City Council Agenda Report
April 16, 2024
TO: Honorable City Council
FROM: Jesus M. Gomez, City Manager
BY: Glen W.C. Kau, P.E., Director of Public Services/City Engineer Jacqueline Koontz, P.E., Senior Civil Engineer
SUBJECT: AWARD OF PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT - 2025 STORM
WATER MASTER PLAN STUDY
Background:
Norwalk is about 9.8 square miles in area; is a balanced residential, commercial, and industrial city with approximately 110,000 residents. Incorporated in 1957, Norwalk, is located 17 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles, and is part of the Greater Los Angeles area.
The storm drain system serves the City and consists of all lands within its corporate boundaries.
The City currently contracts for regularly scheduled catch basin inspection/cleaning and for as- needed system repairs. No city-wide storm drain system master plan has ever been completed to date for the City.
Public Services Utilities staff sought after qualified and experienced engineering consulting firms to perform a storm water system master plan (SWMP) study and related services for the City’s storm drain system. The SWMP is intended to be used to provide guidance and recommendations for crucial improvements for enhancements to system operations and maintenance; system improvements to insure uninterrupted and compliant services; identify and recommend future system capital improvements; account for future private development and associated system demands.
The selected engineering consulting firm will be selected through a qualifications-based selection (QBS), a procedure whereby the firm is retained based on qualifications and responses; price is not the primary factor but is considered into the agreement with negotiation as needed for a mutually agreeable contract.
City Council April 16, 2024
2025 Storm Water Master Plan Study Agreement Award Page No. 2 8 2
7 In November 2023, staff solicited a Request for Proposal (RFP) to acquire city-wide SWMP study services. The work scope consisted of two tenets: System Data Collection and Hydrology System improvement Plan. These define the goals; data format(s); provide conceptual planning to assist with parameter setting for the type of improvements recommended/needed; hydrologic model development based on Los Angeles County Flood Control District (LACFD) requirements; prepare a storm drain system improvement plan that includes prioritization based recommended improvements with estimated concept level costs for main and branch drain lines.
The SWMP work scope efforts consists of the following primary tasks at minimum:
Task 1 - System Inventory and GIS Data Collection
Task 2 - System Hydrologic Model
Task 3 - Capacity Analysis
Task 4 - System Improvement Plan Development
Task 5 - Mapping and Master Plan of Drainage (SWMP) Report No responses were received during initial solicitation. Staff contacted a handful of potential engineering consultants to extend personal invitations to propose. This proved successful as five proposals were received from the second solicitation. The five proposals were reviewed and ranked with the following results:
Rank Company Name Completion
Time Fee
1 BKF 12 months $377,952
2 Kimley-Horn 12 months $442,806
3 Dudek 12 months $443,945
4 Psomas 13 months $460,211
5 EXP 12 months $693,976
The top two firms were close in their proposals with similar approaches. For the hydraulic modeling efforts, Kimley-Horn proposed the smallest pipe they would model is 24-to-36 diameter inch pipe. Their reasoning is modeling smaller pipes requires more effort, which is accurate. BKF proposed the smallest pipe they would model is 18-inch pipe. Normally, for a master plan update, modeling pipes no smaller than 24-to-36-inch diameter is the norm. This is a first-time effort with many unknowns; we need to establish a baseline and from what has been observed in the field, there are likely more, smaller diameter pipes used in the system. Modeling these smaller diameter pipes provides the necessary data for accurate flows and yields better results to determine existing system operational characteristics and provide beneficial upgrade recommendations. All data captured/collected will be provided in Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) formats.
City Council April 16, 2024
2025 Storm Water Master Plan Study Agreement Award Page No. 3 8 2
7 At the time of City incorporation, engineering services were provided by Los Angeles County Department of Public Works (LACDPW) and storm drain system information is few and far between. There are some records available at the City; most of this information will be available through LACDPW. This requires a substantial level of research effort to acquire system information which is essential to developing an accurate storm drain system model. Staff anticipates project completion time while listed as 12 months, will likely require additional time for the data collection effort, and therefore staff estimates a completion of 18 months.
Fiscal Impact:
Adequate funding ($250,000) is available in the approved FY 2023-24 budget. Staff recommends that these services will be funded over two fiscal years and will budget the project appropriately. These services will be funded over two fiscal years and costs will be included in next year’s budget.
Citizens Advised:
N/A
Strategic Plan 2023 Implementation:
The recommended action will further the City’s Strategic Plan Goal 2: Work in Partnership with Our Community to Achieve Safe and Livable Neighborhoods, Objective 1, Reinvest in existing and aging infrastructure.
Recommended Action:
Staff recommends City Council award a professional services agreement to BKF to provide professional engineering services for preparation of the City of Norwalk’s 2025 Storm Water Master Plan Project, for a not-to-exceed-fee of $377,952; and authorize the City Manager to execute the agreement and any amendments, provided there is funding in the budget and it is within the City Manager’s signing authority, on behalf of the City, in a form approved by the City Attorney.
Attachments:
N/A