Title
Report regarding a resolution awarding a construction contract to Bay Cities Paving & Grading, Inc. of Concord, California for the 2020 Pavement Rehabilitation Project (No. st2104, Bid No. 2644) in an amount not to exceed $2,541,450.00, authorizing a total construction contract authority budget of $3,049,740.00, and authorizing the City Manager to execute the agreement on behalf of the City. (Angel Torres, Senior Civil Engineer)
Label
RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt a resolution awarding a construction contract to Bay Cities Paving & Grading, Inc. of Concord, California for the 2020 Pavement Rehabilitation Project (No. st2104, Bid No. 2644) in an amount not to exceed $2,541,450.00, authorizing a total construction contract authority budget of $3,049,740.00, and authorizing the City Manager to execute the agreement on behalf of the City.
Body
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION
The 2020 Pavement Rehabilitation Project will rehabilitate approximately 44,600 square yards (or 2.3 centerline miles) of city streets.
City streets included in this pavement rehabilitation project are: Alta Mesa Drive, Ash Avenue, Camaritas Avenue, Cuesta Drive, Escanyo Drive, Hazelwood Drive, Northwood Drive, Southwood Center, Emerald Court, Forestview Drive, Iris Court, and Sunnyside Drive. The scope of the pavement rehabilitation work consists of asphalt pavement milling (grinding), base failure repairs, and crack sealing that is capped with hot mix asphalt overlay. Some of the elemental work included consists of replacement of existing City utility covers in the roadway, replacement of concrete curb ramps with ADA compliant curb ramps, replacement of sections of fractured or settled concrete curb and gutter, valley gutter and concrete medians, adjustment to existing drain inlets and underground lines, protection of existing survey monuments in roadway, replacement of speed humps, and reinstallation of traffic striping and pavement markings.
Overview of City’s Procurement Process
The City’s procurement process is governed by both state and local law. State law requires contracts for construction to be competitively bid pursuant to a set of specific, established rules. In particular, the City is required to award construction contracts to the “lowest responsible bidder” after providing notice in accordance with law. (Pub. Contract Code §§ 20162, 20164.)
However, in awarding contracts for the purchase of professional services, equipment and supplies, the City has some latitude. State law requires the City to adopt regulations and policies to govern such service and supplies procurement, but otherwise provides the City flexibility in determining relevant requirements as long as they are consistent with applicable state law. (Gov. Code § 54202.) Chapter 4.04 of the Municipal Code and the City’s Purchasing Procedures (Administrative Instruction Section IV, No. 1) govern the City’s purchasing policies and contract procurement processes.
The City’s purchasing ordinance distinguishes between three primary types of procurement methods as follows:
1. Competitive Bidding for Construction Projects
Public projects are specifically defined under the Public Contract Code, and generally involve any construction project that is paid with public funds or those projects involving improvements, demolition or other work on public property or facility. Public projects are required to be procured through competitive bidding and the City must award the contract to the lowest bidder whose bid complies with all of the City’s solicitation requirements and demonstrates that the bidder is able to perform the work. Under the City’s policy, different levels of competitive bidding are required depending on the dollar limit of the underlying project.
For these contracts, cost is generally the sole determining factor and the lowest responsible bidder is awarded the project even if another bidder appears to be more skilled but is more expensive.
2. Open Market Procedures for Vendors (Supplies and Equipment)
Open Market Procedures is the City’s vendor selection process for purchase of goods, supplies, and professional services. These rules do not apply to, and may not be used for, public construction projects.
Contracts for the purchase of goods and services that exceed $10,000 requires staff to utilize open market procedures. If the contract is $25,000 or less, staff must obtain at least three quotes, which are informal offers to perform work at a stated price. If the contract is greater than $25,000, staff will be required to solicit the project, such as issuing a Request for Proposals (“RFPs”) and obtain at least three written responses.
Under this vendor selection process, cost can be only one factor in determining which vendor the City will ultimately select for services, equipment or supplies. This requirement is similarly reflected under SSFMC § 4.04.080.
Thus, when utilizing the open market vendor selection process, the City is focused on the skill, ability, and expertise of the entity or person to be able to provide the service, equipment or goods to the City. The selection is based on competence, professional qualifications, and overall value to the City with cost being only one factor in the determination of an award.
Federally Funded Procurements for Vendors (Supplies and Equipment)
Contracts that receive federal funding are required to incorporate and comply with additional terms and conditions. The City’s Purchasing Procedures also provide guidance on procuring supplies and equipment contracts that are federally funded. Federally funded procurements also require a written procedure for conducting evaluations and for selecting recipients and awarding the contract to the responsible firm whose proposal is most advantageous to the City with price being only one factor. It is also important to note that federally funded procurements do not include state or local geographical preferences unless specifically authorized by federal law. Each evaluation is a non-discrimination and equal opportunity for all vendors.
3. Open Market Procedures for Architectural and Engineering (A&E) Professional Services
For certain professional services such as architectural, engineering, environmental, land surveying, or construction project management, the Government Code also specifically requires that such services not be awarded solely based on price, but instead based on demonstrated competence. (Gov. Code § 4526.) Both the state law provision and the City’s policy reflect the legislative view that when acquiring such services, the City does not necessarily receive the best value when it pays the lowest price. (See e.g. California Attorney General Op. No. 94-819 (February 9, 1995)).
General Request for Proposals (RFP) Review Process
RFPs are the City’s primary method to procure equipment, materials, supplies, and professional services. Typically, this process consists of the City issuing the RFP for proposals from vendor candidates to demonstrate their qualifications and abilities to provide the City with desired services, equipment/supplies, or other goods.
The City’s RFP will contain evaluation and scoring criteria used to rank vendor candidates based on the strength of their proposals.
Typical factors include demonstrated knowledge, qualifications, industry reputation, implementation schedule, ease of implementation and cost. Factors not typically considered include the size of the firm and geographic location of the firm (i.e. whether the firm is local, in- or out-of-state), race, sex or gender. However, the City does have the discretion to include geography as one evaluation factor and to select local vendors where the quality and price are equal between local and non-local vendors and federal funds are not used.
The City assembles an evaluation panel comprised primarily of City staff and third-party consultants and personnel as necessary, to review and score the proposals, negotiate with the top-ranked candidate, and recommend the selection for City Council approval. Staff will also maintain records of the method of evaluation, final vendor selection and negotiations for a final contract.
Once candidates are ranked and a top-ranked candidate is identified, staff will negotiate terms of the contract with that candidate. The final award of the contract is subject to consideration and approval by the City Council. Staff will present the selection recommendation to the Council and prepare a resolution awarding the contract to the recommended candidate. If the Council does not support staff’s recommendation, then it could elect not to take any action on the resolution or contract award, and may instead direct staff to either reconsider the other proposals selected or to re-issue the RFP which may include additional or different selection criteria and qualification requirements.
Current Project: 2020 Pavement Rehabilitation Project, No. ST2104, Bid No. 2644.
The current project falls under Procurement Type 1: Competitive Bidding for Construction Projects.
Staff advertised a notice inviting bids for the project on December 16, 2020, and December 23, 2020. On January 26, 2021, staff received nine (9) bid proposals in response to the notice inviting bids. Staff reviewed all bid proposals and identified that the lowest responsible bidder was Bay Cities Paving & Grading, Inc. of Concord, California. Staff has verified the low bidder’s current contractor’s license with the California State Licensing Board and found it to be in good standing.
The following is a summary of all bids received:
The project was advertised with both a “Base” bid schedule and a “Bid Alternate” bid schedule. The selection of award of a contract is based on the lowest responsive bid for the Based bid schedule. The City included and would like to award the contract with both the “Base” bid and “Bid Alternate” work included in the award of the contract in light of receiving additional funding from the bond measure as further described in funding section below.
The project budget is:
Bay Cities Paving & Grading, Inc. Construction Contract $2,541,450.00
Construction Contingency (10%) $508,290.00
Total Project Budget $3,049,740.00
The construction contingency will be used for any additional costs related to design changes during the construction operations. There are no Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) requirements since no federal funds are being utilized on the project.
FUNDING
This project (No. st2104) is included in the City of South San Francisco’s fiscal year 2020-2021 Capital Improvements Program. There are sufficient funds in FY 2020-2021 to cover the initial construction costs through the end of the current fiscal year. It is staff’s intention to go to the bond market and procure remaining funds for this project that would be allocated to this project in fiscal year 2021-2022. This will occur in the first/second quarter of 2021 with the intention of having the funding available in time to meet the payment requirements for remaining construction services.
Total Project Budget $3,049,740
Current Budget $1,667,000
Bond Measure $1,382,740
Total Sources $3,049,740
RELATIONSHIP TO STRATEGIC PLAN
Approval of this action will contribute to the City’s Strategic Plan outcome of improved Quality of Life by maintaining and improving infrastructure to serve the public.
CONCLUSION
Awarding the construction contract to Bay Cities Paving & Grading, Inc. of Concord, California, for the 2020 Pavement Rehabilitation Project will reestablish the useful life of the street that will receive this pavement rehabilitation work and will help the City maintain the City’s Street Pavement Index at an acceptable level.
Attachments:
1. Vicinity Map
2. Presentation