REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
DATE: 08/21/2024
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Public Works Department
SUBJECT:
Title
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH GRIFFIN STRUCTURES, INC. FOR CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT, MATERIALS TESTING, SPECIAL INSPECTIONS, AND LABOR COMPLIANCE SERVICES FOR THE FIRE STATION NO. 2 REBUILD CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECT NO. FC-2022-20 IN THE AMOUNT OF $2,405,000
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
This staff report asks the City Council to approve the Professional Services Agreement with Griffin Structures, Inc. in the amount of $2,405,000 for the construction management, materials testing, special inspections, and labor compliance services for the Fire Station No. 2 Rebuild Capital Improvement Project No. FC-2022-20. The project will demolish the existing fire station and construct a new 15,551 square-foot single-story fire station and 9,044 square-foot apparatus storage building, including the construction of 2,304 square feet of temporary living quarters.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommended action
That the City Council:
a. Approve the Professional Services Agreement with Griffin Structures, Inc. for construction management, materials testing, special inspections, and labor compliance services in the amount of $2,405,000 and waive any and all minor irregularities in the proposal.
b. Award Request for Proposal 24-073AT to Griffin Structures, Inc. for construction management, materials testing, special inspections, and labor compliance services for the Fire Station No. 2 Rebuild Capital Improvement Project, No. FC-2022-20.
c. Authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to execute the Professional Services Agreement with Griffin Structures, Inc. in the amount of $2,405,000, including any non-substantive extensions, change orders, purchase orders, and amendments up to the amount of $240,500.
d. Authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to issue a Purchase Order to Griffin Structures, Inc. in the amount of $2,405,000.
Body
BACKGROUND & HISTORY:
The City of Corona’s (City) Strategic Plan commits to both strengthening the City’s infrastructure and providing a safe community. The City built seven fire stations over the past 70 years. Fire Station No. 2 was built in 1961, with an expansion to the station completed in 1996. Fire Station No. 2 houses a large number of staff and equipment, as it is a battalion headquarters. This includes a battalion chief, an engine company, a truck company, and urban search and rescue units. The current fire station facilities at this site are inadequate to support all these functions and the equipment required. Replacing the outdated fire station will help the City meet Strategic Plan goals by making necessary investments in public safety infrastructure to ensure the Fire Department can continue to respond to residents in an effective and efficient manner.
In 2021, the American Rescue Plan Act (“ARPA”) was approved by the federal government in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to respond to the public health emergency and offset negative economic impacts. ARPA appropriated almost $220 billion, $130 billion of which was designated for cities and counties. The City of Corona received an allotment of $29 million to use for this purpose. At the City Council Fall Workshop held on September 29, 2021, the City Council provided direction regarding allocating this funding for specific projects. Based upon the need to maintain infrastructure and public safety, the City Council approved a $10 million appropriation to a project titled Fire Station Rebuild. Fire Station No. 2, as shown in Exhibit 1, was selected as the station to be rebuilt based on the needs of Station No. 2. ARPA funds have strict deadlines for fund appropriation and expenditures. Additionally, as a federally funded project, Fire Station No. 2 must comply with various labor compliance laws. The project is anticipated to take between 18 to 24 months for construction.
On January 4, 2023, the City Council awarded a professional services agreement with PBK Architects, Inc. for design and engineering services for the Fire Station No. 2 Rebuild Capital Improvement Project (CIP). The design is progressing, and the next step is to hire a construction management consultant to become familiar with the project and provide value engineering services to assist with the construction management activities of the project.
The Construction Manager (CM) role helps to ensure that these time deadlines and budget will be met through planning and rigorous schedule tracking. The CM also reviews the plans during the design phase to assess constructability, perform value engineering services, and identify issues based upon their experience in construction activities as a check against the architectural design. It is a conflict of interest to have the architect inspect the construction activities. The CM assists in the prequalification and selection of bidders for construction. The CM coordinates on-site activities, including transition to and from the temporary facilities and construction phasing, to ensure that fire station operations are uninterrupted. The construction manager reviews product and material submissions for compliance with contract specifications, reviews invoices for consistency with installed improvements in the field and coordinates all Requests for Information (RFI) from the contractor. The CM will complete daily inspection reports which include extensive photo documentation of all activities; this documentation is invaluable in the event of claims disputes. The CM also serves in part as an advocate for the City in the event of contract disputes, some of which may be related to design conflicts, and helps to find solutions to avoid litigation and change orders.
ANALYSIS:
Request for Proposals (RFP) 24-073AT for construction management and labor compliance services for the Fire Station No. 2 Rebuild CIP was advertised on March 19, 2024, pursuant to CMC Section 3.08.110 Non-public projects - formal bidding procedure, and posted on the City’s bidding portal, PlanetBids. On May 16, 2024, a total of 555 prospective bidders were notified about the project. Nine (9) proposals were received through the PlanetBids bidding service.
The following is a summary of the proposal evaluation results:
Public Works and Fire Department staff evaluated the proposals based on the completeness of response, qualifications of the firm and personnel, work plan, and project understanding and approach. Interviews were conducted with the top three firms from the proposal evaluation process.
Based on the proposal evaluation analysis, Griffin Structures, Inc.’s team possesses the skills, experience, and staffing necessary to execute the scope of work for this project successfully. After the interview, City staff proceeded with the negotiation process with Griffin Structures, Inc. and received a Best and Final Offer based on those discussions. The proposal from Griffin Structures includes a $500,000 allowance for materials testing. Testing will be performed on an as-needed basis, and any unused funds will be eliminated from the contract upon the conclusion of the project. Work also includes a subconsultant to ensure labor compliance for ARPA funds. The proposal contains a personnel hourly estimate for staff based upon past experience with projects of this nature. The contract is flexible, and Griffin Structures will work with the City to increase or decrease hours as necessary to meet project goals.
Given the consultant’s performance during the procurement process and willingness to work with the City relative to CM needs, staff recommends that the top firm, Griffin Structures, Inc., be retained to perform the construction management, materials testing, special inspections, and labor compliance services.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Funding for the recommended actions is available in the Fire Station No. 2 Rebuild Capital Improvement Project No. FC-2022-20 within the American Rescue Plan Act Fund 413 and General Fund 110. The current available balance in this project is $9,123,210
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS:
These actions are exempt from the California Environmental Quality Action (CEQA), as the actions are not a “project” as defined by CEQA (PRC Section 21065 and CEQA Guidelines Section 15378), guidelines which define a “project” as the whole of an action, which has a potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment, or reasonable foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment, and that is an activity directly undertaking by any public agency including public works construction and related activities. These actions involve the approval of a professional services agreement. Therefore, no environmental analysis is required at this time.
PREPARED BY: TRACY MARTIN, SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER
REVIEWED BY: SAVAT KHAMPHOU, PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR
Attachments:
1. Exhibit 1 - Location Map
2. Exhibit 2 - Professional Services Agreement