REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Award of Three On-Call Contracts Totaling $1,125,000 for Consulting Support for Solid Waste Services (F23-112)
Report
REPORT IN BRIEF
Approval is requested to award three on-call contracts to provide on-call consultation services for the Environmental Services Department, Solid Waste Division (ESD) for an initial three-year period to the following firms: SCS Engineers, with a contract amount not to exceed $450,000, J.R. Miller and Associates, Inc. with a contract amount not to exceed $375,000 and HF&H, LLC., with a contract amount not to exceed $300,000. These contracts will provide on-call consultant services as required by ESD.
Approval is also requested to authorize the City Manager to increase the not-to-exceed contract amounts and to extend the term of the contracts for up to two additional years, subject to available budgeted funding, need, and acceptable pricing and service.
EXISTING POLICY
Pursuant to Section 2.08.040 of the Sunnyvale Municipal Code (SMC), City Council approval is required for contracts exceeding $250,000.
Pursuant to Chapter 2.08 of the Sunnyvale Municipal Code, contracts for this type of service are awarded pursuant to a Request for Qualifications (RFQL) best value process, unless otherwise exempt from the competitive bidding process.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The action being considered does not constitute a “project” within the meaning of the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15378(b) as it has no potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
On-call Consultant contracts provide ESD, the ability to contact these firms to provide project managers and subject matter experts who assist in the management of the City’s Solid Waste Division projects and programs related to the closed landfill, solid waste collection, and processing operations.
The Consultants are expected to assist in the following areas.
1. Service Contract Support: The Solid Waste Division manages several large contracts related to collection, processing and disposal of solid waste. These include the franchise collection contract with Specialty, the SMaRT Station operations contract with Bay Counties, the organics processing contract with Zanker and the landfill disposal contract with Waste Management. The Consultants will assist in periodic operational reviews of the contractor performance, audits and compensation request reviews. The recent implementation of organics collection for multi-family and commercial customers required an extensive review of proposed service and cost increases by the Franchisee. Staff were assisted by a consultant in these efforts. Similarly, the City will need consultant support to analyze a proposed multi-family bulky-item pick-up service.
2. Request for Proposal (RFP) Development and Support: The Consultants will provide assistance with RFP development and evaluation of proposals. Consultant assistance was recently used in creation of RFPs for the purchase of food scraps processing equipment, SMaRT Station solid waste processing equipment and organics processing contracts. Consultant assistance will be needed to support the upcoming evaluation of vendor proposals for the SMaRT Station solid waste processing equipment replacement, vendor selection and contract negotiations. Consultant support will also be utilized for responding to the City of Cupertino RFP for SMaRT processing services.
3. Outreach Development: City staff conduct extensive outreach to residents and businesses on regulations and City policies such as zero waste and single-use plastics. The Consultants will assist staff in these outreach efforts to maximize the impacts and effect behavior change. They typically develop surveys and pilots, outreach material and content. They also help develop and track metrics to measure success. Upcoming projects include outreach to improve multi-family and commercial food scraps participation levels, contamination minimization and re-usable foodware pilots.
4. Engineering and Technical Support: The closed landfill requires ongoing maintenance and engineering. Technical assistance is needed to identify optimal solutions. These include upkeep of the landfill gas collection system and maintaining proper landfill cover. The gas collection is a critical component of the landfill and provides renewable gas that is used to generate electricity at the Water Pollution Control Plant.
5. Permit Support: Consultants currently assist the City in preparing the required semi-annual and annual permit reports for Bay Area Air Quality Management District, the US EPA and the Regional Water Board for the closed landfill as required by our current permits. The scope includes sampling of emissions, ground water monitoring and testing, compiling the data and preparing required reports. This is an ongoing need.
6. Legislative Review: The State of California has multiple laws that solid waste generators and jurisdictions are required to comply with and report on. The consultants will provide ongoing support in reviewing existing (e.g., Senate Bill 1383-organics diversion) regulation compliance requirements and upcoming regulations (such as the new Senate Bill 54 which deals with Producer Responsibility related to Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packing) as needed.
7. Grant Assistance: Funding is available through CalRecycle and potentially through the Inflation Reduction Act for organics diversion, source reduction, renewable energy generation and education and outreach. The majority of these applications are competitive. A robust application is needed to qualify for these grants. The consultants will assist the City with grant applications and grant compliance and reporting.
The City received seven (7) statements of qualifications (SOQ) in response of the request for qualification (RFQL) process. SOQs were reviewed and ranked by an evaluation team consisting of operational staff from ESD. The SOQs were evaluated on their qualifications, experience and the potential staffing resources available that may assist the City with future projects. Five (5) firms were shortlisted, and hourly rates were obtained and negotiated. ESD is seeking contracts with these shortlisted five (5) on-call consultants to allow flexibility in accessngi different consultants who are well-qualified and highly utilized within the Bay Area on particular topics. These consultants will provide expertise for a specific aspect of the Solid Waste Division’s diverse program requirements.
The consulting firms recommended for contract award for on-call contracts for consulting support for Solid Waste Division are as follows: SCS Engineers, J.R. Miller and Associates, Inc., HF&H LLC., R3 Consulting Group, Inc. and WSP USA, Inc. The contract amounts reflect the scope of services that are to be provided by each consultant.
Council Approval is requested for the contracts as follows:
|
Firm Name |
Not to Exceed Contract Amount |
|
SCS Engineers |
$450,000 |
|
J.R. Miller & Associates |
$375,000 |
|
HF&H, LLC |
$300,000 |
The contracts for R3 Consulting Group, Inc. and WSP USA, Inc are each in amounts not to exceed $225,000 for a period of three years, and are within the City Manager’s contracting authority.
FISCAL IMPACT
Budgeted funding for these Agreements is available in the ESD Solid Waste Division operating budget (Program 14400), the SMaRT Station® Operating budget (Program 14500) and various solid waste projects budgets.
PUBLIC CONTACT
Public contact was made by posting the Council meeting agenda on the City's official-notice bulletin board at City Hall, at the Sunnyvale Public Library and in the Department of Public Safety Lobby. In addition, the agenda and this report are available at the NOVA Workforce Services reception desk located on the first floor of City Hall at 456 W. Olive Avenue (during normal business hours), and on the City's website.
RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
Take the following actions:
- Award Three (3) three-year on-call Consultant Service agreements for solid waste services to the following firms: SCS Engineers, with a contract amount not to exceed $450,000, J.R. Miller and Associates Inc, with a contract amount not to exceed $375,000 and HF&H, LLC., with a contract amount not to exceed $300,000 in substantially the same form as Attachments 1 to 3 to the report;
- Authorize the City Manager to execute the agreements when all conditions have been met;
- Authorize the City Manager to increase the contracts up to budgeted amounts; and
- Authorize the City Manager to renew the contracts for up to two additional years based on available funding, need, acceptable pricing, and service.
Staff
Prepared by: Lisa Vo, Principal Buyer
Reviewed by: Tim Kirby, Director of Finance
Reviewed by: Ramana Chinnakotla, Director of Environmental Services
Reviewed by: Jaqui Guzmán, Deputy City Manager
Approved by: Kent Steffens, City Manager
ATTACHMENTS
1. Draft On-Call Consultant Services Agreement - SCS Engineers
2. Draft On-Call Consultant Services Agreement - J.R. Miller and Associates Inc.
3. Draft On-Call Consultant Services Agreement - HF&H Consultants LLC