City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council reject the bid received for the Higuera Street
Traffic Signal and Street Improvement Project, P-741.
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION:
The project was advertised for bids during the month of August. There were a total of
six (6) bid holders. Due to the lack of interest in a recently advertised bid for Krueger
and Lindblade Streetlight Improvement Project, P-652 & 684, and to encourage
submittal of bids, specifications and plans were mailed to the following contractors
who have regularly submitted bids to the City on past projects:
Dynaeltric, Los Alamitos, Ca
Steiny and Company, Baldwin Park, CA
Moore Electrical Contracting, Inc., Corona, Ca
TDS Engineering, Westlake Village, Ca
CT& F, Inc., Bell Gardens, Ca
Excel Paving, Long Beach, Ca
On August 25, 2005, the Deputy City Clerk publicly opened bids. One contractor
responded with the following bid amount:
CONTRACTOR BID AMOUNT
1. Christopher Morales, Inc., Industry, CA $213,950
Meeting Date: 09/12/05 Item Number: C-4
AGENDA ITEM: Consideration by the City Council to Reject the Construction Bid
Received for the Higuera Street Traffic Signal and Street Improvement Project
Contact Person/Dept.: Lee Torres/PW Phone Number: 310.253.5623
Fiscal Impact: Yes [] No [X] General Fund: Yes [] No [X]
Public Hearing: [] Action Item: [X] Attachments: []
Public Notification:
Master Notification List via email on September 7
th
On September 7
th
, letter notification was sent to Christopher Morales, Inc.
Department Approval:
Charles D. Herbertson 8/31/05
CAO Approval:
Jerry Fulwood 9/7/05
City Controller Approval:
N/ACity of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
Upon review of the bid, it was discovered that the contractor incorrectly
calculated the total base bid. The correct total base bid amount is $230,750, not
the $213,950 that was submitted. In cases of discrepancies between the ‘totals’
and ‘unit prices’, the Specifications states that the ‘unit price’ shall prevail.
Therefore, the total base bid for the proposed project is $230,750.
The total base bid amount exceeds the engineer’s estimate and the available
construction budget including the 10% construction contingency.
Also staff contacted the bid holders and all of them stated that their current workload
combined with the small size of the project were the reason for not bidding the
project.
Staff recommends that in order to obtain more interest from contractors, the Higuera
Street Traffic Signal and Street Improvement Project, P-741, should be advertised
for public bids with the Krueger and Lindblade Streetlight Project, P-652 & 684.
Both projects are in close proximity and the same contractors typically bid street
lighting and traffic signal projects. Also, combining the projects will encourage more
competitive bids and potentially result in an overall lower bid amount.
Public Notification
On September 7, 2005, Christopher Morales, Inc was notified via letter regarding
tonight’s Council Meeting.
FISCAL ANALYSIS:
Based on the recommended motion below, it is not advisable to inform potential
bidders of the project budget. The budget will be presented to the City Council by a
separate memorandum.
MOTIONS:
That the City Council:
1) Reject the bid received from Christopher Morales, Inc. for the Higuera Street
Traffic and Street Improvement Project, P-741; and,
2) Authorize re-advertising for construction bids for the Higuera Street Traffic
and Street Improvement Project, P-741, with the Krueger and Lindblade
Streetlight Improvement Project, P-652 & 684, in October 2005.