City Council Memorandum
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL DATE: JULY 1, 2025 FROM: PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT WARDS: ALL
SUBJECT: REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS NO. 2401 – APPROVE FOURTEEN (14) MASTER PROFESSIONAL CONSULTANT SERVICES AGREEMENTS IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $1,000,000 PER CONSULTANT, ESTABLISHING A PROFESSIONAL CONSULTANT SERVICES PANEL FOR VARIOUS CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS FOR THE RIVERSIDE REGIONAL WATER QUALITY CONTROL PLANT AND TEQUESQUITE LANDFILL, FOR AN INTIAL TERM OF FOUR (4) YEARS ENDING DECEMBER 31, 2029, WITH TWO (2) OPTIONAL ONE-YEAR TERMS PER CONSULTANT ISSUE:
Approve fourteen (14) Master Professional Consultant Services Agreements in an amount not to exceed $1,000,000 per consultant, establishing a Professional Consultant Services Panel for various capital improvement projects for the Riverside Regional Water Quality Control Plant and the Tequesquite Landfill, for an initial term of four (4) years ending December 31, 2029, with two (2) optional one-year terms per consultant.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
That the City Council:
Approve the Master Professional Consultant Services Agreements with fourteen (14) professional firms as identified in this report, in an amount not to exceed $1,000,000 per consultant, for Professional Consulting Services at the Riverside Regional Water Quality Control Plant and the Tequesquite Landfill, for an initial term of four (4) years ending December 31, 2029, and two (2) optional one-year term extensions; Authorize the City Manager, or designee, to execute the Master Professional Consultant Service Agreements and the optional extensions with the firms listed in this report, including making minor and non-substantive changes; and Authorize the City Manager, or designee, to execute Supplemental Agreements as needed for up to $300,000 per project under the Master Agreements, for a total not to exceed amount of $1,000,000 per firm over the agreement term, in substantially the same form as attached to this report, with subsequent reports back to the City Council from time to time on the addition or deletion of such new panel members.
BACKGROUND:
On March 17, 2020, City Council authorized the establishment of a Professional Consultant Services Panel to support the Wastewater Division’s Regional Water Quality Control Plant (RWQCP) capital improvement program on an as-needed basis. Over the past four years, 10 agreements have been issued to three firms for a total of $1.33 million (Exhibit A). The consultant panel expired on December 31, 2024.
DISCUSSION:
The new Master Consultant Services panel will provide an expanded range of services necessary for numerous projects at the RWQCP and the Tequesquite Landfill. The utilization of the panel ensures that projects are completed in an expeditious manner to maintain satisfactory operation and regulatory requirements.
For individual projects, the City will solicit proposals from all consultant firms on the panel within their respective categories of expertise. An evaluation committee will select the best proposal based on project approach, strength of the proposed project team, cost and schedule. Funds for each assigned project are approved as part of the City Council budget and project budget adoption. The Department will negotiate a supplemental agreement with the selected firm for each project, including scope and fee, with the City Manager, or designee, having the authority to execute the Supplemental Agreement.
For larger and more complex projects, typically with an engineer’s estimated project value of approximately $300,000 or more, the formal, project-specific Request for Bids process will be used for the required services.
RFQ 2401
On October 24, 2024, Request for Qualifications (RFQ) No. 2401 was posted on PlanetBids seeking qualified consultants to establish a panel for professional consulting services for various disciplines including, Wastewater Planning and Engineering, Geotechnical and Material Testing, Specialty Inspection, Sewer Inspection, Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) System, Landfill Studies, Remediation and Monitoring, Regulatory and Environmental Compliance Services, Electrical Power Systems, Gas/Air Handling System, and Rate Development Planning and Financial Services.
Upon releasing RFQ 2401, a total of 1,456 City of Riverside vendors were notified. There was no addendum released, six (6) questions were responded to, and the City did not host a pre-proposal meeting. The Public Works Department received interest from a total of 14 firms ranging from large diverse to very specialized firms. The fourteen (14) firms include five of the firms from the previous consultant service panel, and nine (9) new firms. An evaluation committee comprised of three Public Works Department staff were assigned to evaluate all responsive proposals for each discipline, and found 14 out of 14 firms are qualified in their respective areas.
Master Panel Agreements
Attached are the Master Professional Consultant Service Agreements. The terms of the agreement cover services through December 31, 2029. A cap of $1,000,000 has been established for each firm over the term of the agreement. Each consultant has been pre-qualified based on the RFQ results and assigned to one or more of the following categories, based on their area of expertise.
Wastewater Planning and Engineering (WPE)
Geotechnical and Material Testing (GMT)
Specialty Inspection (SPI)
Sewer Inspection (SWI)
Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) System (SCADA) Landfill Studies, Remediation and Monitoring (LSRM)
Regulatory and Environmental Compliance Services (REC)
Electrical Power Systems (EPS)
Gas/Air Handling System (GAHS)
Rate Development Planning and Financial Services (RDP)
The Public Works Department recommends awarding Master Agreements to the following firms:
Rank
Firm
Category
City
Prior Panelist
1 Northern Digital, Inc.
SCADA
Bakersfield
Yes
2 T.Y.Lin International
WPE, SWI, EPS, GAHS
Ontario
No
3 Carollo Engineers
WPS, SCADA, REC, EPS, GAHS, RDP
Costa Mesa
Yes
4 Lee & Ro, Inc.
WPE, EPS, GAHS
City of Industry
Yes
5 Geo-Logic Associates, Inc.
GMT, LSRM
Ontario
No
6 GeoTek, Inc.
GMT, SPI
Corona
Yes
7 Krieger & Stewart, Inc.
WPE
Riverside
Yes
8 Civil and Environmental Consultants, Inc.
LSRM
Tustin
No
9 ECOTEC Solutions, Inc.
LSRM
Colton
No
10 GeoMat Testing Laboratories, Inc.
GMT
Riverside
No
11 Michael K. Nunkey & Associates, Inc. dba MKN
WPE
Irvine
No
12 UltraSystems Environmental, Inc.
REC
Irvine
No
13 Aragon Geotechnical, Inc.
GMT
Riverside
No
14 Albert A. Webb Associates
REC
Riverside
No
N/A
*MDC Engineers, Inc.
N/A
Anaheim Hills
N/A
*The vendor has opted not to participate in the Consultants Panel.
Purchasing Resolution 24101 Section 508 states, “Contract procured through Formal Procurement shall be awarded by the Awarding Entity to the Lowest Responsive and Responsible Bidder, except that…(c) Contracts procured through Formal Procurement for Services or Professional Services, where a Request for Proposals or Request for Qualifications was used to solicit Bids, shall be awarded by the Awarding Entity in accordance with the evaluation criteria set forth in the Request for Proposals or Request for Qualifications…” The Purchasing Manager concurs that the recommendation to award is in compliance with Purchasing Resolution 24101.
STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT:
This item contributes to Strategic Priority 6 – Infrastructure, Mobility, and Connectivity and Goal 6.2 – Maintain, protect, and improve assets and infrastructure within the City’s built environment to ensure and enhance reliability, resiliency, sustainability, and facilitate connectivity.
This project focuses on fiscal responsibility to prudently utilize public funds to provide exceptional services that are efficient, accessible, and responsive. Authorizing the execution of these agreements provides timing installation, maintenance, repair, rehabilitation, and to ensure safe, reliable infrastructures that benefits the community and facilities.
Furthermore, this project aligns with each of the five Cross-Cutting Threads as follows:
Community Trust – These agreements will help expedite timely design, study, and rehabilitation as needed to ensure wastewater discharges do not negatively impact the community and environment, to prevent surface and subsurface emissions at the Tequesquite Landfill and to restore City infrastructures. This project serves the public interest, benefits the City’s diverse populations, and results in greater public good.
Equity – These agreements support Public Works Department efforts in protecting the public’s health and the environment by ensuring critical City infrastructures and the RWQCP equipment are operating efficiently and effectively, as well as the Tequesquite Landfill site is compliant and aligns with local laws and regulations.
Fiscal Responsibility – These agreements target ways to reduce costs, minimize inefficiencies, and restore infrastructures in an expeditious and fiscally responsible manner. Contracts are always awarded to the most qualified consultant at the most reasonable cost feasible.
Innovation – These agreements exemplify a collaborative partnership between Public Works Department and the qualified consultants to enhance operational reliability by achieving measurable improvements through proper maintenance and rehabilitation services of City assets and infrastructures. This approach provides better services and be more responsive to community members and elected officials.
Sustainability & Resiliency –These agreements support continuous evaluation of performance measures and practices of the RWQCP, including the Tequesquite Landfill, that can be managed and maintained for overall optimum performance to meet the current and future needs.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The total fiscal impact for this action is not to exceed $1,000,000 per agreement. Funds for each assigned project will be from the Sewer Fund for sewer-related projects, or the Refuse Fund for projects related to the Tequesquite Landfill, and are included in the Capital Improvement Project budget submittals for City Council approval and will be charged on an as-needed basis.
Prepared by: Elaine Radke, Senior Engineer
Approved by: Gilbert Hernandez, Public Works Director
Certified as to
availability of funds: Kristie Thomas, Finance Director/Assistant Chief Financial Officer Approved by: Kris Martinez, Assistant City Manager
Approved as to form: Rebecca McKee-Reimbold, Interim City Attorney Attachments:
Exhibit A – Agreement List 2020-2024
Master Professional Service Agreements
RFQ Award Recommendation
RWQCP-Consultants PanelPage 2