REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: SCOTT L. MOZIER, PE, Director
Public Works Department
BY: BRIAN E. RUSSELL, Assistant Director
Public Works Department, Streets, Landscape, and Graffiti Divisions
SHANE J. BOWERS, Senior Engineering Technician
Public Works Department, Street Maintenance Division
SUBJECT
Title
Actions pertaining to the City of Fresno Paving Bid Package at Various Locations (Bid File No. 12402606) (Council Districts 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7):
1. Adopt a finding of Categorical Exemption per staff determination, pursuant to Sections 15301/Class 1, 15302/Class 2, and 15303/Class 4 of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines;
2. Approve the award of a construction contract in the amount of $7,358,665.00 to Cal Valley Construction Inc. of Fresno, California as the lowest responsive and responsible bidder.
Body
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council (1) adopt a finding of Categorical Exemption pursuant to Sections 15301/Class 1, 15302/Class 2, and 15303/Class 4, of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) guidelines, and (2) award a construction contract to Cal Valley Construction Inc. of Fresno, California, in the amount of $7,358,665.00 as the lowest responsive and responsible bidder, for the City of Fresno Paving Bid Package at Various Locations.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Department of Public Works seeks to award a construction contract for street paving, concrete repair, and ADA improvements in eight (8) separate project areas. These projects are similar in scope and combining them into one single bid package provides economy of scale, and streamlines the process of designing, bidding, and awarding the contract. This results in reduced staff costs as well as lower contract pricing.
BACKGROUND
The Department of Public Works maintains 1,832 miles of streets throughout the City of Fresno. As pavements age beyond their service life and fail, they must be repaved. The streets included in this bid package are a combination of local neighborhood streets, and two arterial streets in eight (8) separate locations. These eight locations are the streets within the Dakota-Shields-First-Fresno neighborhood, Fruit Avenue between Clinton and Dakota, the streets within the Ceasar Chavez-Maple-Huntington-Chestnut neighborhood, the streets within the Shields-Crystal-Clinton-Hughes neighborhood, the streets within the Browning-Bullard-Millbrook-Ninth neighborhood, Echo from McKinley to Olive, and First Street from Sierra to Herndon. The scope of work within the Rialto-Marks-Norwich-Valentine neighborhood includes concrete repair and street paving. These project areas are located in Council Districts 1, 4, 5 and 7. A Noticing Inviting Bids was published in the Business Journal on May 1, 2024, and posted on the City’s website. Five (5) bid proposals were received and opened in the public bid opening on May 21, 2024, with bids ranging from $7,358,665.00 to $9,031,599.50. Cal Valley Construction Inc. of Fresno, California is deemed the lowest responsive and responsible bidder. The bids will expire 64 days after the bid opening on July 24, 2024. If the bids are rejected or expire, the project will be rebid resulting in a delay of approximately 3 months.
This contract is covered by the Community Workforce Agreement (PLA), adopted by Council in September 2021. The Contractor shall become signatory to the PLA by executing the Agreement To Be Bound.
A standardized agreement has been used in accordance with Administrative Order 4-4, which has been approved as to form by the City Attorney’s Office.
The City Attorney’s Office has reviewed and approved the items.
Staff recommends that the City Council (1) adopt a finding of Categorical Exemption pursuant to Sections 15301/Class 1, 15302/Class 2, and 15303/Class 4, of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) guidelines, and (2) award a construction contract to Cal Valley Construction Inc. of Fresno, California, in the amount of $7,358,665.00 as the lowest responsive and responsible bidder, for the City of Fresno Paving Bid Package at Various Locations, and to authorize the Public Works Director or designee to sign and execute the standardized contract on behalf of the City of Fresno.
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS
Staff performed a preliminary environmental assessment of the project and determined that it falls within the Categorical Exemptions set forth in CEQA Guidelines, Section 15301- Class 1 (Existing facilities), 15302/Class 2 (Replacement or reconstruction of existing structures and facilities), which exempts the replacement or reconstruction of existing structures and facilities where the new structure will be located on the same site as the structure replaced and will have substantially the same purpose and capacity. and Section 15303 - Class 4 (Minor Alterations to Land).
The proposed project is consistent with Class 1, Class 2, and Class 4 exemptions because the project proposes improvements to existing public facilities to reconstruct pavement, install curb ramps to meet ADA guidelines, repair of sidewalk for accessibility, and repair of curbs and gutters so that water will flow as originally designed. These proposed improvements do not constitute an expansion of use and will improve the public right-of-way without increasing road capacity. The proposed project involves negligible expansion of the existing use and will have substantially the same purpose.
Based on staff analysis, it was determined that no adverse environmental impacts would occur because of the proposed project and none of the exceptions to Categorical Exemptions set forth in the CEQA Guidelines Section 15300.2 apply to this project.
LOCAL PREFERENCE
Local preference was not implemented for this project due to it being funded by State SB1 Gas Tax and ARPA which precludes local preference.
FISCAL IMPACT
The City of Fresno Paving Bid Package Various Locations is in Council Districts 1, 4, 5 and 7. The overall cost of the project is $8,453,238.37, and of the total project cost, $7,358,665.00 will be used for the construction contract award. This project is funded through a combination of SB1 Gas Tax, Measure C, and American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding, which was included in the FY2024 budget adopted by Council. The ARPA funding must be spent or encumbered by December 31, 2024, and the award of this contract will ensure that the funding deadlines are met. This project will have no impact on the General Fund.
Attachments:
Map of Project Locations
CEQA Categorical Exemption
Standardized Construction Contract
Bid Evaluation
Fiscal Impact Statement