Agenda Item: 5
CITY OF SANTA CLARITA
AGENDA REPORT
CONSENT CALENDAR
CITY MANAGER APPROVAL:
DATE: September 23, 2025
SUBJECT: TRANSIT HYDROGEN FUELING INFRASTRUCTURE CONTRACT
FOR SPECIAL INSPECTIONS AND MATERIALS TESTING
SERVICES
DEPARTMENT: Economic Development
PRESENTER: Adrian Aguilar
RECOMMENDED ACTION
City Council:
1. Award a professional services contract in the amount of $358,816 to Twining, Inc., to provide special inspections and material testing services, and authorize a 15 percent contingency in the amount of $53,822, for a total contract not to exceed $412,638.
2. Authorize the City Manager or designee to execute all contracts and associated documents, subject to City Attorney approval.
BACKGROUND
In December 2018, the California Air Resources Board adopted the Innovative Clean Transit (ICT) regulation. The ICT regulation requires all public transit agencies to gradually transition to 100-percent zero-emission bus fleets. To prepare for this transition, staff analyzed various options and determined that hydrogen fuel cell electric buses were the best option available to meet the City of Santa Clarita’s (City) needs. This determination was based on range, need for additional infrastructure, and long-term operating costs.
In March 2023, the City retained Trillium Inc. to design and construct a hydrogen production and fueling station at the Transit Maintenance Facility (TMF). The TMF hydrogen project is designed to construct a station that supports up to 16 hydrogen fuel cell electric buses, and includes the flexibility to expand in the future with additional storage capacity and a second hydrogen producing unit without requiring significant design modifications. Construction is currently underway and is expected to be completed in January 2026.
In support of the project, the City conducted a Request for Proposals (RFP) to solicit proposals from qualified firms to provide special inspections and material testing services during construction of the station. The RFP was published and circulated via the City’s e-procurement system, BidNet, on July 25, 2025. The City transmitted the solicitation to 3,576 vendors on BidNet, of which 69 vendors downloaded the RFP. A total of two companies provided proposals for consideration.
These proposals were reviewed and evaluated based on each company's ability to meet the specific needs of the City. An evaluation panel, comprised of staff from the Transit division and the City’s contracted hydrogen consulting team, scored the responses based on a 100-point scale using the following categories of weighted criteria:
• Past Experience (50 points)
• Technical Approach (30 points)
• Responsiveness to the RFP including content, format, and thoroughness of the written proposal (20 points)
In reviewing the proposals, the evaluation panel awarded the highest score to Twining, Inc., and determined their proposal offered the best overall value to meet the special inspections and material testing services needs. The results of the evaluation and interviews are outlined below:
Rank Company Location Score
1 Twining, Inc. Ventura, CA 87
2 Certerra RMA Group Carson, CA 83
Twining, Inc., demonstrated an in-depth understanding of the project needs and provided a detailed scope of work and approach to the project. Based on its experience with other projects, and the completeness of their proposal for this project, staff recommends awarding the special inspections and material testing services contract to Twining, Inc. The proposal is available in the City Clerk’s Reading File.
The requested contingency will cover the cost of unforeseen testing requirements, additional field inspections, and any additional lab work requested by the City.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION
Other action as determined by the City Council.
x
FISCAL IMPACT
The total cost of this project, including contingency, is $412,638 and does not impact the General Fund. Federal Transit Administration grant funds are available to cover 100 percent of the cost.
Adequate funds from Transit Fund (700) have previously been appropriated as part of the Fiscal Year 2025-26 budget in project expenditure account F1026700-516101 to support the recommended contract.
ATTACHMENTS
Twining, Inc. Final Proposal (available in the City Clerk's Reading File)