The Olivenhain Municipal Water District board will vote Wednesday, Sept. 16, on a $15.5 million contract to rebuild membrane basins at its Encinitas water treatment plant. The project tops an agenda that includes several other spending decisions affecting ratepayers.
The contract would go to GSE for rehabilitation work at the David C. McCollom Water Treatment Plant. The plant opened in 2002 and uses ultra-filtration membrane technology to treat water for about 87,000 customers across Encinitas, Carlsbad, Solana Beach, San Diego and neighboring communities.
The full contract totals $15,465,600. The board would authorize General Manager Kimberly Thorner to sign an initial two-year phase worth $9,438,306. Later phases would be approved through contract amendments based on the pricing locked in at award, contingent on contractor performance.
The agenda also asks the board to waive a minor irregularity involving an unnotarized non-collusion affidavit from GSE.
Paying for it
The project carries a proposed budget increase of $7.25 million. To cover the initial phase, the district would defer nine capital improvement projects scheduled for 2027 and 2028 to 2029 and pull an additional $1.25 million from its Capital Reserve Fund.
The agenda does not name the nine deferred projects.
The board would also raise Thorner's change-order approval authority on this contract from $75,000 to $650,000, keeping individual changes within the overall project budget.
Fee changes
Two separate fee items round out the financial agenda. The board will consider changes to water-related service fees as part of its annual review and vote on updated 2026 water capacity fees. Capacity fees are one-time charges developers pay to connect to the water system, funding capital expansion and replacement projects.
The specific dollar amounts of the proposed fee changes are not detailed in the published agenda. The board last approved water rates and service charges at its Oct. 15, 2025, meeting, effective Jan. 1, 2026.
Other business
The agenda also includes an $85,000 emergency leak repair contract with Cass Arrieta for a project on Calle Barcelona, a closed session on potential litigation and service awards for staff.
The meeting begins at 4 p.m. at 1966 Olivenhain Road, Encinitas. Residents can join via Zoom (Meeting ID: 840 6350 4810, Passcode: 605778) or email public comments to [email protected].
