For City Council Meeting [July 9, 2019]
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council
APPROVAL: Rod Foster, City Administrator
FROM: Sean Grayson, Acting Public Works Director
Title
Request the City Council to Award a Professional Services Agreement to Siemens Mobility, Inc. for one (1) year with the option of two (2) additional one (1) year extensions, for maintenance and repair services of City-owned streetlights with the initial year services in the amount of $254,176.50.
(ACTION)
Body
BACKGROUND:
On July 26, 2016, the City Council approved the purchase and sale agreement with Southern California Edison (SCE) to purchase the City streetlights for $2,112,709. On March 29, 2017, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved the purchase and sale agreement.
On May 9, 2017, the City Council approved an agreement with Siemens Industry Inc., for the asset transfer of the streetlights from SCE, and for the Light Emitting Diode fixtures (LED) retrofit project for the streetlights in the amount of $1,414,492.
In December 2018, the City of Rialto completed the purchase and LED conversion of the streetlights from SCE. SCE provided a one year warranty for the streetlights, thus the City did not require a maintenance service contract for the first 12 months. The only services that were required from the contractor during the first year were traffic accident pole knockdowns and wire replacement in the event of theft. This is the first year solicited proposals for Streetlight Maintenance Services via an RFP was needed, as the City previously relied upon Southern California Edison (SCE) for those repairs prior to the purchase.
Staff engaged Siemens Mobility, Inc. (Siemens) and St. Francis Electric under purchase orders for $15,000 each to provide maintenance services for the newly acquired street lights, since staff was already aware of their qualifications through other City contracts. The City exhausted the purchase orders due to high volume of accidental knockdowns, and started a backlog repair list, pending City Council selection of a contractor for fiscal year 2019/2020.
The City designed the RFP with two major factors: (1) pricing and (2) routine and extraordinary maintenance. Routine maintenance encompasses the quarterly inspection of streetlight operation, safety, and repair response. Reports are generated for staff review with repairs to be made as warranted.
Extraordinary maintenance encompasses the replacement of wire due to theft, and more frequently, the replacement of streetlight pole knockdowns due to traffic collisions. Unfortunately, it is impossible to predict the amount of wire theft that may take place or how many streetlight pole knockdowns will occur yearly. Staff requested that the extraordinary maintenance portion of the bid assume twenty (20) pole knockdowns without foundation replacement and ten (10) with foundation replacement to obtain a baseline for cost comparison. These figures will increase and/or decrease with the amount of accidents within a given year.
Staff will continue to aggressively pursue reimbursement from the insurance companies of the drivers found at fault. At the end of fiscal year 2019/2020, Staff will present an audit of cost incurred and reimbursement for Council review during contract renewal.
ANALYSIS/DISCUSSION:
The Public Works Department prepared a Request for Proposals (RFP) to solicit proposals from professional firms for Streetlight Maintenance and Repair Services. On March 18, 2019, the City released RFP #19-101 to solicit proposals for streetlight maintenance and repair services with proposals due April 4, 2019. A copy of the RFP is included as Attachment 1. The City advertised the RFP in the San Bernardino County Sun newspaper, posted it on the City’s website and distributed it to various plan rooms throughout Southern California, including Planet bids.
On April 4, 2019, the Public Works Department received three (3) proposals in response to the RFP from the following firms (in alphabetical order):
1. My Electrician
2. Siemens Mobility
3. St. Francis Electric
The proposals were evaluated by Public Works staff considering several criteria, which included, firm qualifications, cost proposal, schedule, staff qualifications, and location. Staff also evaluated the firm’s presentation that included the number of municipalities served, contracts administered, number of streetlight technicians, equipment resources, and test and repair facilities.
Table 1 below summarizes the proposals as follows:
Table 1
The only historical data the City has for “Extraordinary Maintenance” is the costs incurred since the LED streetlight conversion last year of approximately twelve (12) months from January 2018 through January 2019. The estimated amount is $30,000. Staff requests an additional $30,000 to complete the repairs backlog list from January 2019 to present. This includes knockdowns and wire replacements due to theft as this is on the rise in Rialto.
Siemens was determined to be the most qualified provider with the most competitive bid for the City’s streetlight maintenance and extraordinary repair needs. A copy of Siemens proposal is included as Attachment 2, with the Disclosure page as Attachment 3.
The City of Rialto staff contacted the vendor’s other municipal clients, including the City of Huntington Beach and the City of Solana Beach to check provided references for comparable services. The references highly recommended the firm, indicating that they provided excellent services, that they tailored the services to meet the agency’s needs, and that they delivered contract obligations on schedule. During fiscal year 2018 /2019, Siemens responded to calls for streetlight pole knockdowns and wire replacement on an interim basis. Siemens is familiar with all the streetlights in use and they have previously completed the LED streetlight conversion project.
The proposed term of the streetlight maintenance service agreement is one year with an option to extend the term of contract for two (2) additional one (1) year extensions. The Professional Service Agreement is included as Attachment 4.
The Public Works Department requests an increase of $30,000 over the original annual maintenance contract amount of $224,176.50 for the replacement of stolen underground wire, damaged overhead wire and streetlight poles due to traffic collision knockdown backlog repairs during fiscal year 2018/2019 resulting in a grand total of $254,176.50 for the first year of the contract.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT:
This action is not a “Project” as defined by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Pursuant to section 15378(a), a project means the whole of an action, which has a potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment. According to section 15378 (b), a project does not include: (5) Organizational or administrative activities of governments that will not result in direct or indirect physical changes in the environment.
GENERAL PLAN CONSISTENCY:
This action is consistent with Guiding Principle 3A of the City’s General Plan:
Our City government will lead by example, and will operate in an open, transparent, and responsive manner that meets the needs of the Citizens and is a good place to do business.
LEGAL REVIEW:
The City Attorney has reviewed and approved the staff report and professional services agreement.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Operating Budget Impacts
The City estimates that the acquisition of the streetlights and the LED conversion of the fixtures will yield expected annual savings of $314,573.00: (1) annual SCE energy cost savings of $82,944.00 and (2) annual SCE maintenance cost savings of $231,629. With the cost of annual maintenance with Siemens at $11,926.50, the estimated net savings are $302,646.50.
The City estimates extraordinary repairs at $242,250, with net savings of $60,396.50. The City will seek reimbursements from driver’s insurance claims with the intent to recover costs.
The annual cost for routine preventive maintenance is $11,926.50. The estimated yearly cost for extraordinary streetlight repair services (as explained in the Background section) is $212,250, with the first year additional backlog repairs estimated at $30,000, totaling the first year contract amount at $254,176.50.
Budget is available in the following accounts for the streetlight maintenance services contract:
• Landscaping and Lighting District No. 2, Fund Account No. 224-500-7670-2011 for $25,400
• Lighting District No. 1, Fund Account No. 490-500-4860-2011 for $228,776.50
Capital Improvement Budget Impact
The proposed action will not affect the Capital Improvements Budget.
LICENSING:
A Business License application and payment of a Business License tax at the Professional Service rate of $329 will be paid by the vendor prior to execution of the Contract Services Agreement.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council Award a Services Agreement to Siemens Mobility, Inc. for one (1) year with the option of two (2) additional one (1) year extensions, for maintenance and repair services of City-owned streetlights with the initial year services in the amount of $254,176.50.