CITY OF MENIFEE
SUBJECT: Agreement with Parsons Transportation Group, Inc. for Professional Environmental and Engineering Services for the Garbani Road / Interstate 215 Interchange Project
MEETING DATE: June 18, 2025
TO: Mayor and City Council
PREPARED BY: Carlos Geronimo, Engineering Manager
REVIEWED BY: Nick Fidler, Public Works Director
APPROVED BY: Armando G. Villa, City Manager
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RECOMMENDED ACTION
1. Approve and authorize the City Manager to execute a Professional Services Agreement with Parsons Transportation Group, Inc. for Professional Environmental and Engineering Services for the Garbani Road/Interstate 215 Interchange Project, Capital Improvement Program (CIP) Project No. 20-05, in a total not-to-exceed amount of $2,777,240.29 through December 31, 2028.
DISCUSSION
Garbani Road is currently a two-lane, east to west roadway that intersects with Antelope Road on the east side and Haun Road on the west side of Interstate 215 (I-215) but does not currently provide freeway access or continue across the freeway. In order to access the I-215, motorists must detour approximately one to two miles to reach one of three existing I-215 interchanges located at McCall Boulevard, Newport Road, and Scott Road. Motorists simply traveling between the east and west sides of the City must also use one of these three interchanges or navigate to the new Holland Road Overcrossing. Heavy traffic congestion regularly occurs at the existing interchanges and future traffic volumes are expected to well exceed the current capacity of these facilities. Given to the current traffic volumes, and the absence of east/west connectivity over I- 215 at Garbani Road, the Garbani Road/I-215 Interchange Project, CIP No. 20-05 (“Project”) was identified as a priority infrastructure need to support improved traffic flow for current and future development in the City.
The Project is currently in the design phase. The Project Initiation Document (PID) was completed and approved by the California Department of Transportation (“Caltrans”) on August 31, 2023.
With the completion of the PID, the Project is preparing to move to the next design step, which would be the Project Approval and Environmental Documentation (PAED) phase.
City of Menifee Staff Report
CIP 20-05 Parsons Agreement
June 18, 2025
2 7
4 0
Staff applied for federal funding to support the Project’s PAED phase through Cycle 3 of the Community Project Funding/Congressionally Directed Spending (CPFCDS) Program issued by Congressman Ken Calvert’s office. In August 2024, Caltrans notified staff that the Project had been selected to receive the funding requested in the amount of $2.2 million. On February 2, 2025, the City Council authorized the Program Supplement Agreement (PSA), which outlines specific requirements to ensure compliance with Caltrans’ Local Assistance Procedure Manual (LAPM), which is required to begin receiving funding reimbursements through the CPFCDS Program.
On January 23, 2025, staff released a Request for Proposals (RFP) No. 2025-08 to provide Professional Environmental and Engineering Support Services for the PAED and Project Specifications & Estimates (PSE) phases of the Project. The RFP was administered in compliance with City purchasing procedures and with Caltrans’ LAPM for Local Public Agencies (LPA), section 10.1.1, which states that cost proposals “…must be sealed and must not be included as a criterion for rating such consultants. After ranking, cost negotiations will begin with the most qualified consultant and only their cost proposal will be opened. Should negotiations fail or result in a price that the LPA does not consider fair and reasonable, negotiations must be formally terminated, and the LPA must then undertake negotiations with the second most qualified consultant”.
A total of four proposals were received. An evaluation committee comprised of three experienced City staff members and three members from outside agencies (Caltrans, County of Riverside, and Western Riverside Council of Governments) evaluated the proposals based on the specific criteria and scoring parameters stated within the RFP. The results of the initial proposal scoring are shown in Table 1 below.
TABLE 1 – PROPOSAL RANKING SUMMARY
The top three ranking firms were subsequently invited to participate in a final interview and selection process. The initial evaluation committee served as the interview panel for the Project.
The interview and selection process were conducted in accordance with City purchasing guidelines. This allows staff an opportunity to meet and interact with each firm’s proposed project team and to further assess which firm most closely aligns with the Project’s scope and offers the most technical expertise to deliver a successful Project. The average scores of the final evaluation completed by the interview panel are summarized in Table 2 on the following page.
Firm Name Proposal Scoring Initial Proposal
Ranking
Kimley-Horn and Associates 91.43 1
Parsons Transportation Group, Inc. (“Parsons”) 91.43 2
Wood Rodgers 87.86 3
MNS Engineering, Inc. 86.14 4
City of Menifee Staff Report
CIP 20-05 Parsons Agreement
June 18, 2025
2 7
4 0
TABLE 2 – SELECTION INTERVIEW FIRM RANKING SUMMARY
Under the California Government Code Section 4526, local agencies are required to select professional services for architectural, landscape architectural, engineering, environmental, land surveying, or construction project management solely based on demonstrated competence and professional qualifications. For this reason, cost proposals remain sealed until the selection process is completed. Following the final rankings, staff proceeded to open and review the fee proposal submitted by Parsons to begin any necessary cost negotiations. The original fee proposed by Parsons for the PAED phase only was for a total of $2,995,118. Staff compared the initial proposal to the City’s current Independent Cost Estimate of $2.65 million for the PAED phase and proceeded to analyze the proposed hours and associated fees for each task identified within Parsons’ proposal. Following evaluation and negotiation efforts, tasks unnecessary to the PAED phase, such as value analysis and funding opportunities, were removed, and hours allocated to meetings and project management were reduced to lower the overall cost.
As a result of cost negotiations, Parsons presented a revised final proposal in the reduced amount of $2,777,240.29 for the PAED phase. Staff determined that the revised final proposal satisfied the scope of work identified within the RFP to deliver a successful Project. Approval of the proposed Professional Services Agreement (“Agreement”) with Parsons would allow the Project PAED phase to begin. Upon the completion of the PAED phase, staff would evaluate the option to expand Parsons’ scope of work to initiate the PSE, or final, design phase of the Project. Any future scope changes would be developed through an amendment to the proposed Agreement and returned to the City Council for consideration.
The amount of the proposed Agreement exceeds the City Manager’s signing authority. Pursuant to Menifee Municipal Code §3.12.060, any contract amount that exceeds the City Manager’s signing authority shall be approved by the City Council.
STRATEGIC PLAN OBJECTIVE
Connectivity and Mobility
FISCAL IMPACT
The fiscal impact of the proposed Agreement is for the total amount not-to-exceed $2,777,240.29.
Funding for the Agreement is available in the proposed Fiscal Year 2025/2026 budget within the Grant Fund (2301-PWD-CIPS-760000) and Scott Road Road and Bridge Benefit District (RBBD) Fund (2410-PWD-CIPS-760000), as summarized in Table 3 on the following page.
Firm Name Interview Score Qualification Ranking
Parsons 90.83 1
Wood Rodgers 90.33 2
Kimley Horn and Associates, Inc. 80.67 3
City of Menifee Staff Report
CIP 20-05 Parsons Agreement
June 18, 2025
2 7
4 0
TABLE 3 – EXISTING PROJECT BUDGET
Fund Account Number Available Budget Required Amount
Grant Fund
(Federal) 2301-PWD-CIPS-760000 $2,200,000.00 $2,200,000.00 Scott Road RBBD 2410-PWD-CIPS-760000 $790,664.67 $577,240.29 TOTAL $2,990,664.67 $2,777,240.29
ATTACHMENTS
1. Project Location Map
2. Agreement