improvement for the pump station upgrade, approve modification, a decrease in the contract and increasing the contractor ration -- contract duration. d, except work performed by construction, installation for stanford heights and sunset systems, approve modification # one for the final contract, decreasing the contract and authorize final payment. c, approve the water main replacement insulation of stations for steel pipe water mains for the responsive better

-- bidder. the contract of various locations for sewer replacement and pavement renovation to the lowest responsive bittdder to replace the unspecified streets. g, approve the plans and specifications awarded wastewater enterprise capital improvement program funded and renewal and replacement program funded, south would way and pavement renovation to replace the existing sewer and street pavement. 8, construction company for

waste water enterprise renewal and replacement program-funded contract for a total contract amount of $927,674 worth of total contract duration and authorized final payment. accept work for waste-water renewal programs, howard st. for approved modification and for adjustments to actual quantities used, decreasing the contract for the time extension to allow for complete work due to unforeseen side conditions of low pg&e to relocate their facilities and authorize final claimants -- payment.

j, the replacement contract not to exceed $2 million $698,125 -- $2,698,125. necessary to implement the water improvement projects, not to exceed $25,000 for the properties adjacent. >> and a public, but instead of a hearing and seeing none, on the consent calendar, item 20 a through k. the you want to pull a and b.

>> second. >> we are going c through k. all those in favor? ayes have it. >> 20a reminded me of an old request i have four reports -- for a report about making assignment of contracts in emergency services, and i believe that was well under way to completion, and i would renew my request for that.

month ago, and it slipped throu gh the cracks. >> thank you. >> obviously, if it generates additional hearings, we would like to know. >> and we are really going to our choice of contracted methods of the work. we had 1 bidder, and as i understand it, there is specific knowledge of dealing with the

controllers for the turbines. a couple of things. the work was all pretty well- known and defined work, and the kind of work i would normally expect we would put out a straight bid. second is the grouping of the governor work and protective relay work a problem? should we have split that into 2 so they have the specialized skill to bid on that, but once it passes the relay, it is instructive? >> the first part, one of the advantages is you can identify the scope and utilize the contract over a 3-year period,

and ou don't have to -- for convenience, but as far as committing the money, it is $400,000 -- a lot more efficient. it could be that you could do that and probably get bidders online. i have to defer to steve on that. this is a very small pool of contractors that do this kind of work within the industry.

only 3 proposals to do this work, and we have outreached with a number of them. in this case, the only one is local, in sacramento. this is a small niche market without many people. there are not a lot of us. i think if we broke it up we would find the same bidders would do more with others. >> the concern i have is that i understand the flexibility, and that is something that has not always been with us, and that is relaxing the process against a

more competitive environment. i want to make sure we don't abuse the privilege, and where it makes good business sense, we should do it. i am prepared to support this and keep it moving, but that's something where i want to make sure the staff is paying attention as we go forward. it's a matter of paying attention to the issue and making decisions consciously. with that discussion, i will support both of you. 20-a and b. >> moved and seconded.

i want to echo the comments. thank you, steve for each question and how it was answered. >> seeing no public comment, all in favor, please say aye. ayes have it. next item. >> item 21. discussion to authorized the general manager for applicants on behalf of the puc to authorize the use of portable water supplies. >> another mindreading test. evidently this one did not go through. [laughter] i will have to work on my

technique. i asked earlier for information on various projects, and that is somewhere in the works an fhopefully will emerge. i asked about the dollar cost providing that, and for the commission reference, and and i can are criminals of the -- a

benchmark. the question for you, putting together -- cost is you had a couple with pretty high numbers here. jefferson off the plaza. what was the thinking that was included? >> we are going forward as part of park improvement projects, even if they aren't the most cost-effective in terms of water. this has come back through the board, and we talk about evaluating how good they are. there is one that is not in

here, and that one -- >> the cutoff is somewhere south of 17,000. >> definitely south of 17,000. >> ok. and we did a study 2 years ago now with 10 parks. what could you do differently in those 10 parks that would make a difference? ni this program, we ended with them asking us for certain parks to be prioritized. we are hoping to get rec park kinds of things, and since the first year they only got 120,000 out of 2 million, they are not

going to do things that are so outlandish. out of $4 million, there are about $2 million to spend. >> there is still money left in the pot. by not doing the last project, that was 2 + million dollars, i didn't think it was worth getting started on that. >> and clearly where i am heading on a lot of this is given the cost of reclamation opportunities, it does up the level you can afford to spend on conservation, and that is a good thing. so i think that is good. with the other outstanding

request on that, i am looking forward to having a discussion about how we prioritize and what role in that the unit cost plays. >> all right. anything else? any public comment? seeing none, ok. is there a motion? >> not yet. [laughter] >> so moved. >> thank you. >> there is now. >> moved and seconded. 22. clerk: discussion to authorize the general manager to request approval for an epa grant agreement funds totalling

$696,000 to the consolidation appropriation act -- $580,684 from the waste water project, sewer system improvement. >> ok. so moved by commissioner moran. seconded by ellis. item 22? all in favor, please signify by saying aye. opposed? ayes have it. clerk: mr. president, is there any additional new business? >> i was keeping notes on follow up items, and i have 3.

one was something that must be useful to have some technology policy and how we direct staff as far as having the appropriate level of investigative alternatives. second is with the sewer system, it invites a discussion of police -- policy, and we need to come to grips with that more concretely. third, within the universe of our planning for the program, we have been focusing on ssip and not as much on the r & r. it may be possible to do a level

of service definition for them as well, and we look forward to doing that in the near future. >> there were two elements. one was the 10%, and the other was the structure.

putting it together, is there a financial plan or staging process? >> i agree, but i know that time is of the essence. given the rates and inflation taking off, i guess before we get there we will know fairly soon. >> and that is the result of the acquisition, whether you wanted to have gold rates or limit some of the greats. -- rates.

>> we don't really have the budget to know. kind of a look that we took, though. 20, 30, if you get it. that's going to help. we have to figure out how to be comrortable with that. >> with your concern about the focus, isn't that really discussed? >> in the program, there are

some goals that would be met more by our and our than the new project. i think it is just how i take your comment. >> when you look at long-term planning, it is feasible. >> it is how they of corporate it or set it up. >> we believe to have a permit requirements.

-- we do need to have permit requirements. the other is a nice statement. staff test and not be bashful about waiting. they need to tell us what is required and figure out how to fund it. a third set of eyes have been placed on it to get the job done. to justify it and not have a service level is incomplete and confusing, and you get to

whatever happened to the master plan. in terms of covering everything, those are not covering everything. president crowley: ok. anything else? motion to adjourn. all in favor, say aye? thank you.

>> there has been an acknowledgement of the special places around san francisco bay. well, there is something sort of innate in human beings, i think, that tend to recognize a good spot when you see it, a spot that takes your breath away. this is one of them. >> an icon of the new deal. >> we stood here a week ago and we heard all of these dignitaries talk about the symbol that coit tower is for san francisco. it's interesting for those of us in the pioneer park project is trying to make the point that not only the tower, not only this man-built edifice here is a symbol of the city but also the green space on which it sits and the hill to which is rests. to understand them, you have to

understand the topography of san francisco. early days of the city, the city grows up in what is the financial district on the edge of chinatown. everything they rely on for existence is the golden gate. it's of massive importance to the people what comes in and out of san francisco bay. they can't see it where they are. they get the idea to build a giant wooden structure. the years that it was up here, it gave the name telegraph hill. it survived although the structure is long gone. come to the 1870's and the city has growed up remarkably. it's fueled with money from the nevada silver mines and the gold rush. it's trying to be the paris of the west. now the beach is the suburbs, the we will their people lived on the bottom and the poorest people lived on the top because it was very hard getting to the top of telegraph hill. it was mostly lean-to sharks

and bits of pieces of houses up here in the beginning. and a group of 20 businessmen decided that it would be better if the top of the hill remained for the public. so they put their money down and they bought four lots at the top of the hill and they gave them to the city. lily hitchcock coit died without leaving a specific use for her bequest. she left a third of her estate for the beautify indication of the city. arthur brown, noted architect in the city, wanted for a while to build a tower. he had become very interested in persian towers. it was the 1930's. it was all about machinery and sort of this amazing architecture, very powerful architecture. he convinced the rec park commission that building a tower in her memory would be the thing to do with her money. >> it was going to be a wonderful observation place because it was one of the highest hills in the city

anywhere and that that was the whole reason why it was built that high and had the elevator access immediately from the beginning as part of its features. >> my fear's studio was just down the street steps. we were in a very small apartment and that was our backyard. when they were preparing the site for the coit tower, there was always a lot of harping and griping about how awful progress was and why they would choose this beautiful pristine area to do them in was a big question. as soon as the coit tower was getting finished and someone put in the idea that it should be used for art, then, all of a sudden, he was excited about the coit tower. it became almost like a daily

destination for him to enjoy the atmosphere no matter what the politics, that wasn't the point. as long as they fit in and did their work and did their own creative expression, that was all that was required. they turned in their drawings. the drawings were accepted. if they snuck something in, well, there weren't going to be any stoolies around. they made such careful little diagrams of every possible little thing about it as though that was just so important and that they were just the big frog. and, actually, no one ever felt that way about them and they weren't considered something like that. in later life when people would in later life when people would approach me and say, well, what