PREPARED BY: CAROL HUANG DATE OF MEETING: 10/02/17
SUBJECT:
TITLE
RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN PABLO (1) REJECTING ALL BIDS RECEIVED FOR THE SAN PABLO AVENUE COMPLETE STREETS PROJECT DUE TO INSUFFICIENT FUNDS AVAILABLE, AND (2) AUTHORIZING THE CITY ENGINEER TO RE-BID THE PROJECT
Label
CITY MANAGER RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
Adopt Resolution
Body
Compliance statements
CIP 2015-2017
“San Pablo Avenue Complete Streets Project” is an adopted policy initiative under the Capital Improvement Projects, Policy Area - Infrastructure section of the FY 2015-17 City Council Priority Workplan, effective October 1, 2016.
CEQA Compliance Statement
This project is categorically exempt under the California Environmental Quality Act, Section 15301(c) of the CEQA Regulations, on the basis that the project involves repair and minor alteration to the existing public streets, sidewalks, gutters and similar facilities. The Notice of Exemption was filed and recorded with the Contra Costa County Clerk on October 24, 2016.
BACKGROUND
On August 5, 2013, adopted Resolution No. 2013-112 approved staff’s request to submit a construction funding application to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) through the Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) for federal funds available through the One Bay Area Grant (OBAG) program. At that time, Council also committed to provide any matching funds needed to complete the project.
The City of San Pablo was awarded $5.978 million in OBAG funds from the regional bike and pedestrian program. Design and environmental review and construction management/inspection are jointly funded by the City of San Pablo and the City of Richmond each contributing $615,000. The City of San Pablo is the lead agency for the Project.
As bid out, the Project includes improving multimodal access, safety and connection along the San Pablo Avenue corridor by modifying the existing road section to add Class 2 bike lanes in both directions of travel. The Project will install sidewalk on the west side of San Pablo Avenue from Rivers Street to Hilltop Drive, and from Rivers Street to Lancaster Drive on the east side. The Project will also remove an existing slip lane into Robert H. Miller Drive and replace it with a right turn pocket. A new traffic signal will be constructed at La Puerta Drive and the existing traffic signals at Rivers Street, Robert H. Miller Drive, and Hilltop Drive will be modified. Soil nail retaining walls will be constructed to allow the roadway to be widened sufficiently to accommodate the new facilities for non-motorized roadway use. The Project also includes pavement striping and signage improvements, concrete curb and gutter, storm drain improvements, street lighting and landscaping.
On August 4, 2017, the project was advertised in accordance with Caltrans Local Assistance Procedures Manual and Section 3.16.080 of the Municipal code for public projects with formal bid requirements.
On September 18, 2017, staff received two bids that exceeded the engineer’s estimate of $5,215,400 due to the following reasons: (1) contractor competition in the summer is high, (2) since the project was originally conceived, construction prices have risen significantly. Below are the bids:
|
Contractor |
Bid Amount |
|
Ghilotti Bros, Inc. |
$ 8,462,613.65 |
|
Bay Cities Paving and Grading, Inc. |
$ 9,017,163.45 |
The lowest responsive bidder was Ghilotti Bros, Inc. whose bid was $8,462,613.65, nearly 62.3% above the Engineer’s Estimate. There are insufficient funds to award the project at the moment. Staff is working on reducing the project scope to keep the project within budget and also closely coordinating with both the CCTA and California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to reduce the project limits. Upon review and approval of the new limits, staff will obtain a Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) amendment as well as a revised Authorization to Proceed (E-76) for the project. At this time, staff is recommending Council reject all bids and direct staff to modify the plans to reduce the cost and then re-advertise during the winter (January 2018), which historically has proven to result in more favorable bids for similar construction projects.
FISCAL IMPACT
At this time, there is no additional fiscal impact to the General Fund.