Report to Mayor and City Council
Tuesday, April 02, 2019
Consent
SUBJECT:
Title
CONSIDER APPROVAL OF CONSULTANT RETAINER AGREEMENTS TO PROVIDE ON-CALL ENGINEERING PROFESSIONAL SERVICES TO THE ENGINEERING DIVISION OF THE PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT (city council)
Body
I. SUMMARY
The Engineering Division of the Public Works Department is responsible for the design and construction of a number of projects including several that are grant funded. In consideration of the limited internal staff resources and the significant number of infrastructure related projects, securing On-Call Engineering Professional Services will greatly reduce the time required to develop the necessary plans, specifications and estimates by eliminating the need to prepare separate Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for each project under consideration. Consultant Retainer Agreements will provide flexibility and enhance the capacity of the Engineering Division to deliver projects in a timely manner.
II. RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
TAKE the following actions:
1. APPROVE a Consultant Retainer Agreement with KOA Corporation to provide On-Call Engineering Professional Services for the term of April 2, 2019 through June 30, 2021, in an amount not-to-exceed $500,000.00.
2. APPROVE a Consultant Retainer Agreement with John M. Cruikshank Consultant Inc., to provide On-Call Engineering Professional Services for the term of April 2, 2019 through June 30, 2021, in an amount not-to-exceed $500,000.00.
3. APPROVE a Consultant Retainer Agreement with P.A. Arca Engineering, Inc., to provide On-Call Engineering Professional Services for the term of April 2, 2019 through June 30, 2021, in an amount not-to-exceed $500,000.00.
4. AUTHORIZE the Mayor to execute the Consultant Retainer Agreements following approval as to form by the City Attorney.
5. APPROVE a not-to-exceed amount of $750,000 for on-call engineering professional services rendered pursuant to the Agreements approved above, through June 30, 2020.
6. APPROVE a not-to-exceed amount of $750,000 for on-call engineering professional services rendered pursuant to the Agreements approved above, through June 30, 2021.
7. AUTHORIZE the City Manager to execute amendments to the Consultant Retainer Agreements (including amendments resulting in compensation increases exceeding $25,000) to adjust compensation for on-call engineering professional services as long as the total compensation for all on-call engineering consultant services shall not exceed $750,000 per fiscal year. Amendments causing on-call engineering consultant services compensation to exceed $750,000 per fiscal year require further City Council approval.
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III. ALTERNATIVES
1. DO NOT APPROVE the Professional Services Agreements to the aforementioned companies.
2. TAKE another action the City Council deems appropriate, consistent with the requirements of the law.
IV. BACKGROUND
The City’s 5-Year Capital Improvement Program (CIP) was approved by the City Council on June 19, 2018, and the total estimated cost to complete all funded and unfunded projects is $45,000,000. Given the number of potential projects and the limited staff resources within the Engineering Division of the Public Works Department, consultants are typically used to assist with the development of plans, specifications and estimates.
The following is the description of the current RFP/evaluation/contracting process. The on-call contracting process does this as all at once for several contractors, rather than one at a time:
Currently, several steps must be taken to retain a consultant for each potential project. The initial stage is the conceptual phase, which sets a clear definition of the project’s scope of work, funding, stakeholders, potential challenges, and any other significant information that the consultant needs to be informed of. The data from the initial stage is included in details on the Request for Proposal (RFP) document. The RFP must also contain the expected content and format of the proposal as well as the submittal date. The RFP is drafted by staff and reviewed thoroughly with managers and directors, and depending on everyone’s availability, the review process is time consuming and finalization of the RFP document could be delayed. Once the document is in its final format, it is given to the Purchasing Division (Purchasing) in order for them to ensure the document meets their criteria. This review process is also time-consuming due to staff’s availability for review and acceptance of the document. Once Purchasing approves the document, it is advertised in Our Weekly and on the City’s web based publication - Planet Bids for a specified time period depending on the magnitude of the services being solicited. While the document is posted, inquiries may arise from interested firms and those inquiries require formal response from the City which may prolong the advertising time. Once the response period has expired, proposals are submitted to the City Clerk for recordation and to Engineering staff for evaluation. The evaluation committee thoroughly reviews and assesses the content of each proposal based on set criteria. Depending on the number of responses, this process can take several weeks to complete. An interview of top candidates may be needed for the committee to finalize its selection. Top candidates are typically given a few weeks to prepare for the interview. Soon thereafter, the committee selects the most suitable firm for the particular professional service and the selection is discussed with the Public Works Director for recommendation of award. Once a firm has been recommended, the contract agreement is circulated to the consultant for review and then routed to the City Attorney’s office for review and approval. The City Attorney’s office requires a minimum of four weeks for review. Sometimes the review is longer, depending on the number and type of exceptions or clarifications. Concurrent with the contract agreement review process, staff prepares a City Council agenda report to award a contract to the most responsive firm. The staff report is considered incomplete until the contract agreement has been approved by the City Attorney’s office as final form. Should the City Council approve the recommended selection, the approved contract is routed for signatures and fully executed prior to the City Clerk’s Office entering the contract into the City’s Enterprise Resource Planning management system (Tyler Munis). Once the contract has been entered into Tyler Munis, it is routed to Purchasing so that a Purchase Order (PO) can be generated. The selected firm is then issued a Notice to Proceed (NTP), which officially allows the firm to begin providing service.
As detailed above, the process of retaining a consultant for a specific project, from the initial conceptual phase to the issuance of the NTP is extremely laborious and very time consuming.
To streamline this process, the Engineering Services Division of the Public Works Department would use these on-call consultants to reduce the time spent working on RFPs/RFQs, and allow staff to move quickly on projects without the delays caused by having to process separate RFPs/RFQs for each individual project. The use of consultants is not in-lieu of using full-time employees, rather these consultants will be utilized to enhance the capacity of the current staff.
The Engineering Services Division solicited Statements of Qualifications (SOQs) by sending a Request for Qualifications (RFQs) to eight civil engineering firms. The firms were given a month to respond. The City received SOQs from five civil engineering firms, and based on the evaluation of all submittals, three firms were selected. The top three consultants are a mix of small, medium and large sized companies.
KOA Corporation (KOA) is the largest company of the three, with five offices through Southern California (Monterey Park, Orange, Ontario, La Quinta and San Diego). The company has been established for 31 years and primarily provides general civil and traffic engineering consulting services. They also have the capabilities to provide services such as grant applications, construction management, inspection services and transportation planning, and have retained sub-consultants that can provide material testing, surveying and landscape architectural services. KOA can assist the City with the immediate needs of projects that are time sensitive due to grant requirements. Their experience in construction management could also be a reliable source to assist staff in preparing an accurate estimate for a future bridge widening project. Staff is familiar with their services due to their involvement with the implementation of the Carson Street Master Plan project.
John M. Cruikshank Consultant Inc. (JMC2) is a medium-sized firm with nearby offices in San Pedro and Costa Mesa. Over the past 20 years of establishment, JMC2 has worked on various public facilities, public sewage and drainage systems, and have the capabilities to provide land surveying and structural engineering design services. They have retained sub-consultants that can provide construction management services, environmental engineering and geotechnical inspections/testing.
The final engineering firm selected is a small firm that has previously provided services to the City for various types of engineering/surveying projects. P.A. Arca Engineering Inc. (AEI), is a local firm, located only a mile away from City Hall, that can ideally provide immediate attention to urgent needs. AEI increases their capacity through their sub-consultants to provide general civil design, surveying, traffic and construction management and inspection.
Aside from the professional engineering, surveying and construction management services, these firms can also provide additional personnel to temporarily augment staffing levels within the Engineering Division of the Public Works Department, if necessary. This service will help expedite the process of plan reviews, applications or other needs the division may have.
Given that the City is working on approving proceedings to finance the reconstruction and construction of certain local streets and traffic signals from the proceeds of the Carson Public Financing Authority Revenue Bonds, it is anticipated that multiple public works projects will be added to the current CIP list, and the services of the Engineering firms selected will be needed in order to implement those projects. In addition, there are several traffic related projects that currently require the services of consultants to meet the grant funding criteria.
Staff is confident that the three firms are well qualified and will be able to assist the City in efficiently providing the needed services.
All of the selected consultant’s contracts will be exercised on an “on-call” basis. The three engineering firms selected will be requested to submit a fee proposal for every service the division needs. Based on the submittals, the Engineering Services Division will select the most efficient and economical solution.
V. FISCAL IMPACT
Funds for this item were not included in the FY 2018/19 budget; but, the department will be able to absorb the cost for the remainder of this fiscal year. Funds for FY 2019/20 are included in the current budget proposal. Staff will budget accordingly for FY 2020/21.
VI. EXHIBITS
1. Engineering Professional Services Agreements KOA Corporation (pgs. 5-44)
2. Engineering Professional Services Agreements John M. Cruikshank Consultant Inc. (pgs. 45-94)
3. Engineering Professional Services Agreements P.A. Arca Engineering, Inc (pgs. 95-133)
Prepared by: Raymond Velasco, P.E., Senior Civil Engineer