REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Award of Design Contract for Caribbean Drive Parking and Trail Access Enhancements (F17-041)
Report
REPORT IN BRIEF
Approval is requested to award a contract in the amount of $319,662 to Mark Thomas of San Jose, CA for professional design services associated with the Sunnyvale Clean Water Program (SCWP) Caribbean Drive Parking and Trail Access Enhancements project. Approval is also requested for a 10% for design contingency in the amount of $31,966.
EXISTING POLICY
Consistent with the provision of Chapter 2.08 of the Sunnyvale Municipal Code, contracts for this of professional design services are awarded pursuant to a Request for Proposals (RFP) best value process, unless otherwise exempt from competitive bidding.
In addition, the City evaluates civil engineering design proposals in conjunction with the Qualification Based Selection (QSB) process established in California Government Code section 4525 et. seq. This requires that consultants be evaluated on the basis of demonstrated competence before pricing is considered and negotiated.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This award is for the design phase and construction support services therefore 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(a) 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. However, it is expected that a CEQA technical memorandum will be prepared that assesses the Sunnyvale Clean Water Program’s approved Programmatic Environmental Impact Report (PEIR) (RTC No. 16-0663) and will determine if additional environmental review is required by CEQA for this project. It is anticipated that the project will have no effects beyond those analyzed in the PEIR and that no new environmental document or public notice will be required. If the CEQA technical memorandum identifies new effects not analyzed and mitigated in the PEIR, an Initial Study and additional environmental documentation will be prepared. The consultant will review all CEQA documentation as part of their design review.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
The City is engaged in a Program to renovate the existing Plant to a new facility suitable to treat and dispose of municipal sewage over the next 30 or more years. At present, the public uses Carl Road, which fronts the Plant, to access the San Francisco Bay Trail (Bay Trail). The Bay Trail is an over 400-mile regional park path system, including 3.45 miles in the City of Sunnyvale, linking 47 cities around the shoreline of the San Francisco Bay.
Since 2010, parking and a trailhead on the west side of the Plant along Carl Road have provided the public with access to a 2.4-mile segment (the “Moffett Connector”) that connects the Sunnyvale Baylands to the Stevens Creek Trail. The Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) is the planning entity responsible for implementing the Bay Trail system, which includes establishing design guidelines and performing public outreach for the trail system (e.g., leading tours, publishing maps, and announcing temporary closures on their website). The City is looking to enhance the entrance of the Bay Trail by relocating it to Caribbean Drive for several reasons which include:
• Currently, due to space constraints along Carl Road, there is no opportunity for expanding the public parking to meet the demands of increased Bay Trail use.
• The current access point is located in an area heavily trafficked with regular Plant deliveries.
• The construction related to the Program as well as future changes with Plant site layout will increase the congestion in the area.
The project’s main objective is the relocation of the San Francisco Bay Trail trailhead from Carl Road to Caribbean Drive. This work includes performing all necessary outreach and work associated with closing Carl Road to the public and vacating the Public Right of Way, converting a portion of one lane of westbound travel on Caribbean Drive to parallel parking spaces, modifying the existing bicycle lane and adding a sidewalk, and striping modifications for transitioning from three lanes to two and back to three on westbound Caribbean Drive.
Additionally, staff has applied for grant funding from US Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9 (EPA) to incorporate Green Street stormwater treatment features along westbound Caribbean Drive, between Borregas Avenue and Mathilda Avenue. This is part of a regional grant project managed by the San Francisco Estuary Institute and the ABAG. EPA has notified ABAG that the grant has been selected for award. ABAG and EPA are finalizing the grant agreement and ABAG will subsequently enter a sub-recipient agreement with the City for this portion of the project. When finalized, staff will recommend the approval of the sub-recipient agreement and related budget modification for City Council consideration. Total cost of adding the Green Street features to this project, including design and construction, is estimated to be $780,000 with $380,000 provided through the grant and up to $400,000 to be provided by the City of Sunnyvale as the local match. Grant funds will be used for construction of the Green Street features. The consultant agreement includes as optional services to integrate the Green Street features into the Caribbean Drive Parking and Trail Access Enhancements design. Staff intends to include the Green Street features into the project although it adds complexity to the project design and may extend the timeline for constructing the Caribbean Drive project. If the inclusion of the Green Street features unnecessarily delay the overall design/construction schedule of the SCWP, staff may have to abandon the Green Street features enhancement and will advise the Council accordingly.
A Request for Proposal (RFP) process was utilized to solicit proposals to design the project. The RFP was directly distributed to seven Bay Area design firms and posted on the Demandstar public procurement network. Twenty-two (22) firms requested the RFP documents. Two proposals were received on November 17, 2016 from CSG Consultants and Mark Thomas & Company.
Proposals were reviewed by an evaluation team consisting of Public Works Engineering and Environmental Services Department staff. The firms were evaluated on qualifications, experience, project overview/approach and innovations. Following the evaluation process, both firms were invited for scripted presentations and interviews. Following the interview, Mark Thomas & Company was unanimously selected as the highest ranked consulting team with the most relevant experience. Their proposal provided the best overall value based on their approach to provide maximum parking space and trail access enhancements on Caribbean Drive.
The initial fee proposal from Mark Thomas & Company was approximately $460,000 but it included additional scope items for CEQA, public outreach and safety improvement designs that are not necessary to complete the project to the City’s specifications. Consequently, staff negotiated a total project cost of $319,662, essentially split evenly between base level and the optional services for the Green Street features.
FISCAL IMPACT
The total potential contract cost is $351,627, including $159,727 for base services, $159,934 for the optional Green Street features, and a 10% contingency in the amount of $31,966. Funding is provided in Project 827090 - Construction of a New Water Pollution Control Plant. Matching funds for the total project are budgeted in Project 831510 - Green Streets for Stormwater.
Funding Source
The funding source is the Wastewater Management Fund.
PUBLIC CONTACT
Public contact was made by posting the Council agenda on the City's official-notice bulletin board outside City Hall, at the Sunnyvale Senior Center, Community Center and Department of Public Safety; and by making the agenda and report available at the Sunnyvale Public Library, the Office of the City Clerk and on the City's website.
RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
1) Award a contract in substantially the same form as Attachment 1 to the report and in an amount not to exceed $319,662 to Mark Thomas & Company and authorize the City Manager to execute the contract when all necessary conditions have been met; and 2) approve a 10% contract contingency in the amount of $31,966.
Staff
Prepared by: Pete Gonda, Purchasing Officer
Reviewed by: Timothy J. Kirby, Director of Finance
Reviewed by: Manuel Pineda, Director of Public Work
Reviewed by: Kent Steffens, Assistant City Manager
Reviewed by: Walter C. Rossmann, Assistant City Manager
Approved by: Deanna J. Santana, City Manager
ATTACHMENT
1. Draft Consultant Services Agreement