City Council Memorandum
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL DATE: JULY 28, 2026 FROM: COMMUNITY & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT WARD: ALL
DEPARTMENT
SUBJECT: MASTER PROFESSIONAL SERVICE AGREEMENTS FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION AND CULTURAL RESOURCE PROJECTS ISSUE:
Approve the Master Professional Service Agreements consultant panel for historic preservation and cultural resource services on an as-needed basis for a five-year period with an option for one three-year extension.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
That the City Council:
Approve five-year Master Consultant Service Agreements for Historic Preservation and Cultural Resources for all Wards on an as-needed basis, for a total amount not to exceed $300,000 for each individual agreement, with the following firms:
Architectural Resources Group, Inc., San Francisco, CA
Dudek, Encinitas, CA
Historic Resources Group, Pasadena, CA
Page & Turnbull, Inc., San Francisco, CA
SWCA, Inc., Phoenix, AZ
Authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to execute the Agreements, including making minor non-substantive changes, and to execute the three-year option to extend, if exercised, and to sign all documents necessary to complete the transaction; and Authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to execute all supplemental agreements to the Master Agreements.
BACKGROUND:
On October 3, 2017, the City Council approved the Historic Preservation and Cultural Recourses Master Panel, consisting of four firms that were deemed qualified to cultural resources projects, on an as needed basis, for a five-year period. This panel expired on September 30, 2025.
On October 28, 2025, the Community & Economic Development Department Planning Division posted Request for Qualification (RFQ) No. 2504 in search of qualified consultants who are readily available to participate on a Panel involving cultural resources surveys, California Local Government (CLG) surveys, historic structure reports, California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) reports, historic designation applications, design guidelines, context statements, code amendments, preservation plans and other related cultural resource needs for the City. The Section received nineteen (19) proposals and five (5) were selected based on their organization's previous experience with similar programs and team strength demonstrated in the proposals.
DISCUSSION:
The Panel establishes a list of qualified consultants who are pre-qualified and pre-authorized through a Master Consultant Service Agreement to perform cultural resource specific project work. Staff continue to believe, as with the last panel which expired after 8 years in 2025, that greater efficiency will be realized by eliminating a review of individual proposals each time cultural resource specific work is needed, resulting in greater project effectiveness through the consultant's familiarity with City standards and performance expectations.
Request for Proposal (RFP) No. 2504 was posted on the City’s online bidding system, Planet Bids, on October 28, 2025, seeking prospective bidders to be on a panel for Cultural Resource Services, on an as-needed basis.
The solicitation notification is summarized in the table below:
Action
Number of Vendors
External Vendors Notified
500
City of Riverside Vendors Notified
796
Vendors who downloaded the RFP
59 Proposals received
21 RFP 2504 closed on November 20, 2025, with a total of (21) responses. Four (4) responses were found nonresponsive due to not meeting the minimum experience requirement, not having a valid SAM at time of proposal due, or submitted alternative proposals. Seventeen (17) responses were found to be responsive and responsible. Under the guidance of the purchasing department, (3) City staff evaluated the proposals for one round, which resulted in (5) vendors ranking the highest, as seen in the table below. The evaluation criteria, total points and rankings for each evaluation round are summarized in the tables below.
Round 1
Evaluation Criteria
Total Points
Experience, Approach, and Relevant Projects
40%
References
10%
Experience of Key Personnel
50%
Evaluation Results
Vendor
Location
Total Points
Rank
Architectural Resources Group
San Francisco, CA
940.00
1 Historic Resources Group
Pasadena, CA
938.33
2 Page & Turnbull
San Francisco, CA
915.00
3 SWCA Incorporated
Phoenix, AZ
888.33
4 Dudek
Encinitas, CA
846.67
5 HELIX Environmental Planning, Inc.
La Mesa, CA
788.33
6 Sapphos Environmental, Inc.
Pasadena, CA
728.33
7 Heritage Architecture & Planning
San Diego, CA
673.33
8 Chambers Group, Inc.
Costa Mesa, CA
653.33
9 Statistical Research, Inc.
Redlands, CA
636.67
10 Psomas
Los Angeles, CA
618.33
11 ECORP Consulting, Inc.
Rocklin, CA
610.00
12 Applied EarthWorks
Fresno, CA
603.33
13 BCR Consulting LLC
Claremont, CA
515.00
14 H&T Cultural Resource Management, Inc.
Colton, CA
513.33
15 Okapi Environmental Group, Inc.
Solana Beach, CA
483.33
16 Trileaf
St Louis, MO
436.67
17 *ASM Affiliates
Carlsbad, CA
N/A
N/A
*Aspen Environmental Group
Agoura Hills, CA
N/A
N/A
*JM Research and Consulting
Riverside, CA
N/A
N/A
*South Environmental LLC
Pasadena, CA
N/A
N/A
*Nonresponsive Vendors
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, 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 are in accordance with Purchasing Resolution 24101.
Per Administrative Manual 07.023.00 Contractor and Consultant Panel Utilization states, “When seeking proposals/bids from the established panel, “ALL” members in applicable category are to be solicited, for informal and formal procurement.” The informal or formal procurement will result in a supplemental agreement for each assigned project, which includes the scope of work, schedule and fee.
The Master Consultant Service Agreements limit each consultant's compensation to an amount not-to-exceed $300,000 over the five-year term of the agreement.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The total fiscal impact of the agreements is up to $300,000 per agreement, for a total of $1,500,000, on an as-needed basis. The primary source of funding for historic preservation and cultural resource projects is through CLG grants from the State of California and will be funded on a case-by-case basis.
Additionally, the Panel will be available for historic preservation or cultural resource projects required by any other City Department. If necessary, the individual Department requesting work will be responsible for paying for those services within their existing budget. All work is contingent on availability of budget to cover all costs.
Prepared by: Scott Watson, Historic Preservation Officer Approved by: Miranda Evans, Community & Economic Development Director Certified as to
availability of funds: Julie Nemes, Finance Director
Approved by: Edward Enriquez, Interim City Manager/Chief Financial Officer Approved as to form: Rebecca McKee-Reimbold, Interim City Attorney Attachment:
RFP Award Recommendation
Master Professional Consultant Services Agreement Architectural Resources Group, Inc., San Francisco, CA Master Professional Consultant Services Agreement Dudek, Encinitas, CA Master Professional Consultant Services Agreement Historic Resources Group, Pasadena, CA Master Professional Consultant Services Agreement Page & Turnbull, Inc., San Francisco, CA Master Professional Consultant Services Agreement SWCA, Inc., Phoenix, AZ Master Consultant Agreements ● Page 2