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INTRODUCTION: <br />The City of Ramsey (City) is requesting engineering services proposals from qualified engineering <br />consulting firms (Consultants) with demonstrated experience assessing and testing groundwater <br />aquifers for proposed municipal groundwater well sites for the purpose of preparing and delivering <br />a Well Siting Assessment for the City's next two proposed municipal groundwater supply wells, <br />wells #9 and #10. <br />BACKGROUND: <br />The City of Ramsey is a growing municipality located north and west of the Twin Cities <br />metropolitan area. The City currently owns and operates eight municipal groundwater supply <br />wells, though only six of the eight wells are currently used to supply water to municipal water <br />supply customers. These six wells are located in The COR (The Center of Ramsey) and are <br />connected to the City's 10 MGD Water Treatment Plant (WTP), which removes iron and <br />manganese from the raw groundwater. The other two municipal wells are not connected to the <br />WTP. One is utilized solely for irrigating River's Bend Park. The other is reserved for augmenting <br />the City's water supply needs during emergency situations only. <br />Two new municipal groundwater supply wells, wells #9 and #10, are proposed for construction in <br />2027 to augment the City's existing municipal water supply system, primarily during summer <br />months when municipal water supply customers consistently consume over 5,000,000 gallons per <br />day. A Well Siting Assessment must be completed before April 2027 to identify the optimal <br />locations for proposed municipal wells #9 and #10. This will include a desktop hydrogeologic <br />assessment to identify two to four recommended sites for proposed municipal wells #9 and #10 <br />(phase 1). Test wells will then be drilled to test the quality and quantity of water available at the <br />recommended well sites after City approval of the sites (phase 2). In addition, the Well Siting <br />Assessment will explore estimated costs for connecting proposed municipal wells #9 and #10 to <br />the WTP, or for providing on -site pressure filtration for iron and manganese removal at one or <br />both wells, to determine which option is more cost-effective based on estimated life -cycle costs. <br />All eight existing municipal water supply wells draw groundwater from the Tunnel City-Wonewoc <br />aquifer, formerly known as the Franconia -Ironton -Galesville aquifer. Though the Mount Simon - <br />Hinckley -Fond Du Lac aquifer underlies a portion of the northwest corner of the City, the City is <br />restricted from using this aquifer since the City is located within the Twin Cities metropolitan area. <br />The Well Siting Assessment will explore the viability of constructing proposed municipal wells <br />#9 and #10 within City limits, and will provide recommendations on two to four proposed well <br />sites. A copy of the Water Treatment Plant Feasibility Study completed by SEH, Inc. in 2021 will <br />be provided to proposers to assist in this effort. This study includes detailed information <br />characterizing the extent and thickness of the Tunnel City-Wonewoc aquifer across the City, and <br />identifies three potential well siting areas, denoted as Areas A, B and C in Figure 15, that were <br />recommended for further study as future municipal well sites. These areas must be explored in <br />detail as part of the Well Siting Assessment, along with the viability of constructing proposed <br />municipal wells #9 and #10 in other areas of the city with an emphasis on City -owned properties. <br />Page 2 of 6 <br />