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Report recommending that the City Council reject all bids received for the Irish Town Green Rehabilitation Project (pk1806). (Joshua Richardson, Parks Manager and Greg Mediati, Deputy Director of Parks and Recreation)
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RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
It is recommended that the City Council, by motion, reject all bids for the Irish Town Green Rehabilitation Project (pk1806).
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BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION
Irish Town Green is a Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) owned green space located on Airport Boulevard between Linden Avenue and Armour Avenue. In 1997, the City and PG&E entered into an agreement whereby the City could maintain the 1.5-acre property for public park uses in perpetuity, which was enjoyed by Old Town neighborhood residents for many years.
After being used by PG&E as a project staging area between 2015 and 2017, PG&E again turned the site over to the City for public use under that same agreement. In 2018, PG&E and City staff agreed on a phased plan to improve the property. In 2019, PG&E contractors restored much of the park by installing a large lawn area, which could be used for informal play, picnicking, and youth soccer practices. City crews and contractors later added a GraniteCrete (concrete mixed into decomposed granite to create a hard but permeable surface) perimeter pathway and replaced portions of the fence most in need of replacement.
City staff planned another phase of this work, the Irish Town Green Rehabilitation Project (pk1806), to add ADA compliant gates and pathways from Armour Avenue and Airport Boulevard to the existing pathways, a new GraniteCrete patio/gathering area on Linden Avenue, new benches along the existing path, fence repairs, and installation of a new split rail fence to serve as a barrier around a drainage ditch. This project is funded by Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds and has a project budget of $214,000.
Staff advertised a notice inviting bids for the project on October 26 and November 2, 2021. On November 3, 2021, staff conducted a mandatory pre-bid meeting with six contractors in attendance via teleconference due to San Mateo County COVID-19 health and safety recommendations. On November 16, 2021, staff received only one bid in response to the advertisement. Staff is outreaching to the five other contractors who attended the pre-bid meeting to determine why they did not submit a response.
The following is a summary of the one bid received:
Contractor Base Bid Amount
CF Construction $296,330
The City’s bid specification documents identified that the basis for selection of the award of the contract would be based on the lowest responsive and responsible bidder on the combined total bid price.
The bid response received from CF Construction, exceeds the project budget by $82,330 and was the only response received. City staff feel that reissuing a notice inviting bids is the most fiscally responsible action to secure a responsive and responsible contractor within the available budget. It is believed that the time of year the bid invitation was issued contributed to the low number of responses. Staff believe that going back out to bid after the holidays in January 2022 will produce a larger number of competitive responses that fall within the project budget.
Pursuant to Public Contract Code section 20166, a legislative body may reject any bids presented for a project at its sole discretion. The bid specification documents identified that the City would determine which, if any, of the bid schedules would be awarded and constructed. The City also identified that it reserved the right to reject any or all bids submitted.
At this time, City staff has determined that it is in the best interest of the City and the project to reject all bids and not award a contract at this time. Staff intends to revisit the details of the project to ensure the scope is conducive to competitive bids. Advertising this project after January 1, 2022 will also allow contractor schedules to be more available, as the holiday season tends to draw less interest due to limited contractor availability.
Staff is confident that reissuing this invitation to bid will still allow for completion of the project and billing to meet CDBG guidelines for completing this project by the end of March 2022.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact associated with rejecting bids.
RELATIONSHIP TO STRATEGIC PLAN
Approval of this action will allow for more competitive bids for successful completion of a project that will contribute to the City’s Strategic Plan priority of Quality of Life by maintaining and improving infrastructure to serve the public.
CONCLUSION
Staff recommends that all bids received be rejected so that City staff may revisit details of the project specifications and re-advertise the bid.
Attachments:
1 - CF Construction Bid Schedule