REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
June 18, 2015
FROM: BRIAN R. MARSHALL, Director
Department of Transportation
BY: JIM SCHAAD, Assistant Director
Department of Transportation
SUBJECT
Title
Approve the Second Amendment to the Agreement with Electrical Power Systems, Inc. ("EPS"), a California Corporation, in the amount of $25,273 for professional engineering services to provide bid and construction support for electrical service upgrades for the compressed natural gas ("CNG") bus fueling and fire and life safety projects
Body
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends Council approve the Second Amendment to the Agreement with EPS, a Fresno-based California corporation, for additional design services for Fresno Area Express electrical service upgrades for CNG bus fueling and fire and life safety projects.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Department of Transportation seeks a second amendment to the existing professional design and engineering consulting services contract with EPS. The Second Amendment will contract for services required to finalize design and support construction for capital projects within the Department of Transportation facilities located at 2223 G Street. The capital projects include electrical service upgrades necessary to support CNG bus fueling expansion, and modernization of fire- and life-safety systems at the Maintenance Division. The Second Amendment is necessary because the initial evaluation of these systems, completed as part of the Agreement with EPS, demonstrated the required design services exceeded the scope of the Agreement. This Second Amendment is a result of additional design effort required as demonstrated by the findings in the system evaluations.
BACKGROUND
On August 25, 2014, the Department of Transportation entered into a contract with EPS for electrical engineering and design consulting services, including electrical load analysis, PG&E service upgrades, fire alarm evaluation, emergency generator redesign, and parking lot lighting upgrades. The original Agreement was for $48,864 and a First Amendment expanded the scope of services for an additional $10,915 on November 20, 2014. The First Amendment incorporated additional design work associated with revised requirements found within Title 24 of the California Building Standards code for outdoor fixtures under the bus storage canopies, bus wash/CNG fuel building, and other structures.
The full extent of design services required to support the CNG bus fueling expansion was unknown until an electrical load analysis could be performed on the existing electrical equipment by the consultant. The testing revealed that additional design effort is required was finalize the design and support construction.
Additionally, the full extent of design services to support the fire and life safety systems at the Maintenance Division was unknown until a complete analysis could be performed by the consultant. The analysis revealed a complete fire- and life-safety system upgrade is necessary. In the event of an alarm, the existing system sends an emergency signal to a panel outside the Department of Transportation boundaries. This causes confusion for the first responders in identifying the building where the alarm originated and can cause increased response times. The testing revealed that additional design effort was required to finalize the design and support construction.
To address these issues, the Department of Transportation is recommending that Council approve the Second Amendment to the Agreement with EPS to finalize design for the CNG electrical service upgrade, fire- and life-safety systems, and support construction. This will allow the department to move forward with the procurement and construction phases of the associated capital projects.
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"; therefore, it is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act requirements.
LOCAL PREFERENCE
Local preference not implemented because the amendment of an agreement is not subject to a competitive bid process.
FISCAL IMPACT
This project has no fiscal impact to the General Fund. The funding for the activity is appropriated in the Department of Transportation FY15 budget. Funding is comprised of California Proposition 1B funds.
Attachment:
Second Amendment to the Contract with Electrical Power Systems, Inc.