REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
November 17, 2016
FROM: SCOTT L. MOZIER, PE, Director
Public Works Department
BRIAN R. MARSHALL, Director
Department of Transportation
BY: ROBERT N. ANDERSEN, PE, Assistant Director
Public Works Department, Capital Management Division
SUBJECT
Title
Approve the First Amendment to Agreement with VSCE, a California corporation, in the amount of $35,973 for additional Material and Special Inspection associated with Fresno Area Express (FAX) Livability Grant Project; and to extend the completion date of the agreement to December 31, 2017.
Body
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends City Council approve the First Amendment to Agreement with VSCE in the amount of $35,973 for additional Material and Special Inspection related to the Fresno Area Express (FAX) Livability Grant Project; extend the completion date of the agreement to December 31, 2017; and allow for the Public Works Director or his designee to sign on behalf of the City.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
FAX’s Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) construction is underway with a scheduled completion date of September 2017. In addition to BRT, FAX also received funding to improve the level of passenger amenities located at Courthouse Park. One of these improvements included the construction of a new pedestrian bridge adjacent to Van Ness Avenue in downtown Fresno. This bridge and other related improvements are being funded by a Federal Transportation Administration Livability Grant. The new bridge requires special inspection and material testing due to the nature of the bridge construction, and the First Amendment will provide necessary funding for the inspection and material testing. Given that VSCE has already been retained to perform the same services for the BRT project, it is staff’s recommendation to amend the existing agreement to include the bridge and other related improvements associated with the Bus Livability grant.
BACKGROUND
Fresno Area Express (FAX) was awarded a Federal Transit Administration (FTA) grant for the development and construction of the Blackstone/Ventura/Kings Canyon BRT Line. This project consists of replacing FAX routes 28 and 30 with express service at 10-minute intervals during peak periods and 15-minute intervals during midday periods. In addition, these new routes will have fifty-one state-of-the-art bus stations along the route which will include shelters, ticket vending machines, security technologies, real-time arrival signage, information kiosks, and bike racks.
In addition to funding BRT, FAX was also successful in obtaining a Bus Livability grant that is being used to improve the level of passenger amenities located at Courthouse Park, including the construction of a new pedestrian bridge adjacent to Van Ness Avenue in downtown Fresno. This bridge requires special inspection and material testing due to the nature of the bridge construction.
Given that VSCE has already been retained to perform these service for the BRT project, staff is seeking City Council approval to amend the existing Material And Special Inspection contract to provide the same services associated witht eh Bus Livability Grant funded improvements (e.g., pedestrian bridge); extend the completion date of the agreement to December 31, 2017; and allow the Public Works Director or designee to execute related documents on behalf of the City.
The amendment to the existing agreement with VSCE has been approved as to form the City Attorney’s Office.
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS
By the definition provided in the California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines Section 15378 the award of this contract does not qualify as a “project” and is therefore exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act requirements.
LOCAL PREFERENCE
Local preference was not applied because this is not an award of a contract.
FISCAL IMPACT
The additional Material and Special Inspection services will be added to an existing contract with design and construction of the BRT. There will be no impact to the General Fund.
Attachment:
First Amendment to BRT Consultant Agreement