REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Award of Contract to Siegfried Engineering, Inc. for the Lawrence Station Area Sidewalk and Bicycle Facilities Project and Determination of Proposal Non-responsiveness (F20-015)
Report
REPORT IN BRIEF
Approval is requested to award a consultant services contract to Siegfried Engineering, Inc. of San Jose in an amount not-to-exceed $415,200 for the Lawrence Station Area Sidewalk and Bicycle Facilities and a 10% contract contingency in the amount of $41,520. Additionally, Council is requested to make a determination that a proposal received from BKF Engineers is non-responsive.
EXISTING POLICY
Consistent with the provision of Sunnyvale Municipal Code Chapter 2.08, contracts for the procurement of services are awarded pursuant to a Request for Proposals (RFP) process, unless otherwise exempt from the competitive bidding. Additionally, City Council approval is required for the procurement of goods and/or services exceeding $100,000 in any one transaction and to make a determination regarding bid responsiveness.
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)(5) in that it is a governmental organizational or administrative activity that will not result in direct or indirect changes in the environment.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
To facilitate build out of the City’s bicycle network, the project will design bike lanes on Willow Avenue between Aster Avenue and Reed Avenue and develop a feasibility study for bike path connections south of Reed Avenue within the Lawrence Station Area.
The Lawrence Station Area Sidewalk and Bicycle Facilities project will provide direct pedestrian and bicycle access to the Lawrence Caltrain station (Station), a regional transit station. The project will design on-street (Class 2) bicycle lanes on Willow Avenue, while maintaining the existing number of travel lanes, to provide improved connection between existing bike lanes on Reed Avenue to the Station. In order to facility the bike lanes on Willows, parking along one side of the street would need to be removed (along the commercial stretch from Reed to Aster), parking is already restricted on one side of the street for a portion of this section. A community outreach meeting will be held regarding the bike lanes and parking removal to understand any concerns. To improve safety for bicyclists in bicycle-vehicle conflict zones, this project will study and propose implementing dashed green striping at locations where these conflict zones exist, such as at intersections or right-turn lanes. This will increase the visibility and awareness of the conflict area for bicyclists and drivers. Providing bicycle access to the Station will improve local access, while linking the citywide bicycle network at Evelyn Avenue to the Station.
The feasibility study will involve an evaluation of implementing a bicycle trail south of Reed Avenue along the El Camino Storm Drain Channel on Valley Water property. For study purposes, the trail alignment is broken into three segments (from north to south): Reed to Clemantis, Clemantis to Lily, and Lily to Miramar. In order to position the City for future grant or outside funding opportunities for final design and construction, the consultant will provide preliminary and final design for the first segment, Reed to Clemantis and feasibility study/preliminary design for the second two segments.
A competitive Request for Proposals (RFP) was posted to the City’s public procurement network in August 2019 and directly emailed to five (5) Bay Area firms. Two responsive and responsible proposals were received from Kimley-Horn and Siegfried Engineering, Inc. The proposals were evaluated on proposer’s qualifications and experience, project overview and approach. Both proposers were invited to an interview and presentation. Following the interview, evaluators unanimously selected Siegfried as the consultant for the project based on their understanding and approach for the project.
A proposal received from BKF Engineers, Inc. is recommended to be deemed non-responsive due to the vendor not submitting a required Caltrans form with the proposal. Caltrans, as the federal funding administrator, requires specific forms to be submitted with the proposal and others within five (5) business days after the proposal due date in accordance with its Local Assistance Procedure Manual (LAPM). In accordance with the LAPM, a proposal may be considered nonresponsive and rejected without evaluation if all required information is not provided. Staff recommends deeming BKF Engineer’s proposal non-responsive to remain in alignment with the Caltrans administrative requirements.
FISCAL IMPACT
Funding for this project is available in Project 832960 - Lawrence Station Area Sidewalk and Bicycle Facility. This project is funded by the One Bay Area Grants-2 (OBAG-2) grant and the Capital Projects Fund-Transportation Impact Fees Sub-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
Take the following actions:
- Award a contract to Siegfried Engineering, Inc. for Lawrence Station Area Sidewalk and Bicycle Facilities, in substantially the same form as Attachment 1 to the report, in the amount of $415,200
- Authorize the City Manager to execute the contract when all necessary conditions have been met
- Approve a 10% contingency in the amount of $41,520, and
- Make a determination that the proposal received from BKF Engineers, Inc. is non-responsive due to the proposer not submitting a required Caltrans Local Assistance Procedure Manual form
Staff
Prepared by: Gregory S. Card, Purchasing Officer
Reviewed by: Timothy J. Kirby, Director of Finance
Reviewed by: Chip Taylor, Director of Public Works
Reviewed by: Teri Silva, Assistant City Manager
Approved by: Kent Steffens, City Manager
ATTACHMENTS
1. Draft Consultant Services Agreement