REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
DATE: 04/05/2023
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Planning and Development Department
SUBJECT:
Title
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENTS WITH AKM CONSULTING ENGINEERS, DUDEK, ENGINEERING RESOURCES OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, WILLDAN ENGINEERING, AND INTERWEST CONSULTING GROUP IN THE AMOUNT OF $500,000 EACH FOR ON-CALL CONSTRUCTION INSPECTION SERVICES (RFP 22-026RH)
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
This staff report asks the City Council to award Professional Service Agreements from Request for Proposals No. 22-026RH to AKM Consulting Engineers, Dudek, Engineering Resources of Southern California, Willdan Engineering, and Interwest Consulting Group. The Planning and Development Department is requesting an amount of $500,000 for each contract to provide on-call, as needed construction inspection services. The proposed request will allow the department to establish a list of qualified consultants that can be called upon to provide inspection services required by the City during project construction. Projects generally involve a variety of capital improvement projects, land development, and new infrastructure associated with proposed development projects.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommended action
That the City Council:
a. Award the Request for Proposal 22-026RH to AKM Consulting Engineers, Dudek, Engineering Resources of Southern California, Willdan Engineering, and Interwest Consulting Group.
b. Approve Professional Services Agreements with AKM Consulting Engineers, Dudek, Engineering Resources of Southern California, Willdan Engineering, and Interwest Consulting Group for an initial three-year term beginning in Fiscal Year 2023 with three optional one-year extensions for $500,000 to each company each year.
c. Authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to execute the Professional Services Agreements and to negotiate and execute non-substantive extensions, change orders, purchase orders, and amendments up to 10% or $50,000 for each agreement as authorized in Corona Municipal Code Section 3.08.070(I).
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BACKGROUND & HISTORY:
The Planning and Development Department and Public Works Department use qualified consultants to provide supplemental staffing for field inspections. The selected consultants provide specialized and experienced personnel that are capable of assisting the City with project management, construction management, and inspection services associated with capital improvement projects, land development, and new infrastructure for utilities.
The City’s Public Works Inspectors are responsible for inspecting capital improvement projects and new public infrastructure. The Planning & Development Department is budgeted for seven full-time inspectors that include one Public Works Inspection Superintendent, two Senior Public Works Inspectors, and four Public Works Inspectors II. The Public Works Inspection Superintendent position and one Senior Public Works Inspector position are filled. Since December 2021, the department has been actively recruiting to fill the remaining five vacant inspector positions.
As a result of the unforeseen vacancies in the full-time inspection positions, the department uses qualified consultants to meet the service demand associated with the inspection of construction projects that includes public projects initiated by the City and from private development.
ANALYSIS:
The Purchasing Division issued RFP 22-026RH on September 22, 2021 pursuant to Corona Municipal Code (CMC) 3.08.110. The City notified 139 vendors about the RFP. The closing date was October 13, 2021, and the City received a total of eight proposals. The proposals were evaluated by a panel of City staff with the top five consultants selected to be placed on the City’s qualified consultant list. The delay in awarding these agreements is due to the high volume of work being processed through the Purchasing Division.
The Consultant is expected to provide experienced personnel for inspection and related administrative work for a variety of public works, utilities construction and maintenance projects, and private development projects. Inspection staff is expected to perform continuous and periodic inspections of all work permitted by the City, which includes the implementation of traffic control measures, NPDES requirements, compliance with proper construction practices, compliance with construction standards that involve materials and quality of work, review of technical reports and construction plans, respond to inquiries from the public, engage with engineering staff on design issues or change orders, serve as a central point of contact for the Project Manager, and carry out other related duties.
Evaluation Criteria
The proposed evaluations were based on the following criteria.
1. Qualifications of Firm
2. Qualifications of Personnel
3. Related Experience
4. Completeness and Timeliness of Response
5. Reasonableness of Cost and Price
The five firms that have been selected by staff ranked the highest in this competitive evaluation and are able to provide the staffing on demand to meet the City’s required service needs. The initial term of each agreement is for three years starting in Fiscal Year 2023 with staff being given the option to authorize three optional one-year extensions of $500,000 at the start of each fiscal year.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Funding for the recommended action is included in the Fiscal Year 2023 Planning and Development Department and the 2023 Public Works Department Capital Improvement Program operating budgets. Funding in future fiscal years will be recommended through the budget process. Costs incurred for private development projects overseen by Planning and Development are reimbursed by inspection fees and deposit agreements paid by project proponents.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS:
This action is exempt pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of the Guidelines for the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), which states that a project is exempt from CEQA if the activity is covered by the commonsense exemption that CEQA applies only to projects that have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. Where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment, the activity is not subject to CEQA. This action is simply to approve professional services agreements for inspection services, and there is no possibility that it will have a significant effect on the environment. Therefore, no environmental analysis is required.
PREPARED BY: JEFF NELSON, PUBLIC WORKS INSPECTION SUPERINTENDENT
REVIEWED BY: CHRIS MILOSEVIC, BUILDING OFFICIAL
REVIEWED BY: JOANNE COLETTA, PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
Attachments:
1. Exhibit 1 - Draft Professional Services Agreement with AKM Consulting Engineers
2. Exhibit 2 - Draft Professional Services Agreement with Dudek
3. Exhibit 3 - Draft Professional Services Agreement with Engineering Resources of Southern California
4. Exhibit 4 - Draft Professional Services Agreement with Willdan Engineering
5. Exhibit 5 - Draft Professional Services Agreement with Interwest Consulting Group