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1 DATE: June 3, 2024
TO: Mayor and Members of the City Council
VIA: Stefan Chatwin, City Manager
Marlene Subhashini, Assistant City Manager
FROM: Derek Schweigart, Director of Parks and Recreation Justin Lai, Senior Civil Engineer
Tiffany Oren, Recreation Manager
DEPARTMENT: Parks and Recreation Department
SUBJECT: APPROVAL OF PLANS AND SPECIFICATIONS AND
AUTHORIZATION TO CALL FOR BIDS FOR THE RECREATION
CENTER REBUILD PROJECT (CIP 301-678)
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council adopt the attached resolution approving the Plans and Specifications and authorizing the call for bids for the Recreation Center Rebuild Project (CIP 301-678).
CEQA Status: Adopted Mitigated Negative Declaration for the Recreation Center Rebuild Project.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Beginning in 2019, the Recreation Center Rebuild Project (Project) has been a priority project for the City with an anticipated budget of $55 million dollars. Group 4 Architecture, Research + Planning, Inc. (Group 4) was hired to design the building and Griffin Structures was hired to be the construction managers for the Project. The designs have been brought to City Council on multiple occasions for comments and policy direction.
To streamline the bidding process, a Request for Qualifications was issued to have a shortlist of general contractors who could bid on the Project. Five (5) contractors submitted their qualifications and four (4) were approved to be on the pre-qualification list.
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1 Group 4 and the design team have substantially completed the plans and specifications and the project is ready to be advertised. The Project is currently going through the permitting process, and the permitted plans and specs will be brought to City Council at the time of award at a future Council meeting. Staff is requesting advertising now, to meet the Project’s design and construction timeline and avoid the possibility of conflicts with planned Recreation Center programming and community events in the summer of 2026.
The engineer’s estimate for construction of the Project is approximately $54,000,000 with a construction duration of 20 months. There is $55,432,578 in the approved Project budget currently, which will need to be increased. Based on the most recent budget estimate provided by Group 4 and Griffin Structures in May, the overall project cost estimate is approximately $64,609,000 without bid alternates. Based on the direction provided by the City Council on January 16, 2024, staff addressed the Project budget shortfall with a mix of various funding proposals and strategies which are reflected in FY 2024-2025 Preliminary Budget as well as in the table provided in the Fiscal Impact section of this report. The final Project budget will be determined when the bid is awarded for construction and any bid alternates are considered and approved by the City Council.
BACKGROUND
On January 23, 2019, the City Council by Minute Order No. 1585 accepted the Final Recreation Center Master Plan Conceptual Design Report. On January 31, 2022, the City Council received an update that included the results of a Community Survey to validate the Community Input that had been received in the extensive community engagement that was completed in 2017. On January 31, 2022, the City Council adopted Minute Order No. 1832, directing staff to: 1) Accept the Recreation Center and Parks System Survey results, confirming staff has satisfied the City Council’s interest in validating programming and usage assumptions; 2) Proceed with a “build-to-budget” option for the Recreation Center in an amount not-to-exceed $55 million; and 3) Proceed with utilizing $36 million from the Capital Asset Acquisition and Replacement Fund and $19 million from the General Fund Reserves for the total not-to-exceed budget of $55 million for rebuilding the Recreation Center.
At the City Council regular meeting on November 21, 2022, the City Council awarded an agreement with Group 4 for professional design, bidding, and construction support services. The design phase began in January 2023 with the award of a construction management contract to Griffin Structures.
At the regular City Council meeting on September 18, 2023, staff and Group 4 presented to City Council a full schematic design presentation which included an estimate of probable construction costs and a list of bid alternatives with cost information for City Council’s consideration. The City Council approved the schematic design and Project budget estimate, as well as provided direction on additional enhancements to be included in the Project.
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1 At the regular City Council meeting on December 18, 2023, staff and Group 4 presented to City Council a full design development presentation which incorporated and reflected the design refinements directed by Council at the meeting on September 18, 2023. The Design Development Project Update was received and accepted unanimously in Minute Order No. 1953 which allowed staff to begin the construction document phase of the design.
At the regular City Council meeting on January 16, 2024, the City Council received a Project budget update from staff along with various proposals to address the Project budget shortfall between the approved budget of $55,374,250 and the design team’s estimate of $65,943,000, a difference of $10,568,750. To address the shortfall, the City Council, by Minute Order No. 1956 directed several actions including:
•Eliminating the Bocce Court Expansion from the Project scope and budget reducing the budget by $1,009,000 while still maintaining the design as a bid alternative if the bids come in lower than anticipated; •Authorizing the release of $5,000,000 from the remaining Levee project funds and appropriate it to the Project;
•Appropriating grant funds from Gilead Foundation in the amount of $500,000 toward the Project;
•Appropriating anticipated park impact fees from the new Gilead building at 331 Lakeside Drive in the amount of $594,000 to the Project: and •Eliminating or delaying some park CIP projects through reprioritization.
After the latest budget update at the City Council meeting on January 16, 2024, the project has moved into the construction documents phase. During this phase, the Project Management Team (PMT) held regular meetings to refine and incorporate necessary details and technical specifications into the construction plans. At the project's fourth and final Integrated Design Workshop (IDW) in March, the PMT collaborated with other city departments and consultants to finalize room layouts, select fixtures, and address audio- visual, telecommunication, and security needs. An Interiors Committee provided recommendations for the building's color palette, wayfinding signage, lighting, and floor and ceiling materials and finishes. For the exterior site plan, the PMT worked with landscape designers and engineers to finalize the rose garden and events plaza, as well as the selection of plantings and monumental signage.
To keep the community informed about the project's status, the website has been updated to better display information, including the project timeline, flythrough video, renderings, and links to past reports and City Council updates.
At the regular City Council meeting on February 20, 2024, the City Council authorized the issuance of a Request for Qualifications for a general contractor for the construction of the Project. Five contractors submitted their qualification packages and staff approved four of the five contractors for future bidding following a scoring process. 6 5
1 At the regular City Council meeting on April 1, 2024, the City Council approved an additional appropriation to the Project budget in the amount of $58,323 with West Coast Code Consultants (WC3) for plan check services for the Project. This increased the Project budget to $55,432,578. Group 4 has submitted the plan check set and performed one round of revisions. It is anticipated that there may be additional comments, but the plan set is substantially complete.
ANALYSIS
The Project plans and specifications have been submitted to the Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJ), which includes the Project’s plan check consultant West Coast Code Consultants, Inc. (WC3) and the consultant from 4 Leaf Inc. who is backfilling for the vacant Chief Building Official position. The plan check review and approval are currently underway with the building permit approval anticipated by the time the bids are submitted.
It is recommended to issue the call for bids at this time to optimize the Project schedule and avoid delays in construction which may have cost implications due to escalation and other market-driven conditions. By advertising the project now, it gives the City the opportunity to start construction earlier to potentially reduce the number of summers missed for community events and programming when the Recreation Center is closed during construction.
The Project is currently in the process of obtaining the building permit approval. The first- round review by the AHJ has been completed and the design team met with plan check reviewers to review the comments and has revised and resubmitted the documents to address the comments. The second round of permit review is underway.
The Project has received Use Permit approval from Planning and San Mateo County Health Department. Recology has approved the application for the trash enclosure and the approval letter has been received. The plans and specifications have been developed based on an interactive planning and design process from project initiation which involved regular PMT meetings, extensive community outreach, Joint Planning Commission and Parks and Recreation Committee meetings, City Council meetings as well as technical meetings with City staff and AHJs to confirm project goals, scope and requirements are met. It is anticipated that any additional changes required by the AHJs to obtain permit approval will be issued via addendums to the potential bidders prior to the bids being submitted to allow bidders to include these changes in their bid submissions. This approach is common for construction bidding for projects of this scope and size and has been successful on other similar projects.
The completed plans and specifications were made available to City Council for review and are available for inspection by the public in the City Council’s Office at City Hall. The City Council will have another chance to see the completed permitted set of plans if requested, when the Project is brought back to the City Council to award the bid to the general contractor. A hardcopy of the substantially completed plans and specifications is available for viewing in the City Council’s office at City Hall. 6 5
1 The bidding process is expected to be efficient due to the pre-qualification process performed earlier this year, lessening the workload and review time for staff. There are four (4) pre-qualified contractors who will have the opportunity to bid on the Project. The scope of work includes demolishing the existing Recreation Center and rebuilding a new Recreation Center in its place at Leo J. Ryan Park. The new facility will be optimized for the programming and events for the City. Major site, utility, structural, and landscape work are anticipated on the property. It is anticipated that construction will start in September 2024 following summer events with 20 months of construction.
City staff and the City’s Construction Manager Griffin Structures will oversee the construction of the Recreation Center. The engineer’s estimate for the base work is $54,000,000. Several bid alternates are included in the bid set that include, but are not limited to a covered entrance, photovoltaic array, bocce courts, a play structure, wind barriers, and room partitions. If the bids come in favorable, some bid alternates may be included without increasing the budget. All bid alternate items will be brought back to City Council for consideration in the award process.
The anticipated project schedule is as follows:
Approval of plans and specifications &
authorization to call for bids
June 3, 2024
Bid Opening and City Council Award July, 2024
Contract execution August 2024
Project notice of completion June 2026
CEQA
In July 2023, the City of Foster City, in accordance with the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”), the State CEQA Guidelines adopted by the Secretary of Resources, and the City of Foster City Environmental Review Guidelines, prepared an Initial Study and Mitigated Negative Declaration (SCH # 20231009) with Standards Conditions and Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program (SCAMMRP), and CEQA Findings (IS/MND) for the Recreation Center Rebuild Project.
On November 16, 2023, the City Planning Commission adopted the IS/MND and approved the Use Permit for the Project. Pursuant to Public Resources Code section 21166 and CEQA Guidelines section 15164(b), the City prepared an Addendum to the adopted Mitigated Negative Declaration for the temporary Modular Buildings portion of the work and it was approved by the City Council on February 20, 2024.
FISCAL IMPACT
The Project (CIP 301-678) has an approved budget of $55,432,578 with additional funding needed at the time the construction bid is awarded. The engineer’s construction budget estimate is $54,000,000, with a total current Project budget estimate of $64,609,000 as of May 15, 2024.
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1 In January 2024, the Project budget estimate presented was $65,943,000 (based on November 2023 estimate) with previously approved funding of $55,374,250. The budget shortfall at the time was $10,568,750. Based on the direction provided by the City Council at the January 16, 2024, regular meeting, staff addressed the budget shortfall with a mix of various funding proposals and strategies. Additionally, based on Council direction, the $3.38M in the City’s Capital Asset Acquisition and Replacement Fund will not be used to offset the previously approved $19 million in General Fund Reserves towards the project.
As noted previously, on January 16, the Council provided direction that CIP 301-655 (Leo Ryan Park Lawn Conversion and Bocce Court Expansion) be closed out and the funding transferred to the Project. The Council further directed that the addition of Bocce courts be included as a bid alternate to the Project. After the removal of the Bocce Court Expansion project from the Project scope and budget the budget shortfall was $9,559,750. Since the January City Council meeting, staff was able to identify $1,841,400 in the Building Maintenance Internal Services Fund (ISF) that is currently set aside for roof replacement and other repairs for the current recreation center that could go towards the Project. Identifying the approx. $1.8M in Building Maintenance ISF eliminated the need to use funding from other CIPs for the Project. The following is an overview of current Project funding sources as reflected in the City’s FY 2024-2025 Preliminary.
Description
Funding
Source
Prior Year
Funding FY 2024-25 FY 2025-26 Total
Recreation Center
Rebuild Project $ 55,432,578 $55,432,578
City CIP Fund City CIP 343,050 343,050
Gilead Foundation Grant City CIP 500,000 500,000 CIP 657 Levee Project City CIP 5,000,000 5,000,000 CIP 655 Bocce Courts
Park-in
Lieu 745,000 745,000
CIP 655 Bocce Courts City CIP 83,000 83,000 Park Facility Impact Fees PIF 560,300 467,000 1,027,300 Building Maintenance
Fund BMF 1,861,400 $ 1,861,400
*$ 55,432,578
$9,092,750 $ 467,000
*$64,992,328
*The estimate reflects the additional $58,328 for plan check services that were approved on April 1, 2024.
The current total Project budget estimate from May 2024 including these fees is $64,609,000 which is tracking lower than previous estimates. Staff would also like to note that impact fee funds from future development projects may be used to offset the costs of the Project.
CITY COUNCIL VISION, MISSION, AND VALUE/PRIORITY AREA
Facilities and Infrastructure
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1 ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment 1 – Resolution
Attachment 2 – Minute Order No. 1956