201 S. Anaheim Blvd.
Suite #1101
Anaheim, CA 92805
Tel: (714) 765-5173
www.anaheim.net
CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
City of Anaheim
PUBLIC UTILITIES DEPARTMENT
DATE: SEPTEMBER 23, 2025
FROM: PUBLIC UTILITIES DEPARTMENT
SUBJECT: GENERAL SERVICES AGREEMENTS FOR PREQUALIFIED
PROFESSIONAL WATER ENGINEERING AND CONSULTING
SERVICES
ATTACHMENT (Y/N): YES ITEM # 06
GOVERNMENT CODE § 84308 APPLIES: NO
RECOMMENDATION:
That the City Council, by Motion:
1. Approve the General Services Agreement – Water Engineering (Agreement) for professional engineering and consulting services (Attachment 1), with a five-year term and up to two one-year extensions as needed to complete ongoing projects, and authorize the Public Utilities General Manager or designee (collectively, “General Manager”), on behalf of the City of Anaheim (Anaheim), to execute individual Agreements with each consultant currently prequalified by the Anaheim Public Utilities Department (APU), as listed in Attachment 2, and with any additional consultants prequalified by APU during the five-year term of the Agreement, with any changes that do not materially alter the terms and conditions of the Agreement, as determined by the City Attorney’s Office;
2. Approve a not-to-exceed amount of $500,000 per work order package issued under the Agreement, with authorization for up to 15% contingency for as-needed extra work, with a limit of $1.5 million in total awards per consultant per fiscal year during the term of the Agreement, inclusive of any authorized extra work; and
3. Authorize the General Manager, on behalf of Anaheim, to execute any documents contemplated by or related to the Agreement, including work orders and changes thereto, and to take such necessary or advisable actions to implement, fund, and administer the Agreement.
DISCUSSION:
The Public Utilities Board recommended that the City Council approve these actions at its meeting of August 27, 2025.
APU engages the services of prequalified engineering consultants to achieve timely completion of budgeted water projects, as well as to support ongoing planning, operation, and maintenance activities. Judicious use of technical consultants provides General Services Agreements for Prequalified Professional Water Engineering and Consulting Services September 23, 2025
the flexibility needed to leverage different engineering and consulting services expertise specific to the defined scope of a project, and is instrumental in supporting APU’s capital improvement program and meeting compliance requirements.
General Services Agreement Process
The process of entering into a General Services Agreement with prequalified consultants and later awarding specific projects has been used with the approval of the City Council since 2000. This approach is an effective way to identify and prequalify a number of engineering consultants so they are eligible to submit proposals for an array of professional services commonly needed for budgeted projects. By prequalifying consultants, APU is able to streamline the proposal, evaluation, and award process, improve project efficiencies, and compress schedules.
When engineering consultants execute an Agreement with Anaheim, they have reviewed and accepted Anaheim’s terms and conditions, satisfied its insurance and indemnification requirements, and met APU’s baseline qualifications and utility- specific experience standards. This streamlines the process by eliminating the need to verify qualifications and references for each request for proposal issued, and removing the need for consultants to review and negotiate contract terms every time they submit a proposal to APU for a project.
Under the terms of the Agreement, prequalified consultants will be invited by APU to submit project-specific proposals when a defined scope of services is required.
Evaluations are performed in accordance with Council Policy 4.1 (Selection of Professional Consultants), which considers each respondent’s ability to perform the work, relevant experience on similar projects, project-specific criteria, and reasonableness of fees. Over the past three years, an annual average of 11 projects and approximately $2.5 million has been awarded to prequalified firms for projects such as hydraulic modeling, instrumentation technical support, infrastructure design, and geotechnical engineering services.
Due to increasing project costs, APU recommends increasing the per-project award limit from $400,000 approved in 2022 to $500,000 for this new Agreement cycle.
Additionally, a not-to-exceed cap of $1.5 million per fiscal year per consultant (including the 15% contingency) is proposed to help foster competition among firms.
Request for Proposals to Prequalify Proposals from Consultants Anaheim issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to prequalify proposals from engineering consulting firms on May 8, 2025. The RFP was issued via Anaheim’s electronic bidding system. Proposals from 29 consulting firms (Attachment 2) were determined to have the requisite qualifications, expertise in the category of work for which they asked to be prequalified, and a demonstrated record of success in completing utility-specific projects.
Although several consultants submitted redlines to the Agreement, inclusion on the prequalified list reflects only a determination that they meet Anaheim’s qualification criteria. Final Agreements will be executed only upon the consultant’s acceptance of General Services Agreements for Prequalified Professional Water Engineering and Consulting Services September 23, 2025
Anaheim’s terms and conditions and the satisfactory completion of all other contractual requirements, including but not limited to, submission of insurance certificates and proof of appropriate licensing to perform professional engineering services in the State of California.
APU has found the use of prequalified consultants to be an effective tool for gaining efficiencies to support its capital and maintenance projects. The proposed Agreement will remain in effect for five (5) years from the date of execution with an option to extend for up to two (2) one-year terms in order to complete ongoing projects.
IMPACT ON BUDGET:
There is no budgetary impact as a result of prequalifying the consultants and entering into the Agreement. Sufficient funds for projects awarded through the Agreement in the current fiscal year are included in APU’s Fiscal Year 2025/26 budget in the restricted Water Utility budget, and funds for subsequent years are subject to City Council approval of budget appropriations.
Respectfully submitted,
Dukku Lee
Public Utilities General Manager
Attachments:
1. General Services Agreement – Water Engineering
2. Proposed Prequalified Water Engineering Consultants List 2025-2030