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Title:
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Approval of Amendments Extending the Professional Services Agreements with Max Paetzold and Barry Kurtz to Support the Traffic Engineering Section of the Engineering Division of the Public Works Department.
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City of Culver City, California
Agenda Item Report
Meeting Date: 10/10/11 Item Number: C-7
CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM: Approval of Amendments Extending the
Professional Services Agreements with Max Paetzold and Barry Kurtz to Support
the Traffic Engineering Section of the Engineering Division of the Public Works
Department.
Contact Person/Dept.:
Mate Gaspar/Public Works
Phone Number:
(310) 253-5602
Fiscal Impact: Yes [X] No [] General Fund: Yes [X] No []
Public Hearing: [] Action Item: [] Attachments: []
Commission Action Required: Yes [] No [x] Date: _______________
Public Notification: (E-Mail) Agenda and Meetings – City Council (10/03/11); (E-Mail) Max
Paetzold and Barry Kurtz (10/03/11)
Department Approval:
Charles D. Herbertson (09/28/11)
City Attorney Approval:
Carol Schwab (by H. Baker) (10/04/11)
Chief Financial Officer Approval:
Jeff Muir (by M. Noller) (10/05/11)
City Manager Approval:
John M. Nachbar (10/05/11)
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council approve amendments extending the existing
professional services agreements with Max Paetzold and Barry Kurtz, T.E. with an
aggregate not-to-exceed amount of $92,000 to provide part-time support to the
Traffic Engineering Section of the Engineering Division of the Public Works
Department.
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION:
On August 23, 2010, the City Council approved extending contracts with Max
Paetzold and Barry Kurtz, in an aggregate not-to-exceed fee amount of $75,000 to
provide traffic engineering support to development, regional transportation projects,
and local traffic engineering matters. This spending authority has been exhausted.
Based on the workload of the Traffic Engineering Section, staff recommends that
this arrangement, utilizing consultants to oversee traffic issues related to
development and regional projects, while freeing up the Traffic Engineering Manager
to focus on local neighborhood traffic concerns, continues to be the best solution.
Otherwise, the workload will be too burdensome for one person and the ability of the
Traffic Engineering Section to be responsive to neighborhood concerns and
Community Development Department requests would be severely diminished.
In addition, the consultants provide support to the traffic engineering and traffic
signal maintenance staff on local neighborhood traffic concerns and system
operations. Also since one of the consultants is a registered engineer he oversees
the work of the Traffic Engineering Manager and thus helps protect the City from any City of Culver City, California
Agenda Item Report
potential litigation due to traffic engineering issues. The other consultant works
closely with the maintenance operations staff to maintain the citywide traffic controls
system.
To continue to support this effort, staff is recommending that the City Council
approve extending the contracts with Mr. Max Paetzold and Mr. Barry Kurtz, T.E. in
the aggregate amount of $92,000 to support the Traffic Engineering Section on
development projects on an as needed basis. . Mr. Kurtz, a registered professional
traffic engineer, has an hourly rate of $90 an hour. Mr. Paetzold’s hourly rate is $80.
Max Paetzold is a retired traffic engineering manager that worked for Culver City for
7 years and worked for the City of Los Angeles for 32 years. Mr. Paetzold has a
wealth of knowledge of Culver City and grasps the importance of broad issues
affecting our community. Barry Kurtz is a retired Los Angeles County Department of
Public Works traffic engineer that has over 43 years experience in the field of traffic
engineering with many of those years spent in the review of development projects.
Pursuant to Culver City Municipal Code Section 3.07.085, contracts for personal and
professional services are not subject to the formal competitive bidding requirements
provided competitive quotations are obtained, whenever practical, as determined by
the City Manager. In this case, because of the collective experience and institutional
knowledge of Mr. Paetzold and Mr. Kurtz, as well as their current involvement in
several pending projects, staff recommends that it is in the best interest of the City to
continue their respective contracts rather than seeking quotes from other traffic
engineering consultants. Therefore, the City Manager has determined that obtaining
competitive quotations is not practical under these circumstances.
FISCAL ANALYSIS:
The cost of the contracts for Mr. Paetzold and Mr. Kurtz are budgeted in the
Engineering Division’s operating budget under traffic engineering services,
10160500.612800. The approved budget amount for this item is $92,000 this fiscal
year.
MOTIONS:
That the City Council:
1) Approve the amendments extending the terms of the existing professional
services agreements with Max Paetzold and Barry Kurtz to provide part-time
support for the Traffic Engineering Section on public and private development
projects, with an aggregate not-to-exceed amount of $92,000; 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.