TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS
DATE: JANUARY 24, 2005
SUBJECT: ON CALL PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
RECOMMENDATIONS
- Award a contract for on call professional services for FY 04 – 05, and FY 05 – 06 to RBF Consultants, Berryman and Henigar and Associates, Kleinfelder Consultants Inc., Lenocker & Associates, inc. KEC Consultants, Inc., Peter Gambino and Associates, Inc., and David Volz Design
- Authorize the expenditures with these firms in accordance with City Council established guidelines for on-call professional services, and the adopted budgets for FY 04 – 05 and FY 05 – 06.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
On September 16, 2003 the City Council awarded contracts for on-call professional services. The purpose of that action is to provide a pool of consultants that staff could utilize quickly and efficiently for urgent as well as minor projects. The recommendation this evening adds an additional seven firms to our list of on call consultants. There is no fiscal impact.
BACKGROUND
The Public Works Department relies on contract professional services to deliver projects, and provide services to our residents. These professional services typically include engineering design, inspection, geotechnical engineering, landscape architecture services, contract management, surveying, plan checking, and environmental review.
When services are required for a capital project such as the overlay program, or other significant projects, the department circulates a request for proposals (RFP), reviews the proposals, recommends a firm, and prepares a report to the Council to, select the firm, award a contract, and authorize expenditures. This process works well for large-scale projects, and the department will continue to utilize this process for such projects.
The department, however, also requires services for projects in which this RFP process will not work as well. These are generally small-scale projects or projects where services are urgently needed. For such projects the RFP process creates delays, or adds significant administrative cost. Since 1997 the department has obtained services for small or urgent projects through the ‘on-call’ process.
Under the ‘on-call’ process the department selects a firm from an approved list of firms. Under this process the City Council pre-selects the consultants, and awards a contract, however staff has the ability to authorize expenditures within limits established by the City Council.
DISCUSSION
In September 2003, the Public Works Department circulated a request for qualification to 20 selected firms who have successfully provided services to the City in the past. Fourteen firms submitted qualifications and contracts to 14 firms were approved by the City Council. The amount awarded to each firm over the course of the year will be a function of the needs of the department as well as the firm’s performance. The recommendation this evening simply adds seven additional firms to our list of service providers. These new firms were selected based upon staff’s experience here at the City of Rancho Palos Verdes as well as while employed with other agencies.
As a control measure and in the interest of equity, the contract with each firm will be limited to $ 60,000 for the fiscal year, and each single project awarded to a firm will be for less than $ 25,000. The one exception to this is that ‘on-call’ services that are reimbursed by a trust deposit will not count towards the maximum amounts.
Staff proposes that the term of the contracts be through FY 05 – 06. This term will be consistent with those contracts awarded in September 2003. A copy of the standard professional service agreement is attached.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact to the recommended actions.
Respectfully submitted,
Dean E. Allison
Director of Public Works
Reviewed,
Les Evans
City Manager
Attachments:
Standard Contract for Professional Services