Report to City Council
Date: April 19, 2018
FROM: JIM SCHAAD, Director
Department of Transportation
BY: BRIAN BARR, Projects Administrator
Department of Transportation
SUBJECT:
Title
Approve a professional consultant services agreement in the amount of $1,007,990.24 with Stantec Architecture, Inc., a North Carolina based corporation, for design and engineering services to implement the Department of Transportation/Fresno Area Express Facility Master Plan improvements
Body
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends Council Approve a professional consultant services agreement in the amount of $1,007,990.24 with Stantec Architecture, Inc., a North Carolina based corporation, for design and engineering services to implement the Department of Transportation/Fresno Area Express Facility Master Plan to improve daily bus service procedures, increase security, support electric bus charging and update fleet washing and cleaning equipment, and authorize the Director of Transportation to execute all related documents.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Department of Transportation/Fresno Area Express (FAX) seeks to award a professional consulting contract to provide comprehensive construction documents, bid support and construction administration to support recommendations identified within FAX’s Facility Master Plan. In 2014, FAX commissioned a facility assessment and capital master plan for its facilities located at 2223 G Street in Fresno. This assessment identified current and future capital improvements to address deferred maintenance, improve service, increase security and fire life safety. The award of this contract will allow FAX to implement key recommendations from the master plan with the goal of improving service, increasing ridership and supporting the growth of the bus fleet.
BACKGROUND
The Department of Transportation/FAX’s transit facility was built over 30 years ago. The transit system has evolved substantially and will continue to evolve with changing technology. Minimal changes to the facility have been made to the facility to keep pace with the growing fleet. Additionally, facility upgrades, replacements and repairs have been deferred over the years due to economic constraints.
In 2014, FAX commissioned an overall facility assessment to determine current and future capital improvements, upgrades to technology and changes to physical layout that could improve the overall operational efficiencies and/or use of space. The results of the facility assessment were provided to FAX in a multi-phase master plan which identified key capital improvements to increase bus service procedures and support the growth of the fleet.
FAX seeks to implement the following recommendations identified in the facility master plan:
• Replace bus wash and vacuum equipment with modern cleaning equipment and procedures. Existing vacuum and dust extraction equipment is over 30 years old and the traveling gantry bus wash is over 11 years old. New systems will allow FAX to provide and maintain a cleaner fleet for our passengers.
• Relocate Fare Box Collection Operations from the Administration building to new a new building structure at the bus wash resulting in streamlined fare collection and the creation of a more secure area for overnight fare storage.
• Expand bus wash canopy to accommodate relocated fare box collections and support future growth of fleet.
• Restructure employee parking to create additional parking stalls and create a separate secure street entrance. Restructure of parking lot will include parking canopies with solar generation systems.
• Reconstruct and create a bus only facility entrance on G Street, thereby improving facility circulation.
• Modernize facility fire life safety allowing for decreased response times by emergency personnel. Existing systems require emergency personnel to stop in the Maintenance Service Center to determine the location of the alarm.
• Install primary electric service infrastructure to support overnight charging of electric buses.
This project will contribute to the overall efforts by FAX to improve service, address deferred maintenance, increase security and support future growth needs.
The services of an engineering consultant are necessary to evaluate and design the aforementioned upgrades. Pursuant to the Federal Brooks Act, California Code 4525, Fresno Municipal Code Chapter 4 Article 1, and Administrative Order 6-19, on May 11, 2016, the Department of Transportation sent notifications to fifty-seven (57) vendors requesting engineering qualifications specific to the project scope. The Department received one statement of qualifications in response to the solicitation. A four person review panel determined that Stantec Architectural, Inc., is the most qualified based upon overall firm experience, resource capacity and successful completion of similar work.
As response to the request for qualifications was limited, FAX contacted six (6) firms which showed interest in submitting qualifications to investigate the reason why they did not formally submit proposals. FAX learned that five (5) of firms did not have resources on hand to address the project requirements and one (1) firm was too busy to complete the qualification documents. Based upon this feedback, FAX can conclude the solicitation duration was adequate, the requirements were not restrictive and industry-wide consulting resources are limited. It is reasonable to conclude the single qualification proposal received is adequate and reasonable based upon market conditions. Therefore, Staff recommends Council approve a professional consultant agreement in the amount of $1,007,990.24 with Stantec Architectural Inc., to perform design and engineering services to improve daily bus service procedures, increase security, support electric bus charging and update fleet washing and cleaning equipment.
The City Attorney has reviewed and approved the agreement as to form.
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDING
This is not a “project” for the purpose of CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15378.
LOCAL PREFERENCE
Local preference was not considered as the federal funding source precludes local preference.
FISCAL IMPACT
This project has no fiscal impact to the General Fund. The project budget is comprised of California Transit Security Grants, Public Transportation Modernization, Improvement and Service Enhancement Account Program Grants, and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) 5307/5339 grant funds, as approved in the FAX FY2018 budget.
Attachments:
Consultant Agreement
Evaluation Summary