Title
Transportation Department recommending Chairman be authorized to sign Agreement for Services AGMT 07-1435 with Quincy Engineering, Inc., in an amount not to exceed $7,200,000 for a term effective upon execution and expiring upon issuance of a Notice of Completion of Construction for the U.S. Highway 50/El Dorado Hills Blvd Interchange project to perform professional services associated with the engineering design and construction support for the interchange and Highway 50 Mainline improvements through El Dorado Hills, and adopt recommended findings.
FUNDING: 2004 General Plan Traffic Impact Mitigation Fee Program.
Body
BUDGET SUMMARY: |
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|
Total Estimated Cost |
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$ 7,200,000.00 |
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|
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Funding |
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Budgeted |
$ 5,472,300.00 |
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New Funding |
$ |
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Savings |
$ |
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Other * |
$1,727,700.00 |
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Total Funding Available |
$ 7,200,000.00 |
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Change To Net County Cost |
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$ 0.00 |
* this is a multi-year agreement and the additional funds will be included in future fiscal year budgets.
Fiscal Impact/Change to Net County Cost:
These consultant services will support the following projects: High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) Lanes, US 50 / El Dorado Hills Boulevard Interchange Improvements, US 50 / El Dorado Hills Boulevard Interchange Pedestrian Overcrossing , and US 50 Mainline Widening at El Dorado Hills. Funding is provided through the 2004 General Plan Traffic Impact Mitigation Fee Program and a combination of Federal and State Funds. The Department has sufficient revenues budgeted in those accounts to fund this Agreement.
There is no net cost to the County General Fund associated with this agenda item.
Reason for Recommendation:
Due to the critical need for improvements along the US Highway 50 Corridor and to provide relief to commuters, the addition of HOV lanes and improvements to the El Dorado Hills Boulevard Interchange are high priority projects for the Department of Transportation. The Department has been awarded $5.8 million in Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) funds and $20 million in Corridor Management Investment Account (CMIA) funds for construction of the HOV project. This Agreement is necessary to continue the ongoing efforts to deliver these improvements and to comply with the timeline required as part of the CMIA funding agreement. Failure to meet stipulated deadlines will jeopardize the $20 million funding award.
Quincy Engineering, Incorporated (QEI) was selected through a solicitation for Statements of Qualifications (SOQ) in December of 2004 and a previous Agreement (AGMT 05-935) with QEI was approved by the Board on February 14, 2006. On Tuesday, April 17, 2007, the Board approved Item 30 which included authorization for the Department to negotiate a new agreement with QEI to provide consultant services for the El Dorado Hills Boulevard Interchange and Highway 50 HOV/Mainline Lanes. The services to be provided through this Agreement include project management, project planning and design services, environmental analysis and compliance, utility coordination services, Right of Way services, and construction support.
QEI and the Department have established a not-to-exceed cap of 10% on annual fee rate increases. While the Department has previously allowed annual rate increases of up to 5%, QEI requested the higher cap in direct response to the actions taken by the California Department of Personnel Administration (DPA). Salaries for Senior Engineers increased by 7.7% in July of 2005, by 12.37% in July of 2006, and by 14.1% effective July 1, 2007. However, the fee schedule and invoicing requirements for this Agreement are based on unloaded billing rates (actual hourly salary) and audited overhead rate. Therefore, QEI will not be able to simply increase loaded fee rates by 10% each year , but instead will only be allowed to increase rates by the actual raises given to employees. As annual increases for the industry reduce from the current trend, the contract rate increases also reduce. Increases must be requested annually and approved by the Contract Administrator. Therefore, the Department maintains controls over contract costs while still allowing the consultant to maintain competitive salaries and retain the staff dedicated to the project.
The Department is recommending that the Board make findings pursuant to Article II, Section 210b (6) of the El Dorado County Charter that there are specialty skills required for the work performed under this Agreement that are not expressly identified in County job classifications. Although some of the necessary skills are found within County classifications, a substantial amount of the work to be performed under this Agreement requires specialty skills not identified in County classifications. This portion of work requires expertise including but not limited to freeway geometry, bridge design, and geotechnical engineering, to specifically include coordination with Caltrans and an intimate understanding of Caltrans' requirements.
The Department continues to experience recruitment issues and key engineering positions remain vacant. If the Department is successful in attracting qualified candidates, the Department's need for consultant services may be reduced. The subject Agreement allows for the use of Consultant's services at the Department's discretion, providing the Department with the opportunity to consider workload and resource availability prior to assigning tasks to the Consultant. Consultant services will proceed only upon issuance of Task Orders in accordance with the terms and requirements in the Agreement and Scope of Services.
The El Dorado County Employees Association, Local #1, has been informed of this proposed Agreement.
Action to be taken following Board approval:
1) The Board Chairman will sign Agreement for Services #07-1435 with Quincy Engineering, Inc.
2) The Board Clerk will forward one original of the fully executed Agreement to the Department for further processing.
Contact: Russ Nygaard, x3551
Concurrences:
County Counsel approval - 6/12/2007
Risk Management approval - 6/13/2007