Report to Mayor and City Council
Tuesday, April 20, 2021
Consent
SUBJECT:
Title
CONSIDER AWARD OF NINE CONTRACTS TO SELECTED CONSULTANTS TO PROVIDE AS-NEEDED, ON-CALL ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTING SERVICES AND APPROVAL OF NINE CONTRACTS FOR SAME (CITY COUNCIL)
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I. SUMMARY
The City uses planning consultants on an as-needed, on-call basis to prepare environmental documents for development projects proposed by private developers and projects proposed by the City. In order to ensure competitive pricing, a Request for Proposals (RFP) or Request for Qualifications (RFQ) is periodically issued to gauge qualifications and pricing from responding firms. As a result of an RFQ that was recently concluded, nine firms were selected as both well-qualified and competitively priced to provide these services to the City. Five of the selected firms are new to the City and staff is requesting that Council award these firms a contract and approve the draft agreements attached as exhibits. Four additional firms that were selected are currently under contract with the City and staff is requesting that Council designate these firms as having successfully competed in the RFP by awarding the contracts to them as well.
While draft contracts with these four firms were not included with this staff report, the terms of the contracts with the firms will be nearly identical to those contracts with the five new consultants (with minor variations), and as such, staff is requesting that the City Council approve contracts with these firms as well. The primary difference between the contracts with the four existing firms and the five new firms is that the contracts with the four firms will be entered into once the current contracts expire in October, 2021.
Therefore, Staff is requesting that the City Council award contracts to the nine selected firms to provide as-needed, on-call environmental consulting services and to approve the contracts for all nine firms.
II. RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
TAKE the following actions:
1. AWARD and APPROVE a professional services contract to CAJA Environmental Services, LLC for as-needed, on-call environmental services in the amount of $1,250,000 for five years.
2. AWARD and APPROVE a professional services contract to CASC Engineering and Consulting, Inc. for as-needed, on-call environmental services in the amount of $1,250,000 for five years.
3. AWARD and APPROVE a professional services contract to Eyestone Environmental, LLC for as-needed, on-call environmental services in the amount of $1,250,000 for five years.
4. AWARD and APPROVE a professional services contract to FCS International, Inc. for as-needed, on-call environmental services in the amount of $1,250,000 for five years.
5. AWARD and APPROVE a professional services contract to Psomas for as-needed, on-call environmental services in the amount of $1,250,000 for five years.
6. AWARD and APPROVE a professional services contract to Dudek for as-needed, on-call environmental services in the amount of $1,250,000 for five years, it being understood that the contract will not be entered into until the current contract with consultant expires October, 2021.
7. AWARD and APPROVE a professional services contract to Environmental Science Associates for as-needed, on-call environmental services in the amount of $1,250,000 for five years, it being understood that the contract will not be entered into until the current contract with consultant expires October, 2021.
8. AWARD and APPROVE a professional services contract to Michael Baker International, Inc. for as-needed, on-call environmental services in the amount of $1,250,000 for five years, it being understood that the contract will not be entered into until the current contract with consultant expires October, 2021.
9. AWARD and APPROVE a professional services contract to MRS Environmental, Inc. for as-needed, on-call environmental services in the amount of $1,250,000 for five years, it being understood that the contract will not be entered into until the current contract with consultant expires October, 2021.
10. AUTHORIZE the Mayor to execute the professional services contracts with CAJA Environmental Services, LLC; CASC Engineering and Consulting, Inc.; Eyestone Environmental, LLC; FCS International, Inc.; Psomas; Dudek; Environmental Science Associates; Michael Baker International, Inc.; and MRS Environmental, Inc., following approval as to form by the City Attorney.
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III. ALTERNATIVES
TAKE any other action the City Council deems appropriate.
IV. BACKGROUND
The City uses consultants on an as-needed basis to prepare environmental documents for development projects proposed by private developers and projects proposed by the City. Since 2016, the City has allowed private developers to select pre-qualified consultants (“consultants contracted with the City”) to prepare environmental documents for their development projects. Typical documents prepared by consultants include Environmental Impact Reports, Addenda and Mitigated Negative Declarations prepared to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and Environmental Assessments and Environmental Impact Statements prepared to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act.
The City currently contracts with three larger environmental firms whose contract terms are near expiration. Those firms are: Dudek, Environmental Science Associates, and Michael Baker International, Inc. as well as MRS Environmental, Inc. (collectively, the Existing Firms). Over the last five years, the consultant process with the Existing Firms has worked well and has met the City’s needs for legally defensible environmental documents. However, some applicants have asked for a broader range in consultant options. The requests include firms that can scale the cost of the development project to the scope of the work and associated cost for the environmental analysis and/or firms that have less commitments and could provide more focus on timelines for the development projects.
With the consultant process success over the last five years and to provide a broader, yet more inclusive listing of consultants (including small and medium size firms), the Planning Division prepared a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for On-Call Environmental Consultants to provide environmental consulting services for one or more proposed projects, including but not limited to, general plan amendments, rezones, design reviews, conditional use permits and specific plans.
Selection Process
A Request for Qualifications (RFQ) was advertised on the City’s website on December 3, 2020, as well as planetbids.com through the City’s Purchasing Department (Exhibit No. 1). Twenty-six proposals were received on January 14, 2021 (Exhibit No. 2). Of those twenty-six proposals, two are Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBEs), two are Minority-owned Business Enterprises (MBEs), four are Women-owned Business Enterprises (WBEs), and four are certified Small Business Enterprises (SBEs).
A selection committee reviewed the proposals and evaluated each firm on the criteria set forth in the RFQ. The selection committee comprised of staff in the Community Development Department and included the Planning Manager and Senior Planner (“Selection Committee”). The rating worksheet reflecting the Selection Committee’s evaluation and ranking of responding firms is attached (Exhibit No. 3). In summary, the qualification based selection process included the following eight criteria: 1) Project Understanding; 2) Scope of Work; 3) Project Schedule; 4) Project Staff Qualifications; 5) Related Experience; 6) Quality of Proposal and Fees; 7) References / Satisfaction of Previous Clients, and 8) Local Carson Business preference.
Twelve firms were identified as having the expertise required to provide a full range of environmental consulting services required by the City and were interviewed. The committee determined that the following nine environmental consulting firms, four of which are the Existing Firms, are the most qualified based upon the criteria specified in the RFQ and the interviews:
• CAJA Environmental Services, LLC, office based in Van Nuys, CA;
• CASC Engineering and Consulting, Inc., office based in Irvine, CA;
• Eyestone Environmental, LLC, office based in El Segundo, CA (WBE and SBE);
• FCS International, Inc., office base in Irvine, CA;
• Psomas, office based in Culver City, CA;
• Dudek, office based in Los Angeles, CA;
• Environmental Science Associates, office based in Los Angeles, CA;
• Michael Baker International, Inc., based in Santa Ana; and
• MRS Environmental, Inc., based in Santa Barbara, CA.
The selection of these nine consultants will provide the City with considerable flexibility based on the type, scale, and timing of the projects. The City would enter into agreements now with the five new consultants; CAJA Environmental Services, LLC (Exhibit No. 4), CASC Engineering and Consulting, Inc. (Exhibit No. 5), Eyestone Environmental, LLC (Exhibit No. 6), FCS International, Inc. (Exhibit No. 7) and Psomas (Exhibit No. 8). Because the City has existing contracts with the Existing Firms, Dudek (Exhibit No. 9), Environmental Science Associates (Exhibit No. 10), Michael Baker International, Inc. (Exhibit No. 11) and MRS Environmental, Inc. (Exhibit No. 12), new contracts with these consultants will be entered into after the current contracts expire in October, 2021. While draft contracts with the Existing Firms were not included with this staff report, the terms of the contracts with the Existing Firms will be identical to those contracts with the five new consultants with the exception of the personnel who will be providing services, the hourly rates, any requests for reimbursements, and any subcontractors.
Accordingly, staff is requesting that the City Council award contracts to the nine selected firms to provide as-needed, on-call environmental consulting services and to approve the contracts for all nine new firms.
V. FISCAL IMPACT
Each of the nine contract awards would be for five years in an amount not-to-exceed $1,250,000. The total for all nine contracts would be $11,250,000. There is no impact to the general fund, as funds for these services are paid for through developer deposits from deposit account number 101-99-999-999-2401.
VI. EXHIBITS
1. RFQ No. 20-026 (pgs. 6-44)
2. Bid Register for RFQ 20-026 (pgs. 45-47)
3. Evaluation Ranking Sheet (pg. 48)
4. Draft Agreement with CAJA Environmental Services, LLC (pgs. 49-80)
5. Draft Agreement with CASC Engineering and Consulting, Inc. (pgs. 81-114)
6. Draft Agreement with Eyestone Environmental, LLC (pgs. 115-145)
7. Draft Agreement with FCS International, Inc. (pgs. 146-176)
8. Draft Agreement with Psomas (pgs. 177-212)
9. Existing Agreement with Dudek (pgs. 213-254)
10. Existing agreement with Environmental Science Associates (pgs. 255-296)
11. Existing agreement with Michael Baker International, Inc. (pgs. 297-340)
12. Existing agreement with MRS Environmental, Inc. (pgs.341-383)
Prepared by: Saied Naaseh, Community Development Director, Stefanie Edmondson, Senior Planner