For City Council Meeting [January 09, 2018]
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council
APPROVAL: Robb R. Steel, Interim City Administrator
FROM: Robert G. Eisenbeisz, P.E., Public Works Director/City Engineer
Title
Request City Council to Authorize Issuance of a Purchase Order Increase to Lynn Merrill and Associates, Inc., in the Not-To-Exceed Amount of $106,903.25 for a Total Cumulative Amount of $276,903.25 for Capital Project Management and Support Services during Fiscal Year 2017-2018.
(ACTION)
Body
BACKGROUND
On July 12, 2016, the City Council awarded a multi-year professional service agreement with Lynn Merrill and Associates, Inc., for assistance with the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) compliance and other support services, for three years at $170,000 each year for a cumulative total of $510,000. The three-year contract was initiated July 1, 2016. The second year is underway starting July 1, 2017 and ending June 30, 2018.
The Public Works Department manages various projects under the City’s Capital Improvement Program (CIP) as well as Public Contract improvements in support of private development in which infrastructure is constructed to City standards under a public bid process subject to prevailing wages. This is typically related to a development agreement that involves fee credits and/or reimbursement of costs beyond the project’s share. Current project work in this area continues to exceed the available in-house staff resources due to increased demand for project delivery and the number of large private development projects that include public funding and/or development agreements requiring City oversight.
In order to more effectively address these temporary high-demand periods, the City has routinely used consultants to meet demands. The City is currently using Lockwood Engineering and Lynn Merrill & Associates (LMA) to meet peak demands for capital project management, plan checking, and other development related support services. During the last fiscal year, the City requested and received CIP support services from Lynn Merrill and Associates, Inc. (LMA), for assistance in project administration, project management, and preparation of bid documents for various capital projects and private development projects that require public bidding.
Examples of past projects successfully completed by LMA include:
• The Citywide Roof Replacement Project
• The HVAC system upgrade for the police department IT room
• The fleet Shade Structure/ Fleet Carport Repair Project
ANALYSIS/DISCUSSION:
The City has requested additional support services from LMA for various CIP and publicly bid components of private development projects. The volume of work being requested will exceed the City’s existing contract capacity with LMA. Staff is therefore requesting an approval of a Purchase Order increase with LMA for capital project management services and management of public/private development projects, through the existing LMA contract.
In addition, the City is using LMA to assist in the implementation of various Geographic Information Systems (GIS) based activities within the department including:
• Implementation of a field based work request system using GIS database technology.
• Implementation of TRAKit software for public works Permitting, Engineering, NPDES, Plan Check and Customer Portal Module.
• Implementation of the Transparent Rialto web-based public information initiative and interactive website features to improve public information access and customer service.
The following Table 1 lists the proposed projects requiring support services from LMA.
Table 1- Summary of Projects Proposed for LMA
All of the projects are currently in various stages of design, bidding, or construction with LMA providing support services at an average hourly rate of $119 for a total amount of $106,903.25 to provide the requested services. Proposals from LMA are included as Attachment 1. The proposed action is for services to be provided in FY 2017-18.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT:
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 in the 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.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The proposed purchase order for LMA for the respective projects are budgeted in the various accounts as set forth in Table 2 below.
Table 2- Funding Summary
LICENSING
A Business license application and payment of a Business License tax at the Professional Service rate in the amount of $229 will be paid by the vendor prior to execution of the Purchase Order.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council authorize the issuance of a Purchase Order increase to Lynn Merrill and Associates, Inc., in the not-to-exceed amount of $106,903.25 for support services through June 30, 2018.