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Home My WebLink About2008-02-26 - AGENDA REPORTS - PLAN REVIEW CONTR (2)Agenda Item: CITY OF SANTA CLARITA AGENDA REPORT CONSENT CALENDAR City Manager Approval: Item to be presented by: Robert Newman DATE: February 26, 2008 SUBJECT: AWARD CONTRACTS FOR PLAN REVIEW, BUILDING INSPECTION, AND PERMIT -RELATED PROFESSIONAL SERVICES; AUTHORIZE EXPENDITURE AUTHORITY FOR CONTRACTUAL SERVICES FOR SERVICE CONTRACTS; APPROPRIATE FUNDS FOR PREVIOUSLY AWARDED CONTRACTS FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT: Public Works RECOMMENDED ACTION City Council award contracts to California Code Check, Interwest Consulting Group, JAS Pacific, Inc., and West Coast Code Consultants, Inc. for plan review, building inspection, and permit -related professional services for the Building & Safety Division, in an amount not to exceed $150,000 'each; authorize the City Manager or designee to execute up to four annual renewal options not to exceed $150,000 each, plus Consumer Price Index (CPI) adjustments, contingent upon the appropriation of funds by the City Council in the annual budget for such Fiscal Year; and authorize the City Manager or designee to execute all contracts and associated documents, or modify the awards in the event that issues of impossibility of performance arise, and execute renewals, in accordance with the terms provided herein, subject to City Attorney approval. 2. Authorize an increase to each of the contracts with the following contracted geotechnical/soils consultants, Fugro West, GeoDynamics, Allan Seward Engineering Geology, and R.T. Frankian & Associates, in an amount not to exceed $75,000, and authorize expenditure authority of up to $75,000 per contract as needed through the end of Fiscal Year 2007/08. 3. Appropriate funds from Unappropriated Fund Balance from Fund 356 in the amount of $33,000 to Expenditure Account 14600-5161.002 for Fiscal Year 2007/08 for the payment of previously awarded contracts to California Watershed Engineering (CWE) and AEI-CASC Engineering for review of Urban Stormwater Mitigation Plans and Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plans. BACKGROUND The Public Works Department is tasked with a variety of projects throughout the year. Some of these projects require contracts with outside consultants. Contracts are used when staff requires specialized expertise that is unavailable in-house, when outside assistance is needed to help expedite projects, or when a third party is needed to perform review. City Council approval is needed at this time to enter into contracts, increase existing contracts, obtain proper expenditure authority, and appropriate the funds needed to pay for these contracts. Building and Safety: The Building and Safety Division uses contractual services to assist staff with plan reviews and inspections of new buildings during periods of high construction activity. Contractual support for plan check and/or inspection services helps supplement staff s effort to respond to the public in a timely manner, especially given fluctuating demands for such services. Staff went out to bid for this service under the Request for Proposals (RFP) process. Plan review and inspection firms registered on an interest list, along with similar firms known by staff, were invited to bid as part of this process. A total of 46 firms downloaded the RFP from the City website, and staff received a total of 11 proposals (list attached). The proposals were reviewed and evaluated based upon a list of standardized criteria. Based on the evaluation criteria, staff recommends that the following firms: California Code Check, Interwest Consulting Group, JAS Pacific, Inc., and West Coast Code Consultants, Inc., are awarded contracts to provide plan review services, building inspections, and permit -related professional services. Depending on the complexity of the projects, and to avoid any conflict of interest, City staff will have the flexibility to assign projects best suited to each firm. Staff is seeking City Council authorization to enter into these contracts. Development Services: The Development Services Division contracts with four geotechnical/soils consultants to review highly technical reports in conjunction with development projects in the City. Developers bear the entire cost of this service by providing offsetting revenue. This arrangement allows the staff flexibility to respond to diverse projects rather than being limited to narrow, focused segments of the projects such as soils and geology reports. Due to several large projects currently in the plan check review process, staff is projecting one or more of these contracts will exceed the $50,000 expenditure authority before the end of Fiscal Year 2007/08. The division currently has open service contracts with Fugro West, GeoDynamics, Allan Seward Engineering Geology, Inc., and R.T. Frankian & Associates, all of whom provide review services. These contracts allow for expenditures up to $50,000 each. City staff has the flexibility to assign projects best suited to each firm, depending on the complexity of the projects and to avoid any conflict of interest. In order to comply with the City's purchasing policy, staff is seeking City Council approval to allow the Division to spend up to $75,000 on each of these contracts for Fiscal Year 2007/08. Environmental Services: The municipal National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit requires developers of certain developments/redevelopments to prepare engineering documents to prevent potential pollutants from entering the storm drain system. This regulation is met by requiring engineering documents such as the Urban Stormwater Mitigation Plan (USMP) and Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) for these developments. City staff requires the services of a qualified professional consultant to review these documents. Developers pay review fees to offset the costs. F Staff went out to bid for this service under the Requests for Proposals (RFP) process. Based on the grading of the evaluation criteria and their performance in interviews, staff recommended two firms, CWE and AEI-CASC Engineering, be awarded the contracts, and the City Council awarded the contracts on October 30, 2007. City staff has the flexibility to assign projects best suited to each firm, depending on the complexity of the projects and to avoid any conflict of interest. Although City Council previously awarded these contracts, funds to pay for these expenditures need to be appropriated for Fiscal Year 2007/08. ALTERNATIVE ACTIONS Other action as determined by the City Council. FISCAL IMPACT Building and Safety: Funding for these services was previously approved and allocated by the City Council during the adoption of the Fiscal Year 2007/08 budget. Revenue to support these contracts is generated from the fees collected for plan review and inspection services. Development Services: All plan check related costs associated with geotechnical/soils plan review will be 100 percent offset by developer fees received for all related services during Fiscal Year 2007/08. Environmental Services: Funds for this expenditure need to be budgeted from Unappropriated Fund Balance from Fund 356 in the amount of $33,000 to Expenditure Account 14600-5161.002 for Fiscal Year 2007/08. ATTACHMENTS Building and Safety- RFP Proposal List CITY OF SANTA CLARITA RFP FOR: CONTRACTUAL SERVICES FOR PLAN REVIEW, BUILDING INSPECTION, AND/OR PERMIT RELATED PROFESSIONALS SERVICES FOR THE CITY OF SANTA CLARITA BUILDING AND SAFETY DIVISION Date: January 16, 2008 Project No. BS -07-08-27 Company Location Koury Engineering Chino, CA JAS Pacific Ontario, CA West Coast Code Consultants Inc. San Ramon, CA ESGIL Corp San Diego, CA Building Dept Services El Dorado Hills, CA Harris & Assoc Irvine, CA Bureau Veritas Costa Mesa, CA CSG Consultants Costa Mesa, CA California Code Check Newbury Park, CA Interwest Consulting Group Long Beach, CA Transtech Engineering_ Walnut, CA Attest: Jon Bischetsrieder;-Purchasing Agent