Water Partnership and Port City Water Solutions; NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that Port City Water Partners, Port City Water Partnership and Port City Water Solutions be invited to participate in the Request for Proposal process of the SCDWP." STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT The Safe, Clean Drinking Water Project is Common Council's number one Priority. The proposed recommendation will allow Council to move the SCDWP to its next stage; that is, the finalization of the Project Agreement and financial close with the highest ranked Proponent with a goal to have the design and construction on the Project begin in February of 2016. REPORT The SCDWP is required to ensure the provision of good quality water to meet the City's domestic, industrial and fire protection needs. The Project's objective include improvement of water quality, reliability of water quantity and delivery, value for money, the maintenance of a functional system during construction and an on-time on -budget delivery of the Project. The SCDWP consists of two main components: the design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of a new water treatment plant and storage reservoirs adjacent to the Little River Reservoir; and the design, construction and financing of improvements to the water transmission and distribution system, with completion of construction expected in 2018. The thirty-year operation period of the water treatment plant is to start at the substantial completion of the entire Project. The City set out to select a private sector partner to undertake this work as a public private partnership ("P3"). The selection process and procurement model most widely used in the Canadian market for this type of project is a two-stage process consisting of a Request for Qualifications ("RFQ") followed by a Request for Proposals ("RFP"). r -5 - The most important part of such a procurement process is its integrity. In order to show that the City is a good and reputable partner, it must run a rigorous process. The integrity of the process is necessary so as to ensure that the bidders in the market will want and choose to engage in a partnership with the City. A process that will invite the trust of the bidders and the market is one that is open, fair, transparent and consistent. The City hired the services of Grant Thornton to act as a fairness advisor and ensure that the City honours the principles of an open, fair, transparent and consistent procurement process. Throughout the procurement process, the fairness advisor was present at all meetings and communications between the City and the proponents, he observed the procurement process from beginning to end and ensured that the process was implemented in a manner that was fair and equitable to all proponents. The fairness advisor worked closely with the City's project team, he established and shared understanding and acceptance of fairness principles among the project stakeholders, he planned for and executed key fairness check points and interventions and identified any concern in a pro- active manner and worked to resolve fairness concerns, if any, before they developed into problems. At the end of the process, he will issue a fairness monitor report to the City. This report is expected for the end of November 2015. The process that the City unfolded is one that is recognized by the industry, It was thorough and guided by advisors who are expert in the procurement field, and produced good results for the City. The first stage of the procurement process is the RFQ where registered parties are invited to submit a response to pre -qualify for the Project. The purpose of the RFQ is to arrive at a short list of respondents who have demonstrated that they have the ability, both technically and financially, to deliver the Project. The City received six responses to the RFQ and in November of 2014, Council invited the three highest ranked Proponents at the RFQ level to participate in the RFP. Between November 2014 and January 2015, the Project team and its advisors set out to draft the RFP, and a first version of the Project Agreement that is to govern the legal relationship between the successful proponent and the City, both for the construction and operation period of the SCDWP. The RFP was issued on January 8, 2015. The RFP stage is itself a two-stage process. Once a proponent has been qualified to partake in the RFP stage, it is invited to submit a technical submission. The City then evaluates the Proponent's technical ability to deliver the Project against an objective, pre -established criteria disclosed to the proponents. This 5 M evaluation of the technical submission is done on a pass -fail basis. Only those Proponents who pass the technical evaluation are invited to submit a financial submission. Like the technical submission, the financial evaluation is done on a pass -fail basis based on a pre -determined and disclosed criteria. Once the Proponents have passed the financial evaluation, the Proponents are ranked based on their net present value of the total cost of the Project. The highest ranked Proponent is the one that offers the lowest net present value. Once the highest ranked Proponent has been identified, the City then proceeds to the finalization of the Project Agreement (Commercial Close) with that Proponent and ultimately to financial close. Since the Project is being financed privately, the deal is not closed until the financing is made available to the Proponent on financial close. In this case, the City received and reviewed comments on the draft of the Project Agreement between February and July of 2015. Pursuant to the RFP, the Proponents are offered opportunities to review the draft Project Agreement and provide comments on it and then meet and discuss their understanding of or concerns with the draft Project Agreement. Such exchange during the course of six months inevitably led to changes to the draft Project Agreement and addenda to the RFP. On July 16, 2015, the City issued the bid version of the Project Agreement incorporating some of the changes proposed by all Proponents. The City received the Proponents' technical submission on July 29, 2015 and proceeded to an eight-week evaluation period of the technical submissions. The technical submission of each of the Proponents were divided in six different categories for the purpose of evaluation: 1) design of the water treatment plant and storage reservoirs, 2) design of the water transmission and distribution system, 3) integrated management systems, 4) operation maintenance and rehabilitation, 5) organization and management and 6) construction. Six evaluation teams were therefore created. Each team evaluated one of the aforementioned components of the Proponents' technical submission. After the technical evaluations were completed, and reviewed by the due diligence panel, the Proponents having passed the technical test, were invited to submit their financial submissions on October 7, 2015. An evaluation team was formed to evaluate the financial submissions. After the financial evaluation was completed, the financial evaluation team ranked the Proponents in accordance with their net present value of the total cost of the Project, the highest ranked Proponent being the one offering the lowest net present value. As a result of the completion by the City of its evaluation of both the technical and financial submissions, Port City Water Partners has been identified as the highest ranked Proponent. Port City Water Partners is technically compliant, financially compliant, below the City's affordability cap, and offers the lowest net present value of the total cost of the Project. [-1 -7 - As mentioned previously, the procurement process for the SCDWP has not yet completely unfolded. It will only be complete once the preferred proponent reaches financial close. This is not scheduled to occur until February 2016. Confidentiality is key to the proper unfolding of the procurement process of any project. Confidentiality is necessary to maintain the integrity of the procurement process (by protecting the confidential nature of the information related to the Project, and supporting the City's objective to run a "fair process", and increases the value for money (by avoiding collusion and promoting competitive tension through the prevention of premature sharing of pricing and other information between Proponents and by maintaining the City's negotiating leverage). The SCDWP is the largest municipal infrastructure project in New Brunswick history. It is also Council's top priority. It is imperative that confidentiality be maintained until financial close has been achieved in order for the integrity of the procurement process to be maintained. The RFP, Project Agreement and Value for Money Analysis will be made available to the public after Financial Close. SERVICE AND FINANCIAL OUTCOMES The Preferred Proponent's proposal offers good Value for Money for the City. INPUT FROM OTHER SERVICE AREAS AND STAKEHOLDERS The Project team has been working closely with the fairness advisor and the City's legal and procurement advisors to ensure that the process is fair and transparent and that the Project is a success. There are three funding partners to the Project: PPP Canada, the Regional Development Corporation (Province of New Brunswick) and the City. The City has received commitments for contributions of up to 25% of eligible costs (to a maximum of $57.3M from each of its funding partners, for the Project. ATTACHMENTS Nil 7 Safe Clean Drinking Water Project (SCDWP) Project Briefing Session for Common Council November 6t" "I. ee • Introduction (William Edwards) • Project Overview (Dean Price) • Procurement Process Overview (Johanne Mullen / Melanie Tompkins) • Result (William Edwards) • Next tops in Process (William Edwards) A.: -, -0% Ce go Pre -Design Reports Developing legal and technical requirements • Improve water quality • Ensure reliable water quantity and delivery • Value for Money • City retains control and ownership of system • Maintain functional system during construction • On-time, on -budget • Accelerated project delivery • Quality, cost and lifecycle requ ce go Three Funding Partners: • PPP Canada Inc. • The Province of New Brunswick (RDC) • The City of Saint John A. ^ ce Two part project - Single contract for all work Primary Infrastructure - Design Build Finance Operate Maintain (DBFOM) • Water Treatment Plant (WTP) • Storage reservoirs Additional Infrastructure — Design Build Finance (DBF) Ce • Source Improvements (dams and intakes) '� C Aw% ► • Transmission and Pumping (includes well site development and Spruce Lake PS upgrades) • Structural Pipeline Rehabilitation 13 iF f `-.. -1%, - I sWMW 14 300 250 200 2150 100 50 0 — The PPP payment profile is different to the traditional procurement payment profile. Illustrative PSC Cashflows 1 6 11 16 21 26 300 Illustrative PPP Cashflows 250 200 ■ PSC 4A150 100 ■ P3 50 - 0 ,�- 1 6 11 16 21 26 Year Year Ce y — PPP payments are on a 'no service no payment' principle. — PPP payments commence once the facilities are available for use (however recent trends are for an upfront capital contribution from_ Government). 15 DBA* OA* LA = Lending Agreements LDA = OPERATIONS DESIGN BUILD CONTRACTOR CONTRACTOR Design Build Agreement OA* = (O&M Contractor) EQUITY A PROVIDER MA* MAINTENANCE CONTRACTOR (Rehabilitation) 16 PROJECT AGREEMENT FINANCING AGREEMENTS SUBCONTRACTS PA = Project Agreement LA = Lending Agreements LDA = Lenders' Direct Agreement ECA = Equity Contribution Agreement DBA* = Design Build Agreement OA* = Operations Management (Soft FM) Agreement MA* = Maintenance FM) Agreement CAP' (Hard *Note: Respondents may elect to pursue different — The P3 delivery process has the following key stages: Financial an Project approvals RFQ RFP Commercial Contract Planning Close Management — P3 process needs to be Transparent and Fair: • Mechanism to deal with conflicts of interest; • Ensures confidentiality; • Sets objective evaluation criteria that are clearly e�,, Is communicated to all Proponents r el • Proponents have equal access to information' AL • Appointment of an independent fairness advisor to 30 monitor the process; • Ensures appropriate governance. 17 i -.- . -4*� MAW Short - Listed Respondents V j Qualifications 1; 4 i I RFP Submission Proposals �► Common Council Approval - 1$ 411 ProjectA P►greement ce C Drafting of RFP & PA Issuance of RFP (w. attached draft PA) ,- .2 Review of PA Comments O ,r a; w. Short Listed Proponents � u CL o O +, > RFI Process CCM°S Uj Issuance of Bid Version of PA November 2014 - January 2015 January 8, 2015 January 8 - July 16, 2015 —•w July 16, 2015 r July 29, 2015 -tober 7, 2015 W10 1 et of Interest Committee Completeness Total of 21 people evaluating Design 1 Design 2 IMS (WTP) OMR O&M Construction Due Diligence (Technical Evaluation) July 29 — September 25, 2015 e4Pk September 22-23 & 28-30, 2015 A, Conflict of Interest Committee Completeness Due Diligence (Financial Evaluation) Identification of Highest Ranked Proponent ?21 - October 7 — 20, 2015 October 21-22, 2015 October 23, 2015 _ ember 6, 2015 The RFP process involves a high degree of confidentiality • Maintains integrity of the procurement process — Protects confidential nature of information related to the project — Supports City's obligation to run "A Fair Process" • Increases Value for Money (VFM) — Avoids collusion/promotes competitive tension by preventing pre -mature sharing of pricing and other information between proponents — Maintains City's negotiating leverage RFP, PA, VFM Analysis will be made available to the public after Financial Close 22 Highest Ranked Proponent: Port City Water Partners • Technically Compliant • Financially Compliant • Low bid • Below affordability cap AM .ft& ce Equity Sponsors _Shareholder's Agreement %r Brookfield (50%) NAC. acciona (40%) (� 0%) qua I Financial Advisor Brookfield Financial Design -Build accion , ()acciona (50%) (5051,) SAINT JOHN Project Agreement 1 PORT CITY Mj bi PAH i libib Interface Agreement Credit Lenders Agreement sun= 9f#RYRi� Life Financial C�acciona_D� agua r ce Highest Ranked Proponent Public Sector Comparator • VfM r • On Firm, Fixed price, date certain proposal f • Bid price includes construction and WTP operating costs for 30 yrs 25 N Customizing of PA to Preferred 0 Proponent a 4-0 ECommercial Close (Execution of Project Agreement) 0 0. Financial Close Start of Design and Construction Period L Saint John West Milestone Completion Target Date L 0 Substantial Completion Target Date I&V I Nov. 2015 -Jan. 2016 January 14, 2016 February 1, 2016 February 2016 November 2017 November 2018 tw 0 Hand -Back Date 30 Years After Substant Q a Completion Date 26 ce A • City maintains ownership of lands and infrastructure (WTP + Transmission System) • City maintains control over water and water rates • No Privatization • All existing Public Sector Employment maintained • Private Partner retains and manages major project risks including on-time, on - budget delivery ce • Payment is performance-based, not, guaranteed *R - ell • City set strict performance requirements — including water quality and reliable delivery • City remains accountable / responsible for water service provided to the public