City Council Memorandum
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL DATE: MARCH 3, 2026 FROM: PUBLIC UTILITIES DEPARTMENT WARDS: ALL SUBJECT: PROFESSIONAL CONSULTANT SERVICES AGREEMENT FROM RFP NO. 2491 FOR GEOTECHNICAL SERVICES FOR WATER UTILITY CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS WITH NV5, INC. OF RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA FOR A TERM UNTIL DECEMBER 31, 2028, IN A NOT-TO-EXCEED AMOUNT OF $400,000 ANNUALLY ON AN AS-NEEDED BASIS WITH THE OPTION TO EXTEND FOR TWO ADDITIONAL ONE YEAR-TERMS ISSUE:
Approve a Professional Consultant Services Agreement from RFP No. 2491 for Geotechnical Services for Water Utility Capital Improvement Projects with NV5, Inc. of Riverside, California, for a term until December 31, 2028, in a not-to-exceed amount of $400,000 annually on an as-needed basis with the option to extend for two additional one-year terms.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
That the City Council:
Approve a Professional Consultant Services Agreement from RFP No. 2491 for Geotechnical Services for Water Utility Capital Improvement Projects with NV5, Inc. of Riverside, California, for a term until December 31, 2028, in a not-to-exceed amount of $400,000 annually on an as-needed basis with the option to extend for two additional one-year terms; and Authorize the City Manager, or designee, to execute the Professional Consultant Services Agreement and any other documents necessary to effectuate the project described herein, as well as the ability to make minor non-substantive changes, in accordance with all purchasing policies, including the ability to extend the agreement for two additional one-year terms.
BOARD RECOMMENDATION:
On February 9, 2026, the Board of Public Utilities, with five of the seven members present and recommended that the City Council approve a Professional Consultant Services Agreement from RFP No. 2491 for Geotechnical Services for Water Utility Capital Improvement Projects with NV5, in a not-to-exceed amount of $400,000 annually on an as-needed basis with the option to extend for two additional one-year terms.
BACKGROUND:
The Riverside Public Utilities Department Water Division (RPU) completes numerous capital improvement projects each year involving the construction of new water utility facilities, including distribution and transmission pipelines, groundwater wells, booster stations, pressure-reducing stations and related facilities. These projects require Professional Geotechnical Engineering Services to evaluate the subsurface soil conditions during design and to perform materials and soils compaction testing during construction, ensuring the work meets the project specifications.
RPU intends to complete numerous projects over the next five years in support of its capital improvement program. These projects vary in nature and complexity and involve various water utility facilities. Using the City’s Formal Procurement process, RPU intends to select one vendor to perform the required Professional Geotechnical Engineering Services on an as-needed basis. This approach will promote greater efficiency, conserve staff time, and improve consistency throughout the project life cycle.
As provided in Purchasing Resolution No. 24101, Professional Services means advisory, consulting, architectural, information technology, engineering, financial, legal (including claims adjustment), surveying, research or developmental and any other Services which involve the exercise of professional discretion and independent judgment based on an advanced or specialized knowledge, expertise or training gained by formal studies or experience.
When Professional Services are desired, a Request for Proposals (RFP) is issued. A RFP is a solicitation which generally describes the services sought to be procured, sets forth minimum standards and criteria for evaluating proposals submitted in response to it, generally describes the format and content of proposals to be submitted, provides for negotiation of terms and conditions of the Procurement Contract, and places an emphasis on described factors other than price to be used in evaluating proposals.
A RFP differs from a Request for Bids (RFB) in that a RFB is used to procure services where price is the evaluation criterion, such as for construction services let to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder after competitive bidding.
DISCUSSION:
The work includes Professional Geotechnical Engineering Services such as geotechnical sampling, laboratory testing, and materials and soils compaction testing. When a project is identified where geotechnical services are required, RPU will present a letter scope of work to the selected vendor and will request that the vendor provide a written price proposal based on the pre-established unit prices. The work will be assigned on an as-needed basis only, and the costs will be paid solely based on the pre-established unit prices.
Once the price proposal is approved, the cost for the individual project will be allocated to the Purchase Order and accounted for in the corresponding work order. Budgetary approval will be sought from the Riverside Board of Public Utilities (Board) as required by City Charter Section 1202(b).
Solicitation Process and Vendor Selection
On July 25, 2025, the City’s Purchasing Division (Purchasing) issued Request for Proposals (RFP) No. 2491 for a qualified vendor to perform geotechnical services for various water utility projects as needed.
Action
Number of Vendors
External Vendors Notified
500
City of Riverside Vendors Notified
143
Vendors who downloaded the RFP
54 Proposals received
11 On August 8, 2025, eleven (11) proposals were received in response to RFP No. 2491. Under the guidance and oversight of the assigned representative from Purchasing, a three-member panel comprised of staff from RPU evaluated the proposals. Each of these three (3) individuals evaluated and ranked the proposals independently and input their scores into the online evaluation portal.
The evaluation criteria and respective weightings were established in collaboration with Purchasing using industry best practices and in consideration of the project needs. Because of the specialized nature of this work, it is essential that the selected vendor have the qualifications and experience needed to successfully complete the work along with a superb understanding of the work and a verified track record to back it up. Fair and reasonable pricing is a very important consideration as well to ensure overall good value for the City. The RFP required each vendor to provide a unit price for every itemized work item. It also included an assumed quantity of work items representative of a typical project, allowing for a consistent basis to evaluate vendor pricing. The weightings were allocated according to the relative importance of each evaluation criterion based on the project needs.
The vendors who submitted proposals for RFP No. 2491, along with their respective proposal scores, are summarized in the following table.
Vendor Name
City Location
Rate Totals
Weighted Score Evaluations
Project Understanding
(20%)
Approach and Methodology
(30%)
Qualifications and Experience of Company Personnel
(25%)
Professional References
(5%)
Pricing
(20%)
Total Proposal Score
Rank
NV5, Inc.
Riverside, CA
$59,114.33
153.33
230.00
181.67
20.33 163.55
748.88
1 Koury Engineering & Testing, Inc.
Chino, CA
$48,341.00
148.00
190.00
171.67
11.00 200.00
720.67
2 GeoMat Testing Laboratories, Inc.
Riverside, CA
$50,208.26
135.33
215.00
153.33
14.83 192.56
711.05
3 Certerra RMA Group
Rancho Cucamonga, CA
$66,738.00
120.67
191.00
145.00
30.33 144.87
631.87
4 EDIFICA USA
Lake Forest, CA
$52,485.00
118.67
131.00
135.00
20.83 184.21
589.71
5 GEOSOILS INC
Carlsbad, CA
$58,727.00
124.00
170.00
101.67
26.50 164.63
586.80
6 Atlas Technical Consultants, LLC
Riverside, CA
$91,755.00
100.00
187.00
165.00
22.00 105.37
579.37
7 Hushmand Associates, Inc.
Irvine, CA
$86,785.00
125.33
143.00
161.67
36.33 111.40
577.73
8 MTGL Inc.
Riverside, CA
$61,021.00
100.00
170.00
111.67
11.00 158.44
551.11
9 UES Professional Solutions, Inc.
Riverside, CA
$81,510.00
92.00 147.00
173.33
12.67 118.61
543.61
10 Aragon Geotechnical, Inc.
Riverside, CA
$64,735.00
80.00 41.00
121.67
17.50 149.35
409.52
11 Estimated Budget Range: $50,000 – $60,000
Upon review of the evaluation scores by the assigned representative from Purchasing, NV5, Inc., ranked highest based on their proposal submitted.
Project and Fiscal Breakdown
Work Type:
Performed By:
Amount:
As-Needed Geotechnical Services for Water Utility Capital Improvement Projects NV5, Inc.
Not-to-Exceed $400,000
Each Year
Reimbursements:
None
Anticipated Start Date:
March 2026
Anticipated Duration:
3 Years / 2 Optional Years
Purchasing Resolution 24101, Section 508 Awards states, “Contracts 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 recommended actions comply with Purchasing Resolution No. 24101.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The fiscal impact will not exceed $400,000 each year and will not exceed $2,000,000 over the three-year term and option to extend for two additional one-year terms. The total fiscal impact is up to $400,000 per year, with a total of up to $2,000,000 which includes the two, one-year extensions of the agreement. Budgetary accounts will be designated as required services are identified and approval for the required services will be sought along with the respective project approvals.
Prepared by: David A. Garcia, Utilities General Manager Certified as to
availability of funds: Julie Nemes, Interim Finance Director Approved by: Gilbert Hernandez, Interim Assistant City Manager Approved as to form: Rebecca McKee-Reimbold, Interim City Attorney Attachments:
Award Recommendation – RFP No. 2491
Professional Consultant Services Agreement
Presentation
RFP No. 2491 – Geotechnical Services for Water Utility Capital Improvement Projects ● Page 2