Agenda - Public Works Committee - 02/15/2011

Home

Public Works Committee Date: 02/15/2011 By: Tim Himmer Engineering/Public Works Information Title: Consider Engineering Services Request for Proposals Item #: 5. 4. Background: In the recent past Council has directed staff to prepare request for proposals (RFP's) for various improvement projects; ranging from water studies, park planning, transportation, and design, as a means of "testing the market" to ensure we are always receiving the best value. These RFP's usually entail specialized work that is outside the expertise of City staff, but other times it is necessary to seek assistance in an effort to meet project deadlines. The purpose of the case tonight is to work within the confines of the attached purchasing policy and allow the engineering department to streamline its operations by selecting qualified firms for overflow municipal engineering work similar to how we currently handle geotechnical engineering. During the engineering department reorganization in the fall of 2010 one engineering position was eliminated and additional dollars (total of $31,500) were budgeted for miscellaneous professional services to cover the historic specialty needs, and any overflow work such as drafting to assist the department in project delivery. Just looking at this year there are many high priority projects are on the horizon: • Road reconstruction initiative, and road projects - Dysprosium and Chameleon Street • COR development and infrastructure projects - Rhinestone Commons parking lot, parking ramp expansion, etc • parking lot and trail initiatives - Central Park access improvements, Alpine Drive trail and the Mississippi River trail, • County road improvements - 57/Alpine, 116 east of 57, 83/116, etc. • Council directives - Developer fee analysis which requires updates to Comp Water and Sewer plans Accomplishing these goals and objectives will not come without a streamlined process. Notification: Observations: Handling consulting services by issuing a single RFP gives staff some discretion to manage our workload in an efficient manner without the time consuming RFP process for each occurrence. We would specifically be looking for general municipal engineering assistance (traffic, street and utility design, feasibility studies, etc.), AutoCAD drafting for plan preparation and exhibit creation, acquisition and finance assistance, structural analysis, and registered land surveying services. Our intent of creating a pool allows for a more streamlined process for project delivery, establishes flexibility for staff to call on the specific expertise they need in an efficient manner, and allows relationships to be built with consulting firms for project continuity within the City over time. Staff is requesting to prepare an RFP for overflow engineering services to build a consultant pool (up to 3) for a 3-year term as outlined in the attached purchasing policy. Staff feels the 3-year period allows for relationship building and continuity without having to educate a new consultant every time a new project comes forward. This type of term also would allow the consultant to feel invested in the community and want to work to strengthen the relationship by delivering top notch services at a reasonable cost and in a reasonable amount of time.