Report to Mayor and City Council
Tuesday, September 03, 2019
Consent
SUBJECT:
Title
CONSIDER APPROVAL OF A CONSULTANT RETAINER AGREEMENT WITH JOHNSON FAVARO, AND APPROVE A CONSULTANT RETAINER AGREEMENT WITH BLACK O'DOWD AND ASSOCIATE, INC. TO PROVIDE ON-CALL ARCHITECTURAL PROFESSIONAL SERVICES TO THE ENGINEERING DIVISION OF THE PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT (CITY COUNCIL)
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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 Architectural 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. Earlier in 2019 Engineering had undertaken a solicitation for architectural on-call services, but had only received a single proposal from Westberg & White, which was awarded. Council directed staff to seek additional architects to ensure competitiveness in the on-call process. These 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 Johnson Favaro, to provide On-Call Architectural Professional Services for the term of September 3, 2019 through June 30, 2021, in an amount not-to-exceed $250,000.00, and requiring that project-specific Task Orders greater than $25,000.00 be approved by the City Council before the Notice to Proceed is issued by the Contract Officer.
2. APPROVE a Consultant Retainer Agreement with Black O’Dowd and Associates, Inc., to provide On-Call Architectural Professional Services for the term of September 3, 2019 through June 30, 2021, in an amount not-to-exceed $250,000.00, and requiring that project-specific Task Orders greater than $25,000.00 be approved by the City Council before the Notice to Proceed is issued by the Contract Officer.
3. AUTHORIZE the Mayor to execute the Consultant Retainer Agreement following approval as to form by the City Attorney.
4. APPROVE a not-to-exceed aggregate amount of $250,000 for On-Call Architectural Professional Services rendered pursuant to the Agreements approved above, through June 30, 2020.
5. APPROVE a not-to-exceed aggregate amount of $250,000 for On-Call Architectural Professional Services rendered pursuant to the Agreements approved above, through June 30, 2021.
6. 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 architectural professional services as long as the total compensation for all on-call architectural services shall not exceed $375,000 per fiscal year. Amendments causing on-call architectural professional services compensation to exceed $375,000 per fiscal year require further City Council approval.
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III. ALTERNATIVES
1. DO NOT APPROVE the Professional Services Agreements
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 18, 2019, and the total estimated cost to complete all funded projects is $55,000,000. 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.
Currently, several time-consuming 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. The data from the initial stage is included in 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 agendized after 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 proposes the use of 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 RFPs/RFQs for each individual project. The use of consultants is not in-lieu of acquiring 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 nine architectural firms. The firms were given a month to respond. The City received three SOQs, and based on an evaluation of submittals, two firms were selected. The top two consultants are, Johnson Favaro and Black O’Dowd and Associates Inc.
Johnson Favaro, with an office located at Culver City, is a prestigous architectural firm of 30 years that has designed renowned facilities for various municipalities such as Rancho Palos Verdes, Beverly Hills, Manhattan Beach as well as counties of Los Angeles and Orange. Their basic services include architectural, and landscape design, supported by structural, mechanical, electrical and civil engineering disciplines.
Black O’Dowd and Associates Inc., (BOA) with an office located at Long Beach, is a small architectural firm that has been in the business for 58 years servicing numerous Southern California cities such as Torrance, Long Beach, Sierra Madre and Carlsbad. Their services include a vast range of architectural designs for renovation, remodel and new construction of Fire Stations, Police Facilities, Libraries, City Hall and Park facilities.
Considering the limited staff resources in the Engineering Division, the services of an arhitectural firm to implement the architectural projects will be beneficial. In addition, there are several time sensitive road repair and park related projects that currently need the services of consultants in order to meet associated grant funding requirements.
Staff is confident that the two architectural firms, Johnson Favaro and Black O’Dowd and Associates Inc., are well qualified and will be able to assist the City in efficiently providing the professional services the division needs. The City currently has one on-call architectural services firm (Westberg and White) on board, and desires to retain two additional architectural firms to make sure that proposals for professional services are competitive.
The consultants contracts will be exercised on an “on-call” basis. The architectural firm selected will be requested to submit a fee proposal for every service the division needs, and subsequently the Engineering Services Division will negotiate the final fee per service.
V. FISCAL IMPACT
There is no impact to the general fund. The amount requested will be absorbed using existing funds in account 101-80-820-100-6004.
VI. EXHIBITS
1. Architectural Professional Services Agreements Johnson Favaro (pgs. 5-35)
2. Architectural Professional Services Agreement Black O’Dowd and Associates Inc., (pgs. 36-72).
Prepared by: Raymond Velasco, P.E., Senior Civil Engineer