T 562.908.6200 ▪ 800.499.4484 | F 562.695.2120 | 13191 Crossroads Parkway North, Suite 405, Industry, CA 91746 | www.willdan.com October 17, 2023
Mr. Andrew Lee E.I.T. submitted via email: [email protected] Assistant Engineer
City of Cathedral City
68-700 Avenida Lalo Guerrero
Cathedral City, CA 92234
Subject: Proposal for Combined Sarah Street Area Assessment District Preliminary Analysis Dear Mr. Lee:
Willdan Engineering (Willdan) is uniquely qualified to provide engineering services to the City of Cathedral City (City).
Our firm has over 59 years of experience providing similar services to district, cities, and counties throughout California.
Our extensive experience with a variety of street improvements, water infrastructure and master plans, sewer master plan, and assessment district projects makes us particularly strong as a partner on this important endeavor.
Project Understanding
The assessment district formation phase 2 is understood to cover the Desert Water Agency Service Area, including the following areas outlined in the provided parcel maps for the Sarah Street area:
▪ Crossley Road and Sarah Street (Commercial and Light Industrial) ▪ Lakeview Villas Condos (Fully Developed Residential on Septic) ▪ The unimproved Agua Caliente Trail area (Outpost Business Park; Unimproved Commercial and Light Industrial) ▪ The Bochner Family property (Unimproved Commercial and Light Industrial) The City has received interest from the residents of the above locations for further discussion to install street improvements including roadway paving and sidewalk, water, sewer, electricity, gas and telecom . Per the provided staff report, the Lakeview Villas Condos are currently connected to septic and have applied for CWSRF Grant funding for the conversion of septic to sewer. The unimproved areas will include preliminary street improvement layout with roads and sidewalks, and all areas will include preliminary wet and dry utility layout. The remaining areas are zoned for commercial and light industrial and do not qualify for the grant.
The City intends to host a community meeting to discuss the feasibility of the proposed improvements , with a preliminary conceptual design with budgetary opinions of probable cost, to enable the community to make an informed decision about the issue. Willdan will assist the City by preparing a preliminary presentation to discuss the process to form an Assessment District.
Scope of Work
Task 1 – Project Management and Meetings
Willdan will conduct all tasks necessary to complete the project, including day-to-day project management, meetings, project communication, project scheduling and tracking, invoicing, and overall administration of the project. Willdan utilizes a project management process to ensure a successful project, one which yield results that match clients expectations; project management is expected to include, but not be limited to:
a. Schedule project kick-off meeting to include City staff b. Communicate often with City staff throughout various submittal stages c. Prepare and distribute meeting agendas and minutes for all project meetings d. 3 Virtual Meetings with City Staff Assumed for this project
Mr. Andrew Lee E.I.T, Assistant Engineer
City of Cathedral City
Proposal for Combined Sarah Street Area Assessment District Preliminary Analysis October 17, 2023| Page 2
Task 2 – Utility Coordination and Research
Utility research to determine possible conflicts with underground utilities. Available as-builts will be collected for the existing street, sewer, and water improvements. Existing sewer and water as-builts will be used for invert elevations.
Willdan will a lso coordinate with dry utility companies to determine the installation costs for the proposed improvements. Willdan will coordinate with the Desert Water Agency to determine potential connection fees and current sewer capacities at the mainline.
Deliverables
✓ PDF of GIS Sewer Exhibit
Task 3 – Preliminary Exhibit Preparation
Willdan will prepare a preliminary sewer exhibit utilizing the latest version of ARCGIS and/or AutoCAD Civil 3D. The exhibit will be based on available GIS mapping and will utilize Google Earth and /or 20’ contours to establish preliminary site topography. Willdan will prepare preliminary base mapping including street right s-of-way, parcel lines, and easements base d upon tract maps, parcel maps, and assessor parcel maps. Topographic survey is not included in this proposal but can be added under a separate scope and fee negotiated with the City. For a more accurate opinion of probable cost it is recommended that an aerial survey be performed (see Optional Task 9).
An alignment of the streets and wet and dry utilities will be set based on the available map data at 100 -scale topography. If necessary, an alternate alignment will be shown to exemplify all available options. Willdan will utilize available City and County GIS data to establish the Point of Connection to the existing sewer main. To properly set up the alignment, a preliminary pump vs. gravity analysis will be conducted to determine whether a pump station will be required to adequately serve the sewer needs , if required . The pump analysis will be based on the 20’ contours. Pump calculations are not included in this proposal. Geotechnical analysis and potholing of existing utilities is also not included in this proposal.
Deliverables
✓ PDF of CAD/GIS Sewer Exhibit
Task 4 – Preliminary Water/Sewer Memorandum
A preliminary water/sewer memorandum will be prepared to ensure adequate capacity of the proposed facilities.
Capacity at the mainline will be confirmed and utilized within the report. Sewer and water flows will be calculated for the area based on available land use. No calculations or modeling for dry utilities are included in this proposal. A full sewer and water study is not included in the phase 2 analysis. The memo will be used to provide preliminary sizing of the water and sewer pipelines.
Deliverables
✓ PDF of GIS Sewer Exhibit
Task 5 – Budgetary Engineer’s Opinion of Probable Cost
Willdan will prepare a Budgetary Opinion of Probable Cost (OPC) utilizing the latest version of Microsoft Excel. The estimate will be based on recent bid data seen for similar projects within proximity of the site. This “ ballpark” estimate will be preliminary based on the minimal data available prior to any field investigation and is to be utilized for discussion purposes only.
Willdan Financial Services will also establish an appropriate draft assessment methodology for the apportionment of costs. The method of apportioning costs, to the extent possible, will utilize a methodology concept and structure that is consistent with those utilized by other public agencies for similar assessments, and which follows the provisions of the California Constitution and notable court decisions regarding assessments.
Mr. Andrew Lee E.I.T, Assistant Engineer
City of Cathedral City
Proposal for Combined Sarah Street Area Assessment District Preliminary Analysis October 17, 2023| Page 3
To the extent there are general benefits identified, it is possible that the proposed assessments may not be able to fund 100 percent of the improvements.
The preliminary assessment methodology will be used to estimate the total and annual assessment burden for each property within the proposed District.
Deliverables
✓ PDF of Budgetary Engineer’s Opinion of Probable Cost Task 6 – Presentation Preparation
Willdan will produce a PowerPoint presentation for the community meeting. The presentation will assist in educating the community with the process of installing the proposed improvements. Exhibits and data tables will be prepared to exemplify preliminary design alternatives and cost estimates. Sewer and water needs will be assessed via land use.
Any additional information the City has to assist in the analysis should be provided to Willdan. Upon completion of the presentation, it will be submitted to the City for review and comment prior to the community meeting. Please note that a formal study has not been conducted yet and is not to be prepared at this time. The purpose of this presentation is to present preliminary findings to assist the process in the creation of a Sewer Assessment District.
Task 7 – Community Meeting
Willdan will attend one (1) community meeting; the date and time will be coordinated with City staff. Willdan will present the PowerPoint presentation and develop exhibit panels showing what costs are paid by the District and which improvements are the responsibility of the property owner. Additionally , exhibits will be prepared showing specific construction techniques with photographs showing construct ion impacts of the proposed improvements.
This will be presented to the community in collaboration with City staff. Willdan will field a question and answer portion during the presentation and remain in attendance to assist throughout the duration of the meeting. Community Meeting
✓ Attend Community Meeting
✓ Present PowerPoint Presentation
Optional Task 8 – Prepare Newsletter and Ballot
If the City elects to include this optional task, Willdan will prepare a newsletter summarizing the details discussed in the Community Meeting to outline the process and cost for formation of the Assessment District. Willdan will also prepare a survey postcard to be included within the newsletter, this will allow residents to vote whether they are in favor or not in favor of the project, based on the available preliminary data and costs presented within the newsletter.
These items will be provided to the City in PDF format; the City can then mail this to all neighborhood residents. This will provide the City with information on how many residents are interested and allow an informed decision on whether there is enough interest to proceed with a preliminary sewer report and Engineer’s Report to form the Assessment District. The preliminary sewer report and formation services are not included in this proposal but can be provided under a separate scope and fee.
Deliverables
✓ Sewer Notice Newsletter
✓ Postcard Survey
✓ Survey Tabulations
Mr. Andrew Lee E.I.T, Assistant Engineer
City of Cathedral City
Proposal for Combined Sarah Street Area Assessment District Preliminary Analysis October 17, 2023| Page 4
Optional Task 9 – Aerial Survey and Mapping
As an option for the City, we have included a cost for aerial surveying and mapping of the area. It is recommended that an aerial survey be performed in order to provide more accurate costs to ensure the sewer and streets have the proper slope. This will give us a more accurate opinion of probable cost and will be available for the future design.
Due to the preliminary nature and uncertainty of assessment district voting we included this as optional to minimize up-front costs prior to the vote. Approximately 73 acres will be mapped by aerial methods.
The area will be mapped at 1 -foot contour intervals and plotted at 100 -scale for the study portion of the project.
Surveying activities will set aerial control points, GPS ties to bench marks, aerial control points, and found monuments. Aerial mapping activities include flying the site and providing compilation and CAD services. Deliverables
✓ PDF and CAD files of Survey Base mapping
Project Disclaimer
The City of Cathedral City further represents, acknowledges, and agrees that:
(i) the City uses the services of one or more municipal advisors registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) to advise it in connection with municipal financial products and the is suance of municipal securities;
(ii) the City is not looking to Willdan to provide, and the City shall not otherwise request or require Willdan to provide, any advice or recommendations with respect to municipal financial products or the issuance of municipal securities (including any advice or recommendations with respect to the structure, timing, terms, and other similar matters concerning such financial products or issues); (iii) The provisions of this proposal and the services to be provided hereunder as outlined in the scope of services are not intended (and shall not be construed) to constitute or include any municipal advisory services within the meaning of Section 15B of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and t he rules and regulations adopted thereunder;
(iv) For the avoidance of doubt and without limiting the foregoing, in connection with any revenue projections, cash- flow analyses, feasibility studies and/or other analyses Willdan may provide the City with re spect to financial, economic or other matters relating to a prospective, new or existing issuance of municipal securities of the City, (A) any such projections, studies and analyses shall be based upon assumptions, opinions or views (including, without limitation, any assumptions related to revenue growth) established by the City , in conjunction with such of its municipal, financial, legal and other advisers as it deems appropriate; and (B) under no circumstances shall Willdan be asked to provide, nor shal l it provide, any advice or recommendations or subjective assumptions, opinions or views with respect to the actual or proposed structure, terms, timing, pricing or other similar matters with respect to any municipal financial products or municipal securit ies issuances, including any revisions or amendments thereto; and
(v) Notwithstanding all of the foregoing, the City recognizes that interpretive guidance regarding municipal advisory activities is currently quite limited and is likely to evolve and develop during the term of the potential engagement and, to that end, the City will work with Willdan throughout the term of the potential Agreement to ensure that the Agreement and the services to be provided by Willdan hereunder, is interpreted by the pa rties, and if necessary amended, in a manner intended to ensure that the City is not asking Willdan to provide, and Willdan is not in fact providing or required to provide, any municipal advisory services.
Mr. Andrew Lee E.I.T, Assistant Engineer
City of Cathedral City
Proposal for Combined Sarah Street Area Assessment District Preliminary Analysis October 17, 2023| Page 5
Exclusions
The following items are not included within this proposal but can be added for a separate scope and fee negotiated with the City:
▪ Final Design Plans and PS&E.
▪ Field Topographic Survey
▪ Environmental Documentation and Permitting
▪ Geotechnical Investigation and Potholing
▪ Development of Legal Plats and R/W Documents
Schedule
Outlined below is Willdan's proposed project schedule for completing the above-described scope of work. Schedule begins upon receipt of notice to proceed (NTP).
Task Duration Timeframe (From NTP)
Kick-Off Meeting 2 Weeks 2 Weeks
Utility Coordination and Research 1 Week 3 Week
Prepare Preliminary Water/Sewer Report 4 Weeks 7 Weeks
Prepare Exhibit and Budgetary Opinion of Probable Cost 3 Weeks 10 Weeks City Review, Meeting and Comments 2 Weeks 12 Weeks
Presentation Preparation 1 Week 13 Weeks
City Review, Meeting and Comments 1 Week 14 Weeks
Community Meeting Date TBD
Fee
Our proposed time -and-materials – not-to-exceed fee for the base scope of work identified above is $49,300.
Optional Tasks 8 & 9 can be added for $ 2,463 & $40,611 respectively, for a total, inclusive of the optional tasks , of $92,374.
Mr. Andrew Lee E.I.T, Assistant Engineer
City of Cathedral City
Proposal for Combined Sarah Street Area Assessment District Preliminary Analysis October 17, 2023| Page 6
Please indicate the City’s approval and authorization to proceed by signing and returning via email to [email protected] and [email protected].
Thank you for this opportunity to be of continuing service to Cathedral City. We recognize the importance of this project to the City and are committed to realizing its timely and successful completion. Should you have any questions regarding this proposal, please contact Mr. Tyrone Peter at (714) 393-1963 Or via e -mail at [email protected]; or Mr. Ronald Stein at (714) 204-9257, or via email at [email protected].
Respectfully submitted,
Willdan Engineering
Tyrone Peter, PE
Deputy Director of Engineering
City of Cathedral City, CA
Name, Title Date