Title
Recommendation to Authorize the Interim City Manager to Execute a One-Year Agreement with Bureau Veritas for an Americans with Disabilities Act Self-Assessment and Transition Plan for a Not to Exceed Amount of $401,500. (Public Works 60341591)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
An Americans with Disability Act (ADA) Self-Evaluation and Transition Plan is federally mandated under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. It stipulates that public entities, regardless of size, must evaluate their facilities, parks, rights-of-way, services, policies and practices and modify that which does not meet ADA requirements. Additionally, public entities with 50 or more employees are required to develop a transition plan that provides a basis to prioritize, budget, implement and monitor barrier removal(s). The City of Alameda (City) last completed an ADA Self-Evaluation in 2008.
Staff recommends authorizing the Interim City Manager to execute an agreement with Bureau Veritas to perform the study and develop the ADA self-evaluation and transition plan.
BACKGROUND
Public rights-of-way and facilities are required to be accessible to persons with disabilities pursuant to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. The laws, in tandem with each other, work to ensure that persons with disabilities are not excluded from City services, programs, or activities.
The ADA Self-Evaluation is comprised of several components, including facility site visits, rights-of-way studies, public outreach, program access and policy review. The collected data is then compared with the ADA Accessibility Guidelines and California Access Codes to determine compliance with Federal and State accessibility standards. The evaluation will be citywide and include all 55 facilities, 40 parks and open spaces, 260 miles of sidewalks and approximately 2,918 curb ramps.
The findings from the evaluation are then used to develop a Transition Plan. Once the assessments of the programs, facilities and parks are complete, data will be analyzed, prioritized and documented in the Transition Plan, which will include all identified barriers to accessibility, associated costs for barrier removal, and tentative solutions. The plan also provides a means to track the noncompliant issues, their modifications and corrections, and should be updated periodically to track the progression of improvements.
DISCUSSION
Staff prepared and published a Request for Proposals soliciting “qualified professional firms to compile and implement a comprehensive Americans with Disabilities Act Self-Evaluation and Transition Plan for City programs, facilities, parks, parking lots, streets, intersections and sidewalks.” The document was posted on the City’s website and advertised in the Alameda Journal on November 30, 2021. After a bidding period of 44 days, three responsive proposals were received. The proposals were received on January 12, 2022 with the following results:
|
Provider |
Location (City/State) |
|
Bureau Veritas |
Sacramento, CA |
|
Sally Swanson Architect |
San Francisco, CA |
|
SZS Engineering |
Sacramento, CA |
Staff vetted incoming proposals to ensure that each submission complied with the necessary requirements and invited responsive Providers to present their proposals to a specialized selection committee - this included members from the Commission on Persons with Disabilities, Recreation and Parks, Public Works and the City of San Mateo ADA Coordinator.
Upon conclusion of the presentations, staff calculated the panel’s ratings, selected Bureau Veritas as the Provider with the highest rating. Staff contacted the references provided by Bureau Veritas to solicit feedback on its ability to meet the project requirements, as well as the timeliness and quality of its work.
Based on this review, staff recommends awarding a contract to Bureau Veritas for a total amount of $401,500, which includes a 10 percent contingency of $36,500. Bureau Veritas is not guaranteed any of the contingency funds and that the expenditure of such will be at the sole discretion of the City. The agreement is attached as Exhibit 1.
ALTERNATIVES
• Award the contract as presented.
• Adjust or modify scope within the contract.
• Do not award the contract and provide alternative direction to staff.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Funding for this project is appropriated to the City Buildings Capital Improvement Program Project C41000 with monies allocated from the Facility Replacement Internal Service Fund and the General Fund. No additional appropriations are needed.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
The Self-Evaluation and Transition Plan is federally mandated under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act; it requires the City to identify and evaluate its programs, activities, and services and address any accessibility barriers.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This action does not constitute a “project” as defined in California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Section 15378 and therefore no further CEQA analysis is required.
CLIMATE IMPACT
There are no climate impacts associated with this recommendation.
RECOMMENDATION
Authorize the Interim City Manager to execute an agreement with Bureau Veritas for an Americans with Disabilities Act self-assessment and transition plan for an amount not to $401,500.
Respectfully submitted,
Erin Smith, Public Works Director
By,
Mike Billington, Facilities Manager
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Margaret O’Brien, Finance Director
Exhibit:
1. Agreement
cc: Dirk Brazil, Interim City Manager