Title
Transportation Department recommending Chairman be authorized to sign Agreement for Services AGMT 08-1772 with CALTROP Corporation in an amount not to exceed $2,500,000 for a term commencing October 7, 2008 to the later of County's recordation of the Notice of Completion for the Project or resolution of all construction claims, if any, associated with the Project, to provide construction support services for the U.S. 50 High Occupancy Vehicle Lanes (HOV), Phase 1 - El Dorado Hills to Bass Lake Grade Project (JN 53110).
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Approve.
FUNDING: Traffic Impact Mitigation (TIM) Fee Program.
Body
BUDGET SUMMARY: |
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|
Total Estimated Cost |
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$2,500,000 |
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|
|
Funding |
|
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Budgeted* |
$1,000,000 |
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New Funding |
$ |
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Savings |
$ |
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Other** |
$1,500,000 |
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Total Funding Available |
$2,500,000 |
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Change To Net County Cost |
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$0 |
*Included in Fiscal Year 2008/2009 Budget Addenda and the most recent Five-Year Capital Improvement Program.
**To be budgeted in subsequent Fiscal Years.
Fiscal Impact/Change to Net County Cost:
The Transportation Department (Department) budgeted $1,000,000 in Fiscal Year (FY) 2008-09 and anticipates budgeting the remaining $1,500,000 in FY 2009-10 and FY 2010-11. Funding for this Agreement will be provided by Traffic Impact Mitigation (TIM) Fee Program funds. There is no Net County Cost.
Background:
On April 22, 2008, the Board approved Caltrans Cooperative Agreement 03-ED-50 PM 0.0/2.9 (County AGMT 08-1685) defining the responsibilities and terms and conditions by which Caltrans and El Dorado County together will construct the High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) and bus lanes on U.S. Highway 50 from Latrobe Road to the Bass Lake Grade, including replacement of the mainline bridges at El Dorado Hills Boulevard/Latrobe Road. The U.S. 50 HOV Lanes, Phase 1 - El Dorado Hills to Bass Lake Grade Project (Project) is Phase 1 of a larger plan to add HOV lanes to U.S. Highway 50 from El Dorado Hills to Shingle Springs and includes extending the east bound truck climbing lane to close the gap between El Dorado Hills Boulevard/Latrobe Road and the base of the Bass Lake Grade.
The Procurement and Contracts Division conducted a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) process for the Department in 2007. CALTROP Corporation (CALTROP) was number three on the Construction Management and Other Construction Services RFQ shortlist. With approval from the Procurement and Contracts Manager, the West Slope Construction (WSC) Unit sent out a Request for Proposals (RFP) for construction support services for the Project on June 3, 2008. The evaluation and selection process was conducted in late June and early July of 2008. John Kahling, Supervising Civil Engineer; Thor Larsen, Senior Civil Engineer; and, William Brook, a Caltrans representative conducted the interviews. Mr. Kahling, Mr. Larsen and Mr. Brook unanimously agreed that CALTROP had the best qualified staff to assist the Department in successfully administering and inspecting the Project.
Reason for Recommendation:
The Department is proposing to enter into this Agreement to assist in administering the Project, which is a large and very complex multi-year project. The WSC Unit will provide the Resident Engineer and Assistant Resident Engineer for the Project. The Department anticipates utilizing CALTROP to provide the Structure Representative for this Project, as the Department does not have staff with the requisite expertise.
Over the past several months, the Department has been unable to fill several key engineering vacancies in the WSC Unit. The Department has interviewed several applicants for the vacant WSC engineering positions, most often without yielding any candidates with the construction experience that is commensurate with the Department's needs.
It is important to note that even if the Department were successful in filling all of the vacant engineering positions in the WSC Unit, due to the size and complexity of this Project, the seasonal nature of the work, and peaks in Capital Improvement construction activity, there would still be a need for some level of resource augmentation in the form of consultant services contracts.
Under this Agreement, the Department may utilize CALTROP to perform various construction engineering and construction support services on the Project. The Department has included language in the Agreement to allow the County to utilize its own personnel to perform all or portions of any of the tasks listed under this Agreement. Tasks may include, but are not limited to, construction administration and engineering services; construction inspection; serving as Structure Representative; analysis of claims, schedules and the Plans, Specifications and Estimates package; welding inspection; storm water pollution prevention services; public relations; office administration services; and, post-construction activities.
The Department is currently in the process of performing a Department-wide staffing analysis that will be utilized for determining the Capital Improvement Program sustainability and one use for this analysis will be to optimize the allocations between design and construction management activities in future budgets. Since this Agreement spans more than one FY, the results will allow the Department to determine any necessary substitution to sustain County staff. The Department will finalize the mix of use between staff and CALTROP resources for this Project upon the completion of this staffing analysis.
Some of the services to be performed under this Agreement require expertise that County staff does not have. These services may include serving as Structure Representative, providing certified welding inspectors and performing analyses of surface and ground water samples related to storm water runoff from the Project site.
The Department recommends the Board make findings pursuant to Article II, Section 210 b (6) of the El Dorado County Charter that, in part, there are specialty skills required for the work performed under this Agreement that are not expressly identified in County classifications.
The El Dorado County Employees Association, Local #1, has been informed of this proposed Agreement.
Action to be taken following Board approval:
1) The Chairman will sign the two (2) originals of the Agreement.
2) The Board Clerk will forward one (1) original of the fully executed Agreement to the Department for further processing.
3) The Department will forward the original of the executed Agreement to CALTROP and keep a copy for its files.
Contact:
Richard W. Shepard, P.E.
Director of Transportation
Concurrences: Approved by County Counsel and Risk Management