Public Works Committee
May 24, 2022
AGENDA REPORT
TO: Edward D. Reiskin FROM: G. Harold Duffey
City Administrator Director Oakland Public
Works
SUBJECT: Hoover Branch Library Feasibility
Study Consultant Award
DATE: May 2, 2022
City Administrator Approval Date: May 12, 2022
RECOMMENDATION
Staff Recommends That City Council Adopt A Resolution: 1) Awarding A Professional Services Agreement For Architectural Design Services To Blink!Lab Architecture For An Amount Not-To-Exceed Four Hundred Thousand Dollars ($400,000.00) To Prepare A Feasibility Study For A New Hoover Branch Library (Project No. 1004856), With An Option To Amend Blink!Lab Architecture’s Agreement To Provide Grant Support Services For An Amount Not-To-Exceed Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($250,000.00) Upon Identification Of Additional Funding; 2) Authorizing The City Administrator To Apply For, Accept And Appropriate Future Grant Funds To Support The Design And Construction Of A New Hoover Branch Library; And 3) Adopting Appropriate California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Findings.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Approval of this resolution will authorize the City Administrator to enter into a professional services agreement with blink!LAB Architecture for an amount not-to-exceed four hundred thousand dollars ($400,000.00) to prepare a feasibility study of development options for a new Hoover Branch Library in the Hoover-Foster (also known as Hoover-Durant) neighborhood.
This resolution also requests authorization to amend blink!LAB Architecture’s agreement to provide grant support services for an amount not-to-exceed two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000.00) as additional funding becomes available. These grant support services will enable the Oakland Public Library to respond quickly to grant opportunities that will support efforts to develop a new branch library in this underserved community. This resolution will also authorize the City Administrator to apply for, accept and appropriate future grant funds to support the implementation of the feasibility study recommendations for the design and construction of a new library.
A Request For Proposals (RFP) was issued on July 9, 2021 seeking proposals from qualified consultant teams to prepare a feasibility study for a new branch library in the Hoover-Foster neighborhood, to provide grant support services, and to provide full design, bid-award support and construction support services, contingent upon sufficient project funding. At this time, project funding is available for performing the feasibility study.
Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: Hoover Branch Library Feasibility Study Consultant Award Date: May 2, 2022 Page 2
Public Works Committee
May 24, 2022
BACKGROUND / LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
Various reading rooms and libraries have served the Hoover-Foster neighborhood as far back as 1887 when the North Oakland Reading Room was formed in a private home near Peralta Ave and 34th Street. The reading room was later relocated in 1895. Then in 1909, the North Oakland Free Library opened at 2022 San Pablo. In 1966, the library moved to 3140 San Pablo and moved again in 1968 to 3134 San Pablo but eventually permanently closed in July 1981.
In 1930, a second neighborhood library, the Telegrove Branch Library, opened at 3424 Grove St. (now Martin Luther King, Jr. Way) but permanently closed in 1950. Today, there are no libraries in the immediate neighborhood. The nearest libraries are all between one to two miles away, and include the Golden Gate Branch Library at 5606 San Pablo Ave, the West Oakland Branch Library at 1801 Adeline St, the Temescal Branch Library at 5205 Telegraph Ave, and the Main Library at 125 14
th St.
The 2006 Master Facilities Plan from the Oakland Public Library recognized the gap in library services in the Hoover-Foster neighborhood and recommended development of a new 8,000- 12,000 square foot library based on population growth projections. The project is located in Council District 3 and very closely bordering Council District 1. (Attachment A – Project Location Map)
The Hoover Branch Library Feasibility Study (project) is funded by The Infrastructure and Housing Bonds measure (Measure KK) passed in November 2016 by over two-thirds of the qualified voters to improve public safety and invest in neighborhoods. In October 2018, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 87376 C.M.S. approving an updated prioritization process to fund projects in the Fiscal Year 2019-21 Capital Improvement Program. The feasibility study project scored highly under this prioritization process and was allocated Measure KK funding for the study.
ANALYSIS AND POLICY ALTERNATIVES
In accordance with Oakland Municipal Code (OMC) 2.04.051 and the provisions of Administrative Instruction 150 for Professional Services Contracts, a Request For Proposals (RFP) was issued on July 9, 2021 seeking proposals from qualified consultant teams with solid technical expertise and strong experience with inclusive outreach and community engagement to prepare a feasibility study for a new branch library in the Hoover-Foster neighborhood. Other services required by the RFP, contingent upon additional funding and at the City’s sole discretion, included grant support, full design, bid-award support and construction support services. At this time, project funding is available for performing the feasibility study. On September 10, 2021, Public Works Capital Contracts Division (OPW-CCD) received three proposals. The Department of Workplace and Employment Standards (DWES) completed their analysis on December 9, 2021. (Attachment B – Compliance Analysis)
A five-member panel comprised of two Oakland Public Library (OPL) staff members, one Oakland Public Works (OPW) staff member, and two representatives from Friends of the Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: Hoover Branch Library Feasibility Study Consultant Award Date: May 2, 2022 Page 3
Public Works Committee
May 24, 2022
Hoover Durant Public Library (FOHDPL) reviewed and scored the proposals based on the scoring criteria described in the RFP and recommended that all three firms be invited to interview on October 25, 2021. The interview evaluation criteria for the selection included the following:
• Describing the Hoover Foster (aka Hoover Durant) neighborhood to someone unfamiliar with Oakland.
• Describing their team’s visions and aspirations for this community. • Describing their approach and key stakeholders in community engagement for this project, including methods to seek and incorporate citywide community feedback. • Defining intentional, inclusive community engagement and it’s opposite situation. • Describing the strategy to engage community that is not already engaged. • Describing the process to incorporate community feedback and how the community’s voices will be reflected in the study.
• Discussing how they would plan for future population shifts. • Describing some possible creative financing opportunities for the construction of a new Hoover Branch Library.
Based on the proposal reviews and interview process, the panel recommended blink!LAB Architecture (blink!LAB) and their consultant team to be the most qualified and most responsive to the RFP to conduct the Hoover Branch Library feasibility study, and provide full design, bid- award, and construction support services pending future funding availability
Staff completed scope of work negotiations with blink!LAB in March 2022 and based on the negotiations blink!LAB will meet or exceed the City’s Local and Small Local Business Enterprise program (L/SLBE) as a condition of receiving a contract, along with complying with the other pertinent City’s contracting policies and requirements. OPW will work with DWES to ensure compliance by blink!LAB and their subconsultant team during the contract execution process for the feasibility study and for any subsequent contract amendments.
Approval of this resolution advances the Citywide priority to support vibrant, sustainable infrastructure. Historically, the Hoover Foster neighborhood has been served by various reading rooms and two separate library branches. The last branch closed in 1950 leaving a gap in library services in this neighborhood. The feasibility study is crucial step toward realizing the community’s vision to build a new branch library someday to serve their neighborhood.
Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: Hoover Branch Library Feasibility Study Consultant Award Date: May 2, 2022 Page 4
Public Works Committee
May 24, 2022
FISCAL IMPACT
The project is funded by Measure KK in the Fiscal Year 2019-21 Capital Improvement Program.
The contract funding source is as follows:
FUNDING SOURCE AMOUNT
Measure KK Fund (5332); Project (1004856); Capital Projects Organization (92270); Consultant Contract Account (tbd); Award (23687); Program (IN06)
$120,000.00
Measure KK Fund (5335); Project (1004856); Capital Projects Organization (92270); Consultant Contract Account (tbd); Award (23940); Program (IN06)
$280,000.00
The recommendations of the feasibility study will provide the crucial framework and community engagement needed for City staff to seek potential federal, state, local, and private funding for commencing design phase services through construction. Approval of this resolution will also authorize the City Administrator to apply for, accept and appropriate future grant funds to support the implementation of the feasibility study recommendations for this Project.
PUBLIC OUTREACH / INTEREST
For this professional services RFP solicitation, OPW-Project & Grant Management Division (OPW-PGM) worked with OPW’s Capital Contract Division (OPW-CCD) and the Department of Workplace and Employment Standards on performing public outreach through the enhanced notifications, legal ads, and pre-proposal meeting.
As part of the enhanced notification and the Capital Contract Equity Initiative for OPW, public outreach engagement includes outreach to professional organizations representing women- owned and African American-owned firms. Groups were identified in the 2019 Mason Tillman Disparity Study as firms not receiving a proportional amount of contracting dollars from the City of Oakland. Specifically, OPW-CCD shares notifications with an established disparity outreach list of local women-owned, African American, and other global majority associations such as the National Association of Women Business and Owners and the National Black Contractors Association of California.
In addition, notifications of solicitations were distributed by the City‘s iSupplier system, which was utilized to notify Oakland-certified local and non-local professional service providers (e.g., landscape architects, architects, engineers, contractors, and planning firms); regional trade and business groups, including the Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, Oakland Black Board of Trade & Commerce, Bay Area Business Roundtable, and Construction Bidboard.
Companies that register in iSupplier wait a few days before receiving access to review proposal requests in this system. If a company enters a North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code, they are being notified about projects with this code.
Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: Hoover Branch Library Feasibility Study Consultant Award Date: May 2, 2022 Page 5
Public Works Committee
May 24, 2022
In addition to iSupplier and the established disparity outreach list, OPW-CCD also utilizes CIPList.com, a free, web-enabled site to announce and distribute solicitations. It is used to push out notifications to plan rooms and builders’ exchanges such as ARC North America, Builders Exchange of Alameda County, Contra Costa Builders Exchange, Dodge Data & Analytics, East Bay Blueprint, East Bay Blueprint, iSqFT, Northern California Electrical Construction Industry, Peninsula Builders Exchange, San Francisco Builders Exchange, and Solano-Napa Builders Exchange. Through CIPList.com, any company or entity may register to be automatically notified of all City of Oakland solicitations without restrictions.
The legal notice for the RFP was advertised on June 18, 2021. OPW-CCD included printed legal notices in the East Bay Times and Oakland Post. In addition, information about the project was published in El Mundo, Daily Pacific Builder, World Journal, and the Korea Times publications to supplement and ensure the information reaches Local Business Enterprise and Small Local Business Enterprise (LBE/SLBE) in Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) communities with potential contractors/consultant.
OPW-CCD held a virtual pre-proposal meeting in partnership with the Workplace & Employment Standards Department and the Project Manager on July 15, 2021, with approximately twenty- eight firms in attendance. The meeting served a few purposes: to discuss the current RFP solicitation, to discuss with potential consultants how contracts are established with the City, and to allow for opportunities for consultants to network and partner on this RFP.
Finally, upcoming projects and current projects accepting submissions are on OPW’s webpage.
As part of our equity initiative, OPW-CCD will partner with the Business Assistance Center to identify grant funding to establish a Contract Assistance Center to help guide contractors with the City’s contracting process.
COORDINATION
The work to be done under this contract has been coordinated with OPL, DWES, the Budget Bureau, and appropriate divisions within OPW.
This report and the resolution have been reviewed for form and legality by the Office of the City Attorney.
SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES
Economic: The contract will provide economic opportunities for the consultant team’s L/SLBE firms. The contract work will generate business tax, sales tax, and other revenues for the City by those firms who work on the project. Local businesses will be utilized on the projects and will benefit directly.
Environmental: The consultant will provide the project team with guidance on issues with adaptive reuse of historically significant buildings. If the consultant’s work is amended to include design services, the consultant will be required to incorporate the City’s environmental and sustainability design requirements and guidelines into the project.
Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: Hoover Branch Library Feasibility Study Consultant Award Date: May 2, 2022 Page 6
Public Works Committee
May 24, 2022
Race & Equity: The feasibility study will support the Oakland Public Library’s mission to provide services to Oakland residents and patrons of all ages, races and abilities that enhance the equitable disbursement of Library services, programs, staffing, facilities, technology, and resources in order to decrease disparities in life outcomes of marginalized communities and to facilitate equity of opportunity throughout Oakland.
CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT (CEQA)
The project is exempt from CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Sections 15268 (Ministerial Projects), 15183 (Projects Consistent with a Community Plan, General Plan or Zoning), 15302 (Replacement or Reconstruction), 15303 (Small Structures), 15304(h) (Minor Alterations to Land), and/or 15061(b)(3) (No Significant Effect on the Environment). Each of the above exemptions provides a separate and independent basis for CEQA compliance.
Along with the submittal of any grant application submitted in connection with this resolution to support the design and construction of a new Hoover Branch Library, the CEQA determination will be completed to meet grant requirements as well as during project implementation if funded.
Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: Hoover Branch Library Feasibility Study Consultant Award Date: May 2, 2022 Page 7
Public Works Committee
May 24, 2022
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Staff Recommends That City Council Adopt A Resolution: 1) Awarding A Professional Services Agreement For Architectural Design Services To Blink!Lab Architecture For An Amount Not-To- Exceed Four Hundred Thousand Dollars ($400,000.00) To Prepare A Feasibility Study For A New Hoover Branch Library (Project No. 1004856), With An Option To Amend Blink!Lab Architecture’s Agreement To Provide Grant Support Services For An Amount Not-To-Exceed Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($250,000.00) Upon Identification Of Additional Funding; 2) Authorizing The City Administrator To Apply For, Accept And Appropriate Future Grant Funds To Support The Design And Construction Of A New Hoover Branch Library; And 3) Adopting Appropriate California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Findings.
For questions regarding this report, please contact Calvin Hao, Project Manager, at (510) 238- 7395.
Respectfully submitted,
G. HAROLD DUFFEY
Director, Oakland Public Works
Reviewed by:
Denise Louie, Acting Assistant Director
Bureau of Design and Construction
Prepared by:
Calvin Hao, Project Manager
Bureau of Design and Construction
Attachments (2):
A: Project Location Map
B. Compliance Analysis