Title
Recommendation to Award a Contract in the Amount of $4,124,520, Including an 8% Contingency, to Suarez and Munoz Construction, Inc. for Jean Sweeney Open Space Park Phase A Project, No. P.W. 05-16-09; and
Adoption of Resolution Appropriating $1,000,000 to the Capital Projects Fund Sweeney Park Project (91309) from the General Fund, $13,000 from the Historical Advisory Board Fund and $25,000 of Kiwanis and $25,000 of Alameda Community Fund Donations for a total of $1,063,000 to the Project. (Recreation and Parks 2801010)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Jill Keimach, City Manager
Re: Recommendation to Award a Contract in the Amount of $4,124,520, Including an 8% Contingency, to Suarez and Munoz Construction, Inc. for Jean Sweeney Open Space Park Phase A Project, No. P.W. 05-16-09; and Adoption of Resolution Appropriating $1,000,000 to the Capital Projects Fund - Sweeney Park Project (91309) from the General Fund, $13,000 from the Historical Advisory Board Fund and $25,000 of Kiwanis and $25,000 of Alameda Community Fund Donations for a total of $1,063,000 to the Project.
BACKGROUND
Jean Sweeney Open Space Park (Sweeney Park) is planned to be a new, 27-acre community park located in the central west area of the island. This site is the former Alameda Beltline Railroad property that was secured by the City at its original purchase price due to the advocacy efforts of long-time resident Jean Sweeney. The property is bounded by Constitution Way, Atlantic Avenue, and Sherman Street.
On July 5, 2014, the City Council approved the Sweeney Park Master Plan, which includes the Cross Alameda Trail. On July 9, 2016, the City Council approved a more detailed Sweeney Park design development plan.
DISCUSSION
On August 3, 2017, plans and specifications were sent out for a bidding period of 29 days. To solicit the maximum number of bids and the most competitive prices, plans and specifications were available on BPXpress for viewing and purchase as well as provided to 21 separate builders’ exchanges throughout the Bay Area. A notice of bid was also published in the Alameda Journal and posted on the City’s website. Bids were opened on August 31, 2017. Three contractors submitted bids. The list of bidders from lowest to highest for total base bid project cost is as follows:
|
Bidder |
Location |
Bid Amount |
|
Suarez and Munoz Construction, Inc. |
Hayward, CA |
$3,819,000 |
|
McGuire and Hester |
Oakland, CA |
$3,856,500 |
|
Fast-Track Construction Company |
Culver City, CA |
$4,458,270 |
Public Works staff contacted several references provided by the lowest bidder and received positive feedback on the ability of the company to meet the project requirements and the quality and timeliness of its work. Staff recommends awarding a contract to Suarez and Munoz Construction for a total amount of $4,124,520, which includes an eight percent contingency in the amount of $305,520. The contractor is not guaranteed any of the contingency amount, and use of the contingency will be at the sole discretion of the Recreation and Parks Director for work not originally anticipated in the plans and specifications.
The contract and project specifications inform the successful bidder that it must pay not less than the prevailing rate of per diem wages as determined by the Director of the California Department of Industrial Relations. The specifications and contract also inform the contractor that this project is subject to the City’s Project Stabilization Agreement. The contractor has agreed to comply with these provisions as well as all of the other provisions in the contract. A copy of the contract is attached as Exhibit 1.
Given the current climate of high construction costs, the project team did a significant amount of value engineering on this project before going out to bid and was successful in keeping the construction contract within the expected budget. Staff utilized information from the Cross Alameda Trail through Sweeney Park as a baseline for current construction costs and then made numerous design adjustments that totaled more than an estimated $1.4 million. None of the changes made will impact the user’s experience of the park but ensured that this project is within budget.
Staff is recommending the appropriation of $1,000,000 from the General Fund’s fund balance to the Sweeney Park Phase A project. It was originally anticipated that the net difference between the revenue and expenditures for this project would be funded by Park - Development Impact Fees from the Del Monte project. That project’s building permits, which triggers the collection of the fees, was anticipated to be pulled this summer but is now expected to be delayed. The primary grant for the Sweeney Park Phase A construction is the Land and Water Conservation Fund, in the amount of $2,000,000. These grant funds must be expended by the end of 2018. With a ten-month construction schedule for this project, it is critical that construction start soon in order to avoid losing any grant funding. As a result, staff is recommending funds for the project be allocated from the General Fund. A less preferred option is to formalize a loan to the Park Development Impact Fees, which would be repaid as development projects occur. However, that may have the unintended consequence of creating pressure to move more quickly with development projects than Council or the community is prepared to accept.
As Council is aware, the Recreation and Parks Department has several construction projects occurring at one time, including Estuary Park, Phase 1 of Sweeney Park and the Cross Alameda Trail. These projects total over $9,000,000 and are primarily funded through developer contributions, grants, donations and Development Impact Fees; less than 10 percent ($740,000) currently comes from the General Fund.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Budget for this contract is included in Capital Improvement Fund - Jean Sweeney Open Space Park Project (91309) and is managed by the Recreation and Parks Department. The project is funded with monies allocated from the following:
|
Current Funding Sources |
Amount Funded |
|
Land and Water Conservation Fund grant |
$2,000,000 |
|
Grant matching funds from Del Monte Development Agreement |
$2,000,000 |
|
Rotary donations |
$100,000 |
|
Development Impact Fees |
$636,318 |
|
Open Space Fund |
$231,000 |
Staff recommends Council authorize the following additional Capital Improvement Project (91309) allocations in FY 2017/18 to cover these project costs as follows:
|
Fund/Account |
Project |
Amount |
|
Historical Advisory Board Fund (286) |
|
|
|
Transfer Out - Oak Trees replacement payments |
|
$13,000 |
|
General Fund (001) |
|
|
|
Transfer Out |
|
$1,000,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
Capital Improvement Fund (310) |
|
|
|
Transfer In (from HAB and General Fund) |
91309 |
$1,013,000 |
|
Donations ($25,000 Kiwanis and $25,000 Alameda Community Fund) |
91309 |
$50,000 |
|
Contractual Services |
91309 |
$1,063,000 |
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
This action does not affect the Alameda Municipal Code.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
On July 15, 2014, the Council adopted a Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) that reflects minimal environmental impacts due to this project, and those that do occur are related to the construction period (e.g. dust, construction traffic, etc.). Those potential impacts have been identified and mitigations have been recommended to minimize those impacts. The specifications and plans for construction are consistent with the adopted MND and there will be no new environmental impacts that were not previously evaluated.
RECOMMENDATION
Award a contract in the amount of $4,124,520, including an 8% contingency, to Suarez and Munoz Construction, Inc. for Jean Sweeney Open Space Park Phase A project, No. P.W. 05-16-09; and to adopt a Resolution to appropriate $1,000,000 to the Capital Projects Fund Sweeney Park project (91309) from the General Fund, $13,000 from the Historical Advisory Board Fund and $50,000 of Kiwanis and Alameda Community Fund donations to the project.
Respectfully submitted,
Amy Wooldridge, Recreation and Parks Director
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Elena Adair, Finance Director
Exhibit:
1. Suarez and Munoz Contract