STAFF REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
DATE: Regular Meeting of June 13, 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: Establishment of Pre-Qualified Vendor lists through June 2026 RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Staff recommends the Council approve a resolution approving pre-qualified vendor lists for planning and engineering services through June 2026, based on qualifications received in response to the City’s February 2023 Request for Qualifications.
BACKGROUND:
Given staffing limitations, both the Engineering division of the Public Works Department and the Planning and Building divisions of the Community Development Department rely heavily 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. Some projects may include the need for specialized construction administration and on-site inspection services. 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 multiple Requests for Proposals and shorten the time frame to award contracts, the City’s practice has been to establish a list of prequalified consultants. Once an approved list of service providers is established by the adoption of a resolution by the City Council, City staff may contract on an as-needed basis with any approved service provider in accordance with the contracting authority contained in the City’s Bylaws, which the City Manager is responsible for administering. Service providers may be selected on a sole-source basis or may be selected on the basis of project-specific proposals.
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. 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. On March 28, 2023, the Council approved Resolution 23-016 extending the lists of pre-qualified vendors through June 2023 to allow staff additional time to evaluate the responses received to the February 2023 Request for Qualifications.
ANALYSIS:
In recognition of the need for a new solicitation 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 as well as four listing services used by planning and engineering professionals: Bidnet, Government Bids, the Association of Environmental Professionals, and Planetizen. By the submittal deadline of March 6, 2023, the City had received submittals from 43 firms providing a broad range of professional services related to planning, building, engineering, and environmental services.
In order to permit additional firms to respond, the submittal deadline was extended through April 26, 2023 and re-advertised on the same four listing services and the City website. In addition, past prequalified vendors who had not submitted by the original deadline were individually contacted and advised of the extended deadline. Eight additional submittals were received by the extended deadline.
Staff from Planning, Building, and Engineering divisions of Community Development and Public Works reviewed all submittals and identified the best-qualified submittals in each service category for Planning-Related Services (Attachment 2) and Engineering-Related Services (Attachment 3). The evaluation criteria consisted of firm qualifications and relevant experience; qualifications and experience of the professionals who would perform the work; and compensation schedule.
Approving 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 required for processing development projects, which are generally funded by developers as part of their entitlement review process.
ATTACHMENTS:
Attach 1 – Resolution Authorizing Pre-Qualified Vendor Lists through June 2026 Attach 2 – List of Pre-Qualified Vendors for Planning-Related Services Attach 3 – List of Pre-Qualified Vendors for Engineering-Related Services