REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
November 15, 2018
FROM: JENNIFER K. CLARK, Director
Development and Resource Management Department
BY: SOPHIA PAGOULATOS, Planning Manager
Development and Resource Management Department
SUBJECT
Title
Award a contract to LSA Associates, Inc., for environmental consulting services for the General Plan Environmental Impact Report Update in the amount of $499,844.
Body
RECOMMENDATION
Award a contract to LSA Associates, Inc., for environmental consulting services for the General Plan Environmental Impact Report (EIR) Update in the amount of $499,844 and authorize the Development and Resource Management Department Director to execute documents related to the contract.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Master Environmental Impact Report that was certified when the Fresno General Plan was adopted in 2014 is required to be updated every five years pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines. An updated EIR supports investment in Fresno by reducing the risk of legal challenges and streamlining development. This report summarizes the procurement process that lead to the staff recommendation of LSA Associates, Inc.
BACKGROUND
The Master Environmental Impact Report that was certified when the Fresno General Plan was adopted in 2014 is required to be updated every five years pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines, Section 15179. Successful completion of this update depends on multiple technical specialties (traffic engineering, biology, geology, hazardous materials, noise and air quality modelling, and utilities, to name a few). Therefore, the services of an environmental consultant with all of the necessary technical experience and specialization were procured through the process outlined below.
• A Request for Proposals was issued in September 24, 2018 with a proposal deadline of October 17, 2018. The RFP was posted on Planet Bids, noticed in the Business Journal, and distributed to the Purchasing Division’s mailing lists, as well as a list of additional consultants provided by DARM.
• Six proposals were received from the following consultants by the deadline:
o Ascent Environmental
o ESA/Environmental Science Associates
o First Carbon Solutions
o LSA Associates, Inc.
o PlaceWorks, Inc.
o Rincon Consultants, Inc.
• A selection committee made up of the following city employees evaluated the proposals:
o 6 staff from the Development and Resource Management Department
o 1 staff person from the Department of Public Works, Transportation Planning Division
o 1 staff person from the Department of Public Utilities
o 1 staff person from the Customer Service Department
• As stipulated in the RFP, the following evaluation criteria were used for both the written proposals and the interviews:
o Firm Experience (15%)
o Project Team Experience (15%)
o Relevant Projects and References (15%)
o Project Understanding, Approach and Scope of Services (25%)
o Schedule (20%)
o Cost (10%)
• All six consultants were interviewed by the selection committee, and the final scoring resulted in the following ranking of the consultants (with 1 being the highest and 6 being the lowest):
1. LSA Associates, Inc.
2. PlaceWorks, Inc.
3. Ascent Environmental
4. First Carbon Solutions
5. ESA /Environmental Science Associates
6. Rincon Consultants, Inc.
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS
This approval is not a project for the purposes of CEQA Guidelines Section 15378.
LOCAL PREFERENCE
Local preference was implemented, the project will be managed out of LSA’s Fresno office, and the two subconsultants that are included with the proposal are both local companies: Krazan & Associates, and MKN & Associates, Inc.
FISCAL IMPACT
General Fund appropriations of $250,000 have been included for this project in the approved FY 2019 budget. The remaining funds will require appropriation in FY 2020.
Attachments: Agreement