City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends the City Council approve professional services agreements with
Associated Soils Engineering, Inc., Geo-Environmental, Inc., Ninyo and Moore
Consultants, PSI Inc., Southwest Geotechnical, Inc., Terracon Consultants, Inc.,
and Zeiser-Kling Consultants, Inc., for geotechnical engineering, materials testing,
and inspection services, on an as-needed basis to support the City’s Capital
Improvement Program with all proposed agreements expiring on June 30, 2012.
BACKGROUND:
The Public Works Department/Engineering Division is responsible for the
management of the citywide capital improvement program. The Engineering
Division has several civil engineering positions that oversee and implement the
capital program such as the Public Works Director/City Engineer, Engineering
Services Manager, two Senior Civil Engineers, and three Associate Engineers. In
addition the Engineering staff has other responsibilities such as responding to
questions at the public counter, working with other City departments on citywide
issues, conducting condition setting and plan checking of private development
projects, answering resident inquiries on the telephone, and other city engineering
work. With these work responsibilities along with a capital improvement project
workload in the millions of dollars, it is necessary to augment Engineering Division
staff with consultants, principally for project design, construction management, and
inspection services.
Meeting Date: 4/13/09 Item Number: C-5
AGENDA ITEM: Approval of Professional Services Agreements with Associated
Soils Engineering, Inc., Geo-Environmental, Inc., Ninyo and Moore Consultants,
PSI Inc., Southwest Geotechnical, Inc., Terracon Consultants, Inc., and Zeiser-
Kling Consultants for Geotechnical Engineering and Construction Services
Contact Person/Dept: Mate Gaspar/PW Phone Number: (310) 253-5602
Fiscal Impact: Yes [X] No [] General Fund: Yes [X] No []
Public Hearing: [] Action Item: [X] Attachments: [X]
Public Notification: Master E-Mail Notification List (04/08/09), Associated Soils
Engineering, Inc., Geo-Environmental, Inc., Ninyo and Moore Consultants, PSI Inc.,
Southwest Geotechnical, Inc., Terracon Consultants, Inc., and Zeiser-Kling Consultants,
Inc., via e-mail on (April 6, 2009).
Department Approval:
Charles D. Herbertson (04/02/09)
City Attorney Approval:
Carol Schwab (by H. Baker) (04/07/09)
Chief Financial Officer Review:
Jeff Muir (by N. Kimball) (04/08/09)
City Manager Approval:
Jerry B. Fulwood (04/08/09) City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
To address this need, the City has previously entered into multi-year contracts with
geotechnical civil engineering firms to provide geotechnical engineering, materials
testing, and inspection services support to the capital improvement program. These
firms provide the specific technical knowledge and the time to ensure that projects
are effectively designed and inspected in accordance with good engineering practice
and standards.
DISCUSSION:
Staff is recommending awarding professional services agreements to seven
geotechnical firms to support the capital improvement program. The firms are
Associated Soils Engineering, Inc., Geo-Environmental, Inc., Ninyo and Moore
Consultants, PSI Inc., Southwest Geotechnical, Inc., Terracon Consultants, Inc.,
and Zeiser-Kling Consultants, Inc. Staff has worked with several of these
consultants on various capital projects in the past and they are all highly
recommended by other agencies.
In order to ensure that a competitive process is still in place, these firms will receive
a request for proposal for each capital project. Each proposal will then be reviewed
based on the proposed services and cost, and one firm can be selected (not
necessarily based on low bid) and approved administratively by staff. Having this
process will ensure that services and costs are efficient and in the best interests of
the City.
It is recommended that the agreements be long term (approximately three years in
length) rather than short term. This is similar to the general civil engineering
contracts. It is proposed that the agreements expire on June 30, 2012. However,
the City retains the right to terminate these agreements upon thirty days’ notice and
any time during the term of agreements. These firms are capable and will provide
errors and omission and liability insurances at $1 million each.
The City will continue to have the right to contract with other geotechnical
consultants when it is in the City’s best interest.
FISCAL ANALYSIS:
The consultants would be paid for their services using funds already appropriated for
geotechnical engineering costs within the budgets of each capital project. The
aggregate compensation for these agreements shall not exceed the total amount
budgeted for the respective capital projects.
City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
ATTACHMENTS:
Associated Soils Engineering, Inc., Geo-Environmental, Inc., Ninyo and Moore
Consultants, PSI Inc., Southwest Geotechnical, Inc., Terracon Consultants, Inc.,
and Zeiser-Kling Consultants, Inc., statement of qualifications.
MOTIONS:
That the City Council:
1. Approve professional services agreements with Associated Soils Engineering,
Inc., Geo-Environmental, Inc., Ninyo and Moore Consultants, PSI Inc.,
Southwest Geotechnical, Inc., Terracon Consultants, Inc., and Zeiser-Kling
Consultants, Inc., for geotechnical engineering, materials testing, and
inspection services, for on an as-needed basis to support the City’s Capital
Improvement Program expiring on June 30, 2012 for amounts not to exceed
the total amount budgeted in the respective capital projects; and,
2. Authorize the City Attorney to review/prepare the necessary documents; and,
3. Authorize the City Manager to execute such documents on behalf of the City.