REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: NICHOLAS D. MASCIA, PE, Assistant City Manager
Interim Director - Capital Projects Department
BY: francisco V. magos II, PE, Assistant Director
Capital Projects Department, Utilities and On-Site Project Management Division
JORDAN CONARD, MBA, Senior Management Analyst
Capital Projects Department, Transportation Project Management Division
SUBJECT
Title
Actions pertaining to Job Order Contracting for General Construction contracts for the Capital Projects Department on City of Fresno capital improvement projects for a term of three years with two one-year optional extensions (Bid File 12500543) (Citywide):
1. Award a Job Order Contracting contract with Ardent General, Inc., of Fresno, California in an amount not to exceed $6,000,000 per year;
2. Award a Job Order Contracting contract with Newton Construction & Management, Inc., of San Luis Obispo, California in an amount not to exceed $6,000,000 per year;
3. Award a Job Order Contracting contract with Aventus NV, Inc., of Boulder City, Nevada in an amount not to exceed $6,000,000 per year;
4. Award a Job Order Contracting contract with Puma Construction, of Fresno, California in an amount not to exceed $6,000,000 per year;
5. Award a Job Order Contracting contract with Walsh Montgomery Construction, Inc., of Clovis, California in an amount not to exceed $6,000,000 per year.
Body
RECOMMENDATIONS
Staff recommends the City Council Award five (5) Job Order Contracting (JOC) construction contracts for three years plus two one-year optional extensions not to exceed an annual total of $6,000,000 each per year between the City of Fresno (City) and 1) Ardent General, Inc., 2) Newton Construction & Management, Inc., 3) Aventus NV, Inc., 4) Puma Construction, 5) Walsh Montgomery Construction, Inc., collectively (Contractors), to provide construction Services for Citywide capital improvement projects, in an amount not to exceed $6,000,000 per year for each Contract, with no guarantee expressed or implied that the $6,000,000 will be authorized under any of the five respective contracts, and authorize the Capital Projects Interim Director or designee to execute the construction contracts on behalf of the City.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Capital Projects Department (CPD) actively manages hundreds of the City’s capital improvement projects to deliver critical infrastructure improvements for other City departments such as Public Works, Police, Fire, and Parks, After School, Recreation, and Community Services (PARCS). Due to an increase in project workload and the commonality of the improvements included in these projects, staff is recommending the proposed JOC construction contracts as a solution to efficiently deliver these projects.
The JOC Program will enable the Capital Projects Department to provide prompt, responsive construction services to City Departments at competitive “local market” pricing. The JOC Program provides competitively bid, fixed-unit pricing for construction tasks from contractors which can be quickly accessed by CPD to perform needed alterations, rehabilitation, demolition, and other installation and construction services. Provided to the bidders is an extensive unit price catalog of construction tasks, pricing, and associated technical specifications that contain approximately 120,000 individual items of typical construction and maintenance. Capital Projects will rebid the construction contracts every few years. All funding necessary for the services of the proposed contracts will be appropriated under the individual capital projects for each individual job order.
BACKGROUND
On December 17, 2009, August 20, 2015, and again on September 24, 2020, Council approved a five-year contract with The Gordian Group, Inc., allowing Facilities Management to utilize the JOC Program. The General Services Department has been coordinating with the Capital Projects Department to allow CPD to utilize the JOC process on various projects while CPD develops their own JOC Program. Due to the availability of various grants for capital improvement project funding, the complexity of each application, and the growing demand for improvements and demolition services in parks, public safety facilities, street infrastructure, and active transportation, there is a need for contractors to efficiently deliver these services. Hiring contractors to provide these services on a project-by-project basis is time consuming and creates project initiation delays.
The construction contracts for general construction services JOC will allow staff to deliver projects promptly and more efficiently. Each contractor’s proposed scope of services will be determined on a project-by-project basis, varying from comprehensive rehabilitations and demolition to specific services that augment City staff. This does not commit the City to a definitive course of action for construction or demolition services at this time. These services are crucial for ensuring the high-quality construction of City capital projects. Under the JOC Program, each Contractor is guaranteed the opportunity to perform at least $25,000 worth of projects during the first year of the contract and up to $6,000,000 per year for the three-year terms; however, there is no guarantee expressed or implied that the $6,000,000 will be authorized during any of the three years under any of the respective contracts.
The City’s Project Labor Agreement (PLA) is applicable to projects with an engineer’s estimate in excess of $1,000,000. The PLA further states this threshold is applied to each job order, rather than to the job order contract aggregate maximum. Under this contract, no single job order shall be issued in excess of this threshold. In the event Capital Projects is responsible for a project estimated in excess of $1,000,000, the project shall be competitively bid in accordance with the Fresno Municipal Code through the Purchasing Division with PLA requirements.
Competitive bids were solicited on October 9, 2024, in the Business Journal, distributed to eleven (11) building exchanges and posted on the City’s website. The JOC specification was distributed to 25 prospective bidders. When submitting a bid on the JOC Program, the Contractors are agreeing to the unit cost per item in the catalog of construction tasks. The contractors also submitted an adjustment factor for both normal working hours and overtime hours for both federally funded and non-federally funded projects. These adjustment factors are where the contractors’ mobilization, permitting costs, and overhead/profit reside.
On November 12, 2024, staff received six (6) bids from six (6) separate bidders. One bidder was deemed non-responsive. Three (3) of the bids were for the general engineering contracts and two (2) of the bids were for the general building contracts.
Staff recommends the City Council award five (5) General Construction JOC contracts between the City and Ardent General, Inc., Newton Construction & Management, Inc., Aventus NV, Inc., Puma Construction, and Walsh Montgomery Construction, Inc., to provide General Construction Services for Citywide capital improvement projects, in an amount not to exceed $6,000,000 per year for each Contractor, with no guarantee expressed or implied that the $6,000,000 will be authorized under any of the five respective contracts, and authorize the Capital Projects Interim Director or designee to execute the construction contracts on behalf of the City. All funding necessary for the services of the proposed contracts will be appropriated under the individual capital projects for each individual job order.
The City Attorney’s Office has reviewed and approved the contract as to form.
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS
This is not a project as defined by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), pursuant to CEQA guidelines § 15378. There are no CEQA implications at this time, this action is the opportunity to perform potential capital improvement projects that may be approved. Project specific CEQA analysis will be performed on each individual capital projects job order.
LOCAL PREFERENCE
Local preference was not implemented for this contractor selection process due to federal funding sources that will be attributed to projects under the contracts.
FISCAL IMPACT
These contracts have no immediate impact to the General Fund and will service projects in all Council Districts. All funding necessary for the services of the proposed contracts will be appropriated under the individual capital projects for each individual task order.
Attachments:
Bid Evaluation
Standard Contract