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Community Development Agency, Transportation Division, recommending the Board approve and authorize the Chair to sign the First Amendment to Agreement for Services 355-S1511 with Sycamore Environmental Consultants, Inc., to increase the not-to-exceed amount by $250,000, to $397,000, with the rates remaining the same as the previous contract, and extend the term two years, to February 23, 2020, to perform on-call environmental review services in support of various Capital Improvement Program projects, including those due to the storms of 2017.
FUNDING: Various Capital Improvement Program Funding Sources (including Federal, State, and Local funds).
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DEPARTMENT RECOMMENDATION
Community Development Agency, Transportation Division, recommending the Board approve and authorize the Chair to sign the First Amendment to Agreement for Services 355-S1511 with Sycamore Environmental Consultants, Inc., to increase the not-to-exceed amount by $250,000, to $397,000, with the rates remaining the same as the previous contract, and extend the term three years, to February 23, 2020, to perform on-call environmental review services in support of various Capital Improvement Program projects, including those due to the storms of 2017.
Transportation recommends the Board make findings in accordance with Section 3.13.030 of the County Ordinance that it is more economical and feasible to engage an independent contractor for these services because there are special skills required for the work performed under this Agreement that are not expressly identified in County classifications. Some CIP projects involve environmental review services which require familiarity with State and Federal environmental procedures, California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and permitting processes.
DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
At a regular meeting on February 24, 2015 (Item 25), the Board approved the Agreement with Sycamore to perform on-call environmental review services in support of various CIP projects. The Agreement was approved by County Counsel and signed by the Board Chair with a not-to-exceed amount of $147,000. To date, Transportation has engaged Sycamore for work in the amount of $106,871.52, leaving a balance of $40,128.48. Recently, many emergency projects have surfaced due to the 2017 storm events, creating a critical need for environmental review services. Transportation believes that an additional $250,000 is needed for this Agreement, and requests the expiration date be extended an additional two years, to February 23, 2020, to allow additional task orders and work orders to be issued for this year's emergency situations, in addition to the normal CIP work to be performed over the extended term of the Agreement. The amended not-to-exceed amount will be $397,000. Due to the critical need of these services, additional language has been added in the Amendment which allows the Consultant to perform emergency services more quickly as needed. Sycamore Environmental Consultants, Inc. has agreed to extend their rate schedule through the duration of the extension.
The Procurement and Contracts Division completed a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) process at the request of CDA in March 2014 for a variety of project support services. A multi-jurisdictional panel evaluated and ranked each Statement of Qualifications and established, based on category of service, a short list of acceptable service vendors. Sycamore was determined to be highly qualified to provide the environmental review services required in this Agreement. In February 2017, another RFQ process was completed which provided updated short lists of acceptable vendors based on category of service, with Sycamore once again determined to be a highly qualified environmental review service vendor. Both the 2014 and 2017 RFQ processes were conducted in accordance with Procurement Policy C-17.
The El Dorado County Employees Association, Local 1, has been informed of this proposed Amendment.
ALTERNATIVES
1) Direct Transportation to make changes to the Amendment and return to the Board at a later date. Transportation's ability to move forward on the emergency repair projects for 2017 would be delayed.
2) Direct Transportation to complete the environmental reviews through an alternate agreement. This option would also result in delayed completion of the emergency repair projects for 2017 and potentially increase costs.
OTHER DEPARTMENT / AGENCY INVOLVEMENT
County Counsel and Risk Management approval is pending for the proposed Amendment.
CAO RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the Board approve this item.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Funding for this Amendment will be provided by various CIP funding sources that fund Transportation’s projects. The County is currently coordinating with State and Federal officials regarding anticipated disaster relief funding, but has not yet received confirmation of approval.
CLERK OF THE BOARD FOLLOW UP ACTIONS
Following final approval by County Counsel and Risk Management, Transportation will send partially executed agreements to the Clerk of the Board to do the following:
1) The Clerk of the Board will obtain the Chair’s signature on two (2) original copies of the Amendment.
2) The Clerk of the Board will forward one (1) fully executed original Amendment copy to the Community Development Agency, Contracts and Procurement Unit, for further processing.
STRATEGIC PLAN COMPONENT
Infrastructure
CONTACT
Bard R. Lower, Transportation Division Director
Community Development Agency