richard allen -- jasper has sponsored a couple of meetings with dr. richard allen, who was part of the california earlier earthquake warning system. and he has met with a lot of city staff. within the last 10 days, he met with ann, the director of the department of emergency management. they would like to call together various key city departments to become a demonstration of how this early warning system could work. [bell rings] they need bart as one of the participating groups. they would like to get city agencies to participate. if you can maintain continuity of service by having even 15 or 20 seconds of warning, which would enable you to may be shut it down, started up, do something, rather than just have it slam. that is what it is 4. thank you. commissioner moran:.

-- thank you. any other comment on awss? >> the final report is our wsip quarterly report. >>commissioner moran: ms. labon? >> good afternoon, commissioners. i am the wsip director. today's quarterly update covers the reporting time between october 2 and december 24. these are slides that summarized the progress made on the program during the reporting quarter. essentially we had one project. one of the four projects that remain in its design move to a bit and award, the seismic addition to pipeline three in four.

two projects, said the construction activity, completed, and moved to close at hunters point reservoir rehab and the improvements. we also had two local projects that completed their clothes out activities, so these projects are now completed. -- so their clock -- that completed their clothes out activities, so these projects are not completed. three of seven are in big and awards, to get into construction. construction is now active on 19 projects, over $2.5 billion. we have completed construction activities on it now two-thirds of the program's 81 projects. this slide summarizes the cost and schedule variances, and it compares all these variances have changed from the previous quarter. you can see that red means

cost-overrun, and black is underrun or savings. the overall variants on the original program went from $12 million to $24.8 million. essentially doubled. $10.4 million of the $12 million is due to one project of the peninsula pipeline seismic upgrade your you have not heard much of that project yet because that is our only with the project remains in planning. i will elaborate a little bit more about the reason for the cost increase. the good news is that on the local site, we have increased our savings by about $1 million. but still reporting variances on schedules. still on track to complete our local program in mid-2015 and the regional program in mid- 2016. this is essentially a graphical representation of the cost.

in red is there for a program budget. we are still running well below, even though there is a slight trend upwards, but still well below the amount of money that is available in the program. this is a summary of the program management reserved. we have $144 million left in the reserve at this point. the reserve when down during the reporting quarter by $670,000. we went to the board of supervisors to ask for a release of $670,000 for covering final construction costs on the tesla treatment facility. now i will briefly go over some of our biggest challenges and achievements. as i mentioned, the majority of the cost increases at the program level came from the peninsula bible and seismic

upgrade. this is a project that -- peninsula pipeline seismic upgrade. when we put the estimate together, it was based on an alternative analysis report level testament and was still very early in planning. limited information. then we did a lot of g.o. technical analysis as well as seismic work, at -- geotechnical analysis as well as seismic work, and we have a deeper, wider trenches across the fall. we wanted to include more realistic allowances in overhead for contractors. finally, we had to make adjustments to unit prices. some of the unit prices in the original budget were pretty aggressive. and of low we still see a pretty aggressive bidding environment, we felt it would be permitted to increase those slightly -- although we still see a progressive bidding environment.

because of the uncertainty with the bidding environment, i think what we want to do is monitor the cost of that project very closely. we may also need to look at the scope and see how the scope could be adjusted slightly to make sure it runs closer to the project budget. but before we make any radical decision on the scope, i would recommend that we let the design double up a little further. there is an option of hitting the project, what we call optional bid items. if the bids are aggressive and low, we can build more, essentially. there are a lot of options. and i briefed the general manager and the executive team, and they agree with that approach at this point. i wanted to also brief you on some of the challenges we have encountered on the eastern segment of the san joaquin pipeline system. we had some challenges associated with getting a permit

from california fish and game, which impacted the start of the pipe-laying activities that set us back a little bit. there were some unforeseen side conditions related to a pressure release pipe at the portal. we now will have to replace that pipe. there was also some issues with the support structure of existing pipelines that was not shown in the drawings, and it is such that it gets in the way of the laying of the new pipeline, so there will need to be adjustments made there. protected migratory birds were also detected on site, and that further debate some of the critical activities. what we're doing now is we're working with the contractor on a recovery schedule and mitigating any further delays. i think in the next report, we will be in better shape to predict. but still very early on in the project, so there's definitely room to make up some time.

you will notice that in our latest cover letter, we now have a more extensive section that discusses major program trends and it risks, and we added that the recommendation of bawsca. as section also explained the differences between our different categories of change orders, trends, and risks. i will not go into all the details, because it is very well-documented in the cover letter as well as the supplemental report. it is important to recognize that the three with the projects that carry the greatest trends and risks are shown here. i briefed you on a number of occasions about the different challenges associated with these projects. two of those projects, new irvington tunnel and bay tunnerl

are about halfway to completion -- and bay tunnel are about halfway to completion. they're making good progress despite challenges. on the good news side, we were able to resolve a number of pre construction issues on the seismic upgrade during the reporting of time. a number of technical issues related to a very complex slip joint for this project were resolved. we got all our reach what -- required caltrans permits and approvals. completing the archaeological assessment. the good news is there were no discoveries. we got the approvals required to relocate a sewer line owned by the union sedentary district. as i mentioned to you in mid- april, we obtained seven bids for this project. although this has yet to be totally confirmed, the apparent low bid is 30% lower than the

estimate. they came in at $31.4 million, and the estimate was $51 million. so, still a good environment. questions? >> yes, it has always been my experience is sometimes the low bidders come in and then change orders come in after. what precautions are reporting forward to avoid that? >> most of the program is being built in this environment. we have a number of -- first of all, we put in place one of the most bastardi program management structures in place -- most sturdy program management structures in place. in the field, we have all the tools and systems. you are right, commissioner. when aggressive bids come, more aggressive pursuit of a change- overs. >> what has been the percentage of avoiding that? >> on all the projects we have

completed so far, our record is a very good. we're averaging under the normal 10%. there are some projects, however, that have seen much greater change-orders as a result of an unforeseen side conditions. we try to negotiate them very hard. you need to negotiate two things. you need to negotiate validity of responsibilities, and then there is a quantum, how much they are. >> g.o. i.g. issues? >> the lot of our work is underground -- geologic issues? >> yes, a lot of our work is underground. the utilities are old, so the drawings are not always accurate in describing what is actually there. >> the end of the day, we can say with full confidence that we're very existing -- exacting fiscal stewards of our project? >> yes, we can. >> we also get a quarterly report to you that shows each project and what happens with change orders or projected

change orders in terms of cost and time. >> the agency that i govern operates with a 60's and operating cost cap. so we're very sensitive -- with a 6% operating cost cap. so we are very sensitive to ensure that 94% of the money we raise goes to research. >> we have probably 10 oversight bodies that might turn our work. we're highly scrutinized and kept accountable for all our expenses. that definitely keeps us on our toes. >> thank you. >> another is, pipeline and number five, east bay segment, we reached a resolution on outstanding change orders. we reached the final completion of all physical work by an early february, and this is one project where i had mentioned that it looks like we will be allowed to close the box on this about $5 million under the latest project budget and

contingency you had allocated for us. granted, we needed more contingency, but at least we're able to give a $5 million back. and finally, on the western segment of the san joaquin pipeline, the good news there is that we have completed all the piping work ahead of schedule. we were supposed to complete final completion on construction on at this in december 2012, and if all kids going according to the pace we're on right now, we may be able to -- if all keeps pace and is accordingly, we will be able to close that. that completes my report. commissioner moran: thank you. commissioners, any additional questions? >> i would like to make a comment. we have the capital project reporting structures that we put in place with wsip, and i have not seen anything that is as detailed and informative in

public-sector contrasting projects ever. i think the admission of the memo that you talk about really completes the picture -- to the addition of the memo that you talk about really complete the picture. it is barely short report and did an excellent job of pulling out what the progress was and what the issues were and what is being done about that. i found that a very helpful addition to the package. thank you very much. >> thank you. that concludes the general managers' report. commissioner moran: ok, any public comment on the general managers' report? >> i am representing san francisco green party and the local grassroots organization in our city. i wanted to refer back to the presentation from the general manager on external affairs on community benefits. i think it is time now that we're getting close with

community choice aggregation the that becomes more of a focus for the community choice program, because i know from decades in the environmental movement that it is very easy for greenies like me who do not live in marginalized communities to go that we're going to get clean energy and it is good for the environment and the animals and wildlife, so let's just go for it and we will worry about this other stuff later. i think now that the bill the -- build-out for the community choice program is becoming real, it is important for ms. ellis' team to engage in local power and the sfpuc power enterprise staff more specifically on making sure that communities that need community benefits and workers' that need local hiring and local contractors that need to be included in that process, that we get way out ahead of

that with community choice and make sure we are not dropping the ball on those people that need this kind of involvement so much. and that would include nine marginalized communities, making sure that they can leapfrog technologies -- and that would include in a marginalized communities, that they can leapfrog technologies. we need to get those communities that do not have the economic ability to be the first adopters as easily of renewable energy, to be given the opportunity through the program to be first to doctors so that everybody is receiving clean energy benefits and the worker benefits equally across the entire city. hopefully that can become more conscious in the process now that we're getting toward game time on the build-out. thank you. commissioner moran: thank you. any other public comment. ok, thank you. consent calendar. >> consent calendar. all matters constitute a consent

calendar are considered routine by the san francisco public utilities commission and will be acted upon by a single vote of the commission. there will be no separate discussion of these items unless a member of the commission or the public so requests, in which event the matter will be removed from the consent calendar and considered as a separate item. a, job order contra-22 with gold spring construction company to accomplish general building construction work, increasing the contract by $500,000 and with a time extension of three years. b, approve modicum of -- modification never wanted job order contract-28 wed california straight -- cal state constrictors to accomplish general engineering construction work. a time extension of two years. c, accept work performed by shaw pipelines incorporated for wd- 2583, install protection for 60-inch steel water main on 20th

avenue and kirkum street, decreasing the contract by $39,737 and authorizing final payment to the contractor. d, approve the plans and specifications in contract wd- 2673r as needed for 2012 annual paving contracts in the amount of $4,089,800 for the lowest bidder for m square construction. e, wd-2446, ductile iron pipe main installation, in the amount of $1,381,000 to the lowest qualified responsible bidder. f, approve the agreement number of cs-877, a biology consulting

with the susan mccormick, taxonomy consultant, increasing time extension of six months. g, approved the assignment and no wish an agreement for it cs- 910, san francisco regional/local construction management services and operate the general manager to execute the existing sfpuc contract from ara engineering group to c2pm. commissioner moran: thank you. commissioners, any items you would like pulled? seeing none, can i have a motion. moved and a second. all those in favor? opposed? motion carries. item nine, please. >> item 9, authorized the general manager to execute a memorandum of understanding by and between the sfpuc and san francisco recreation and parks commission regarding the management of lake merced tract

and to accept the lake merced watershed report. >> mr. ritchie? >> excuse me, good afternoon, again. assistant general manager for water. i would like to go to the slides for the lake or said mou and various -- lake merced mou and various activities. this is the map. these are all owned by the public utilities commission. back in 1950, the commission delegated all the recreational responsibility to the recreation and park department for those recreational activities. we have been working recently to try to improve the relationship and come up with real benefits to the lake merced tract. you're this in november where we talked about the mou. since that time, we have

received a number of comments. we have made some changes to the mou. we have met extensively with rec and park and talk about the amounts of funding for the needs of the land out there, which is an important issue to them and to us. we have met with folks from the gun club to deal with a looming issue at lake merced. i will go over those things today. first, the resolution updates the 1950 resolution. does not totally replace it. it defines relative puc and rec and port facilities -- responsibilities. -- rec and park bank responsibilities. we have recognized the ultimate authority with the lake merced tract rests with this mission. it is your responsibility. what the mou does is increase is our involvement on a day-to-day basis in the lake merced basin

and is advised that there be an annual meeting with stakeholders and that we work closely -- and specifies that there be an annual meeting with stakeholders. the leases are a key component of this. we talk about rec and park is this large thing. it boils down to three areas. the harding robot house, a golf course, and the pacific rod and gun site. those are the leases out there for recreational purposes byrd the golf course, everyone is clear that should stay with rec and park. the puc needs to take responsibility for the pacific rod and gun club lease. that leaves the harding boathouse lease. one of the things that we have in here in resolution as an acknowledgment of the lake

merced watershed report. a stakeholder-driven process to assess the watershed and make recommendations for improvement. it is not gone through ceqa review. but it serves as a strong basis for going forward with improvements on the property. one of the key things has been an issue out there is the harding road boathouse. we're investigating improvements in the boat house. rudimentary cleanup and building and bathroom repairs. the rudimentary cleanup is taking place. it exposes good bones of the basic facility there for a lot of different purposes. we have had funding available for that from the you see budget add-back. we're trying to achieve a presentable bulk basic building shell that will give rec and park something to use for the space. the potential would be recreational fishing and/or boating.

public use space for lake exhibits or meetings. we will be participating with rec and park. and rec and park staff are here to talk about that. they have a presentation as well. another major issue has been lake merced water levels. we have worked with the environmental stakeholders to try to come up with a plan to improve water levels in the late. we're doing that with the vista grande project. there during the environmental process. a way to get storm water back to the lake so we can maintain water levels. last but not least, the pacific rod and gun club site. this figure here shows the site which is approximately 14 acres. the red areas are struggles that exist -- structures that exist. the rest of the area, we will be working with the club for

cleanup of the property. historically, the use clay pigeon's the represent contaminants at levels that appeared to be a potential threat to public health if left unattended to. one option would be to possibly close this place, but our goal would be to have unrestricted recreational use on his property going forward into the future. we will be working with the pacific rod and gun club on how to do that. the puc has to resume responsibility of that lease back from rec and park. looking for agreement on the mou. the rec and park operations committee heard the last week britta is going to their commission on may 17 geared we want to increase puc oversight and management of the lake, pursue water level management, and address the john muir site issues. happy to answer questions. rec and park staff are here as well.

commissioner moran: thank you. commissioners? we do have public comment. i have three people who submitted cards. mr. murphy is the first. he will be followed by mr. catagan. two of them are the same. >> good afternoon, commissioners. i represent the golden gate audubon society and its 10,000 members. i recommend that you approve the lake merced watershed report and reject the mou. i made a case previously for revising the mou, but i i am convinced it is necessary for the puc to assume full management control of lake merced. a couple examples why. around the end of january, i got a call from the puc staff member who wanted to get my it is about

cutting bulrush at the lake and make access for crew racing and another pier for children's fishing access. two staffers from pc and one from dpw waited for me. we waited for some time for the rpd rep. while we were waiting, we checked the crew racing pier. we develop parameters for cuttingwe went over to see whate could figure out about the fishing pier. the representative never showed up and never called. to the credit of both puc and dpw staff, it it was cleaned up spotlessly and was the first time i had observed cutting at the lake in four years that has happened. the situation with rpd failing

to show up gives me an idea of what they're ideas about program development are. there is a green waste dump used to store ship -- to store chipped trees. there are bound the chip would and no barrier of any kind to prevent waste going into the lake. rpd has used the area as a dump for 10 years and hasn't done anything to prevent the mess from sliding into the water. do you think that will change if they stay in control? if you walk down the steps next to the boat house down to the fishing pier, you would notice that trash has escaped the dumpster and garbage goes right into the lake. what a responsible agency do something to prevent that? lake merced is an incredible asset, but without meaningful

starship, water quality is negatively impacted and recreational opportunities are compromised. rpd has a grand plan for recreation at the lake, but looked to history and think that might be indicator of future performance. i urge you to take the only action you can to improve conditions at lake merced and do not approve the mou and structure staff to develop a management plan for the lake and develop a master plan for the like. it deserves it. >> thank you. >> i'm with the committee to save lake merced. i'm going to assume you read my letter. i know it's five pages long and my friend called it the opus magnum or something like that.