STAFF REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
DATE: Regular Meeting of March 28, 2023
TO: Mayor and Members of the City Council
VIA: Dante Hall, City Manager
SUBMITTED BY: Timothy Rood AICP, Community Development Director Mike Roberts, Public Works Director
SUBJECT: Extension of Pre-Qualified Vendor lists through June 2023 RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Staff recommends the Council approve a resolution extending the City’s pre-qualified vendor lists for planning and engineering services through June 2023, to allow staff additional time to evaluate qualifications received in response to the City’s February 2023 Request for Qualifications.
BACKGROUND:
Given current staffing levels, both the Engineering division of the Public Works Department and the Planning and Building divisions of the Community Development Department rely on contract professional services to help process and review applications for large-scale projects, as well as to prepare long-term planning documents and design and manage capital improvement projects. Often the need for these services comes with little notice, and the time to enlist professional services could take upwards of two months (approximately one week to develop a scope of work, 3–4 weeks to advertise the need, and another 2–3 weeks to review proposals and award a contract).
To reduce having to prepare multiple Requests for Proposals and shorten the time frame to award contracts, on February 8, 2018, the City issued a request for qualifications (RFQ) for both planning-related and engineering-related professional services and received qualifications from 61 planning and engineering firms. Both the Engineering Division and the Planning Department staff reviewed the submitted responses, identified the type of specific work in which each company listed its experience, and determined which firms met the minimum qualifications within the respective fields of expertise, including those firms listed as potential subcontractors for specialty services (e.g., complex environmental evaluation and documentation).
The City Council accepted and approved the City staff’s recommended lists of qualified consultants via Resolution No. 18-33 for planning-related services (adopted May 8, 2018) and Resolution No. 18-38 for engineering related services (adopted June 12, 2018). These lists of pre-qualified vendors were approved for a three-year period ending in April 2021. On May 11, 2021, the Council approved Resolution 21-019 extending the lists of pre-qualified vendors for an additional two years, through April 2023.
ANALYSIS:
In recognition of the need to update the pre-qualified vendor lists originally adopted in 2018, the City issued a Request for Qualifications for Professional Services on February 7, 2023. The new solicitation was advertised on the City website. The RFQ was also posted on the Planetizen RFP and RFQ Board, a listing of urban planning requests for proposals, qualifications, and information in design and planning-related fields used by cities, municipalities, organizations, and consultants.
By the submittal deadline of March 6, 2023, the City received submittals from 43 firms providing a broad range of professional services related to planning, building, engineering, and environmental services.
Given the time needed to review and evaluate such a large number of proposals, staff is requesting a two-month extension of the current pre-qualified vendor lists through June 30, 2023, in order to avoid any interruption in necessary professional services.
Extending the lists of prequalified vendors does not prohibit the City of Hercules from issuing future Request for Proposals if deemed necessary. All vendors remain subject to the terms of the City’s standard contract as well as the City’s nepotism/cronyism policy, which have been made available to all vendors.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact associated with this action. Expenditure authorizations will be requested at the time services are needed and in accordance with the City’s purchasing policy and Municipal Code. Awarding of contract services may require future City Council approval, except as allowed under the authority granted by the City Council to the City Manager for approval and execution of contracts under $100,000. Most services are likely to be for processing of development projects, which are generally funded by developers as part of their entitlement review process.
ATTACHMENTS:
Attach 1 – Resolution Extending Pre-Qualified Vendor Lists through June 2023 Attach 2 – List of Pre-Qualified Vendors for Planning-Related Services Attach 3 – List of Pre-Qualified Vendors for Engineering-Related Services