HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 7.3 Designate Engineer for Capital Improve Projects 30-- / L?
CITY OF DUBLIN
AGENDA STATEMENT
CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: September 10, 1984
SUBJECT Designation of Engineer for Remaining Capital
Improvement Projects
EXHIBITS ATTACHED List of Capital Improvement Projects; Letter from
Valley Engineering dated May 25 , 1984
RECOMMENDATION �" Designate City Engineer and City Traffic Engineer to
perform design and inspection work on remaining
Capital Improvement Projects
FINANCIAL STATEMENT: Engineering costs as part of approved Capital
Improvement Projects are predicated upon Santina &
Thompson performing the work
DESCRIPTION During its evaluation of the Engineering Contract with
Santina & Thompson this year , the City Council directed Staff to bring the
issue as to whether or not the City Engineer should continue to design
Capital Improvement Projects subsequent to the adoption of the City ' s
1984-85 Capital Improvement Program.
Attached is a list of the Capital Improvement Projects approved by the City
Council as a part of the 1984-85 Capital Improvement Program. Of those
projects approved by the City Council , as indicated on the list , 28 projects
required engineering services . Of those projects which required engineering
services , 17 projects are either complete or in the process of being
completed. Of those 17 projects in which engineering services were
required, 11 projects were underway during 1983-84 . A total of 11 projects
remain in which the Engineering Staff has taken no action pending a
determination by the City Council as to who should perform the engineering
and design services . These projects are as follows :
1 . City Traffic Study Project
2 . Kolb Park Improvements
3 . Bus Shelters
4 . Handicap Curb Ramps
5 . City Entrance Signs
6 . Downtown Street Light Additions
7 . Traffic Signal - San Ramon Road/Alcosta Boulevard
8 . Landscaping Village Parkway - Amador Valley Boulevard to Kimball Avenue
9 . Traffic Signal - Dublin Boulevard/Sierra Court
10 . San Ramon Road Improvements (Phase II )
11 . San Ramon Road Improvements (Phase III )
Of the projects listed above, it is Staff ' s position that the San Ramon Road
Improvement Projects Phase II and Phase III , as well as the Handicap Curb
Ramp should definitely be done by the City ' s Engineer . This is due to the
complex regulations which result from the various funding sources for these
three projects . The State has required the City to solicit proposals, for
the City Traffic Study Project .
The remaining projects could be done by an outside engineering firm,
however , the cost to the City would increase because of the necessity to
hire either additional Staff or to pay the City Engineer additional
compensation for the time required to prepare contracts, bid contracts ,
administer and coordinate the contracts . These additional costs to the City
would vary depending upon the number of projects which were let to outside
firms .
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COPIES T0: Donald Babbitt , Valley Engineering
ITEM NO. —7 4S
It is Staff ' s position that Santina & Thompson should continue to design the
City 's Capital Improvement Projects for reasons of cost effectiveness and to
maximize the coordination of the entire Capital Improvement Program.
Additional reasons which the City Council may wish to consider in continuing
to have Santina & Thompson provide the design engineering services are as
follows :
1 ) Santina & Thompson, as a part of their basic agreement with the City,
agreed to perform basic engineering services at 80% of the normal charge
with an expectation that their firm would be designing the City' s Capital
Improvement Projects .
2 ) Santina & Thompson has foregone all private development work within the
City of Dublin and on those occasions where Santina & Thompson has been
asked to do work by. private firms , Santina & Thompson has referred that work
to other engineers .
3 ) Santina & Thompson has not only foregone the opportunity to purchase a
local engineering firm, but has also turned down the opportunity to function
as City Engineer in an adjacent city in accordance with their commitment to
the City of Dublin.
4 ) Santina & Thompson has already included construction surveying as a part
of contracts for public projects and this work has been done by outside
firms .
5 ) Work in which Santina & Thompson does not have adequate experience has
been already let to outside firms . This is particularly true in the case of
landscape architect requirements .
6 ) Santina & Thompson has considerable experience in the design of Federal
Aid Urban ( FAU) projects and is one of the few engineers in the area which
is certified with the State to administer FAU projects . As a result of
Santina & Thompson ' s expertise in this area, the City of Dublin has been
able to proceed through the FAU process much more quickly than other cities
have been able to get through the process and to compete more effectively
for additional FAU funds .
7 ) Some projects are very complex and should be designed by the firm which
provides the City with continuity. A good example is the phased improvement
of San Ramon Road. This particular project involves funding from Federal
Aid Urban funds, City funds, assessment district funding, and developer
contributions .
It is Staff ' s position that the City should continue to provide the
community with the most effective and timely services possible. It is
further Staff ' s position that the rotation of engineering contracts to
outside engineers will not only increase the -cost to the City, but will also
increase the time in which it takes to undertake and complete projects in
the community. Therefore, it is Staff ' s recommendation that the City
Council designate Santina & Thompson to complete the remaining projects in
the 1984-85 Capital Improvement Program with the exception of the City
Traffic Study Project .
1984-85 CAPITAL BUDGET
GENERAL IMPROVEMENTS
APPROVED ENGINEERING
PROJECT TITLE 1984-85 STATUS
General Plan Study $ 2 ,700 Not Applicable
City Base Map Additions 15 , 000 Not Applicable
Word Processing Equipment 18 ,000 Not Applicable
City Traffic Study Project 37, 400 No Action
Total General Improvement Projects $ 73 , 100
1984-85 CAPITAL BUDGET
PARKS
APPROVED ENGINEERING
PROJECT TITLE 1984-85 STATUS
Kolb Park Improvements $405 , 000 No Action
Total Park Projects $405 , 000
1984-85 CAPITAL BUDGET
COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENTS
APPROVED ENGINEERING
PROJECT TITLE 1984-85 STATUS
Business Area Street Number Signs $ -0-
Street Name & Approach Signs -0-
Sidewalk Safety Repair Program 35 , 000 Complete
Bus Shelters 29 , 000 No Action
Village Parkway Wall 183 , 000 Complete
Village Parkway Sidewalk & Landscaping West Side 107 ,500 Complete
Downtown Improvement Study 50 ,000 Not Applicable
Handicap Curb Ramps 30 ,000 No Action
City Entrance Signs 15 ,000 No Action
Sewage Facility Expansion 480 , 000 Not Applicable
Street Tree Program 34 , 000 Complete
Downtown Street Light Additions 180 ,000 No Action
Total Community Improvement Projects $1, 143 ,500
1984-85 CAPITAL BUDGET
STREETS
APPROVED ENGINEERING
PROJECT TITLE 1984-85 STATUS
Dublin Boulevard/Silvergate Drive
Intersection Modifications $ -0-
Village Parkway Median Drains -0-
Comprehensive Traffic Study - Dougherty Road and
Amador Valley Boulevard 1,000 Underway
Comprehensive Traffic Study - Dublin Boulevard -0-
Traffic Signal - Dublin Boulevard/Amador Plaza Road -0-
Dublin Boulevard/Dougherty Road Intersection
Modifications 15 ,000 Complete
Rehabilitation Major Arterials 481, 000 Complete
Dougherty Road Improvements 61 ,500 Complete
Landscaping Major Arterials 476 , 000 Complete
Traffic Signal - Amador Valley Boulevard/
Stagecoach Road 108 , 000 Complete
San Ramon Road Improvements (Phase I ) 69 , 000 Complete
Rehabilitation - Amador Valley Boulevard - Partially
Dougherty Road to Village Parkway 20 , 000 Complete
Traffic Signal - San Ramon Road/Alcosta Boulevard 130 ,000 No Action
Median Break - Silvergate Drive/Silvertree Lane 17 ,000 Complete
Landscaping Village Parkway - Amador Valley
Boulevard to Kimball Avenue 25 ,000 No Action
Traffic Signal - Dublin Boulevard/Sierra Court 35 ,000 No Action
San Ramon Road Improvements (Phase II ) 550 , 000 No Action
Traffic Signal - Dublin Boulevard/Dub.lin Court 210 ,000 Underway
San Ramon Road Improvements (Phase III ) 70 , 000 No Action
Traffic Signal Interconnect 12 , 000 Partially
Complete
Annual Street Overlay Program 130 , 000 Complete
Traffic Signal - Dublin Boulevard/Clark Avenue 200 , 000 Partially
Complete
Total Street Projects $2 ,610 ,500
FF 7 •ale .Engineering
� V 11750 Dublin Blvd., Suite 200 Dublin, CA 94568
Telephone (415) 829-6744
May 2S , 1984 94
Honorable Members
Dublin City Council
6S00 Dublin Blvd . , Suite 101
Dublin , California 94S68
Attention: Mayor .Peter Snyder
REFERENCE: City of Dublin Capital Improvement Program
Dear Mayor Snyder:
After attending the City Council ' s special session on the review
of city contracts last Monday night , I am still concerned with the
way engineering design costs are being handled for the Capital
Improvement Program . My understanding of what Rich Ambrose brought
out at the meeting is that presently Santina and Thompson Consulting
Engineers not only perform all the City Engineer functions such
as plan checking , inspection, attending meetings , etc . , at which
they charge the city only 800 of their rates , but are also doing all
the engineering design for the Capital Improvements , at which
they charge the city 100% of their rates . As I stated at the meeting ,
I am concerned with this arrangement and feel that the engineering
contract with Santina and Thompson should be revised to not allow
the City Engineer to perform Engineering design where the design
costs would exceed $2 , S00 . 00
I have been a resident of Dublin for 24 years and have become actively
involved in this community through the Chamber of Commerce as an
Ambassador and through the Dublin Rotary as a Director on the Board.
I have decided to make .this community my permanent residence and
is the main reason I started my Civil Engineering Practice in
Dublin on January 1 , 1984 . Because of my involvement with this
community, I have a big concern with the way the contract with
Santina and Thompson is now handled. I feel that the money collected
from the community for the Capital Improvement Program should be
put back into the community by using local engineers . There are
several other local engineering firms such as General Consulting
CIVIL ENGINEERING SURVEYING • LAND PLANNING
\` f`/• •
Valley,,Engineering
u
Services , Wilsey and Ham , Carrol Associates and others I may not know
about that would be interested in performing engineering for the-
City of Dublin.
My other concern is the fact that Santina and Thompson as City
Engineer performs the tasks of plan checking and inspection on their
own design of Capital Improvement projects . I feel that this is .not
professional and does not lend itself to quality control of a
project and therefore is not in the best interest of the City.
I know Lee Thompson fairly well and feel he is a very competent
engineer and I am not trying to infer at all that he is unprofessional ,
but feel that there could arise an awkward situation in the future
with the present setup.
One way I might suggest to the City Council for handling the design
engineering for Capital Improvement Projects in the future is the
following:
Obtain a list of qualified engineers in the city, or nearby
cities , that are interested in performing work. for the city.
As Capital Improvement Projects come up for design they would
be assigned to the Engineers on this list on a rotating
basis , thereby giving some of the work to all the local
engineers and never allowing any one engineer to obtain
all the work . I really feel that this would be of benefit to
the community of Dublin.
The City of Dublin should be supportive of local businesses and I
would be interested in meeting with any council members interested
in discussing this subject further .
If you have any .questions , please call .
Ver R1ruly Wo s ;
i Do nal itt , E .
CC ? Rich Ambrose , City Manager
General Consulting Services , Hal Tatro
Carroll Associates , John Barry
Wilsey and Ham, Doug Wiebe