April 15, 2025
Agenda Item No. 9
TO:
HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM:
David A. Webb, Public Works Director - 949-644-3311, [email protected] PREPARED BY:
Chris Miller, Administrative Manager - 949-644-3043, [email protected] TITLE:
Approval of Professional Services Agreements with Anchor QEA, Inc., Dudek, and Moffatt & Nichol for On-Call Marine / Coastal Engineering and Harbor Related Services ABSTRACT:
Current and future harbor- and ocean-related capital projects necessitate assistance from outside firms that provide specialized engineering and professional services in marine/coastal engineering and other related fields. Staff recently issued a Request for Proposals for professional marine/coastal engineering services and now seeks City Council approval of on-call professional services agreements with Anchor QEA, Inc., Dudek, and Moffatt & Nichol.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
a) Determine this action is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Sections 15060(c)(2) and 15060(c)(3) of the CEQA Guidelines because this action will not result in a physical change to the environment, directly or indirectly; and b) Approve Professional Services Agreements with Anchor QEA, Inc., Dudek, and Moffatt & Nichol with each agreement being for a term of five years and a total not-to-exceed amount of $500,000, and authorize the Mayor and City Clerk to execute the agreements.
DISCUSSION:
The City of Newport Beach uses private-sector consultants, through on-call professional services agreements, to fulfill various marine engineering and scientific related work associated with projects and operations within Newport Harbor and the ocean beach areas. Currently, there is a list of capital and maintenance projects associated with the harbor and ocean beach areas such as in-harbor sand management and dredging at various public beaches, assistance with the City’s dredging permit (RGP-54), seawall and bulkhead replacements, and other harbor-related projects through the Public Works or Harbor Departments.
The City issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) in February 2025 for on-call marine/coastal engineering services including design and permitting of various pier, dock and bulkhead projects; permitting programs; sediment sampling and analysis plans for dredging and sand management; biological and toxicity sampling and testing; preparation of record drawings; various survey work; project management assistance; and more. The RFP was advertised on the City’s PlanetBids portal, and staff also informed existing coastal engineering consultants of the RFP’s availability.
The City’s existing on-call coastal engineering contracts were for three years and have already been amended for additional capacity and time. With the current on-call coastal engineering contracts expiring soon, staff recommends new, 5-year contracts with Anchor QEA, Inc., Dudek, and Moffatt & Nichol with a not-to-exceed capacity of $500,000 for each.
The City received five responses to the RFP, and the following four firms earned at least 70% for the Technical Score:
Firm Name
Total Score
(out of 300)
Rank
Moffatt & Nichol
286
1 Anchor QEA, Inc.
283
2 Dudek
263
3 KPFF, Inc.
251
4 The City’s proposal review team consisted of three staff members from the Public Works Department, and each member evaluated the proposals independently. In accordance with state law, evaluations were based and ranked in accordance with each proposal’s demonstration of the firm’s qualifications and experience including the ability to self-perform the work, a demonstrated understanding of the City’s needs, the ability to deploy appropriate resources, and the ability to complete both small and larger scale projects. Evaluations also reviewed the firms’ recent experience and project references in conducting work for public agencies of similar scope and complexity. Following the technical evaluation of all proposals, the evaluation panel ranked each proposal and, in accordance with the procedure for the selection of professional services, unsealed the fee schedules from the three highest ranked proposers.
The fee schedules from Anchor QEA, Inc., Dudek, and Moffatt & Nichol were reviewed and confirmed to be reasonable and feasible after negotiation. Service costs provided on an hourly basis are competitive, favorable to the City, and consistent with other engineering services within the industry.
With the completion of the proposal reviews, staff is requesting approval of three separate on-call professional services agreements with Anchor QEA, Inc., Dudek, and Moffatt & Nichol for marine / coastal engineering and harbor-related services at a not-to-exceed amount of $500,000 per agreement. The term for each of these agreements is five years and would expire on April 14, 2030.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The adopted budget includes sufficient funding for these on-call services. Individual projects will be expensed to the appropriate Public Works Department Operations and Maintenance and/or Capital Improvement Program project accounts in current and future year budgets.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
Staff recommends the City Council find this action is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Sections 15060(c)(2) (the activity will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment) and 15060(c)(3) (the activity is not a project as defined in Section 15378) of the CEQA Guidelines, California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Chapter 3, because it has no potential for resulting in physical change to the environment, directly or indirectly.
NOTICING:
The agenda item has been noticed according to the Brown Act (72 hours in advance of the meeting at which the City Council considers the item).
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment A – Professional Services Agreement with Anchor QEA, Inc.
Attachment B – Professional Services Agreement with Dudek Attachment C – Professional Services Agreement with Moffatt & Nichol 9-3
9-1
Approval of Professional Services Agreements with Anchor QEA, Inc., Dudek, and Moffatt & Nichol for On-Call Marine / Coastal Engineering and Harbor Related Services April 15, 2025
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