City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: March 22, 2022
Agenda Item: 3.F
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To: Mayor and City Council
From: Rick Valte, Public Works Director, Public Works, Engineering and Street Services
Rick Valte, Public Works Director, Public Works Department Subject: Award Professional Services Agreement to KPFF Consulting Engineers to Design the Beach Bike Path Ramp Connection to Santa Monica Pier Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Award RFP #2447 to KPFF Consulting Engineers to provide design services, develop construction documents, and provide engineering support during the construction of the Beach Bike Path Ramp Connection to Santa Monica Pier Project for the Public Works Department;
2. Authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute a professional services agreement with KPFF Consulting Engineers, in an amount not to exceed $248,336 (including a 10% contingency);
3. Authorize the City Manager to issue any necessary modifications to complete additional work within contract authority.
Summary
The Santa Monica State Beach Regional Beach Bike Path (Marvin Braude Bike Trail or Beach Bike Path) and the Santa Monica Pier are two of the most popular and frequently visited places in the City of Santa Monica. The Beach Bike Path Ramp Connection to Santa Monica Pier Project (Beach Bike Ramp Project) would create a bicycle ramp that connects the heavily used Beach Bike Path to the Santa Monica Pier.
The ramp would serve local and regional bicycle network users by providing a structure linking the Santa Monica Downtown/4th Street Expo Station to the Pier and Beach.
Currently there is no direct bicycle connection between the Beach Bike Path, Downtown Santa Monica, and the Expo Light Rail Station. 2 of 6
The new ramp would promote the use of transit and other alternative modes of transportation and advance the City’s goal to reduce car trips to the Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica Beach, and surrounding vicinity. Staff recommends KPFF Consulting Engineers (KPFF) to provide engineering design services, develop construction documents, and provide engineering support during the construction phase of the project for an amount not to exceed $248,336 (including a 10% contingency).
Discussion
As part of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) 2015 Call for Projects, the Metro Board of Directors authorized the programming of $1,049,276 of Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) grant funds to the City of Santa Monica to cover 80% of the total construction and design costs for the Beach Bike Ramp Project. Due to cost increases from the 2015 design budget to current day pricing, the actual design contract of $248,336 is funded 47% by local return funds and 53% funded by CMAQ grant funds.
Staff is seeking approval to award a contract to complete the design of the Beach Bike Ramp Project. The structural details and exact geometrics would be determined during design development; however, the new ramp is anticipated to be approximately 240 feet in length with a height of up to 12 feet to match the existing pier deck height. The total width of the ramp would be approximately 20 feet with handrails on both sides, resulting in a clear path of 18 feet. The new ramp would have a continuous slope of approximately five percent and would be constructed on the State Beach owned by the California Department of Parks and Recreation and adjacent to the Beach Bike Path.
The City conducted several public hearings where the proposed Beach Bike Ramp Project was discussed and prioritized as a key component in the adopted bicycle action plan. Staff presented the project at a Santa Monica Pier Board meeting, an open public forum and the appropriate venue for public discussion related to the Santa Monica Pier.
Staff received support from the public in attendance and the Pier Board. The City’s 3 of 6
local bicycle advocacy group, local neighborhood groups, Pier businesses, and the Pier Association all supported the project. The supporting letters are included in this staff report as Attachments A and B.
The Beach Bike Ramp Project utilizes CMAQ grant funds, Proposition C, and Measure M local return funds. The CMAQ grant for this project was received in 2015 at which time staff anticipated designing the project in conjunction with the Pier Bridge Replacement project. However, the two project schedules no longer align as originally anticipated and staff is moving forward with the Beach Bike Ramp Project independently from the Pier Bridge Replacement.
On April 28, 2021, the City issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) #2447 for professional design services for the Beach Bike Ramp Project. On May 31, 2021, one proposal was received. The proposed design fee was significantly higher than the project’s design budget of $172,000. On September 14, 2021, City Council rejected the single proposal because it far exceeded the design budget for this project and authorized staff to reissue the RFP with a more streamlined scope of services. On November 8, 2021, the City reissued RFP #2447 and received a single proposal on December 27, 2021 from KPFF.
KPFF would be tasked with preparing plans, specifications, and estimates, and providing engineering support during the construction bidding process and construction phase of the project, including answering requests for information and ensuring the contractor uses materials that meet the specifications of the approved construction documents. KPFF would also prepare the as-built record drawings at the conclusion of the project’s construction.
Vendor Selection
Best and Only Bidder KPFF Consulting Engineers
Submittals Received Selection Criteria
KPFF Municipal Code SMMC 2.24.1980
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Evaluation Criteria Price; the quality of the services offered; the ability, capacity, and skill of the bidder to provide the services; the capacity of the bidder to provide the service promptly, within the time specified, and without delay or interference; the sufficiency of the bidder’s financial resources; the character, integrity, reputation, judgment, training, experience and efficiency of the bidder; the ability of the bidder to provide such future service as may be needed;
Bid Data
Date Posted Posted On
Advertised In
(City Charter & SMMC)
Vendors
Downloaded
Date Publicly
Opened
11/08/2021 City's Online
Bidding Site Santa Monica Daily Press 108 12/27/2021
Additional Vendor Outreach & Justification to Award
A three-person committee from the Engineering and Street Services Division evaluated the single proposal received from KPFF Consulting Engineers. Evaluation was based on experience, references, workplans, project team. Based on these criteria and criteria listed in SMMC 2.24.190, staff determined that KPFF is well qualified to provide design services for this project. KPFF has completed similar projects for other public agencies including Long Beach, County of Los Angeles, Caltrans, as well as the City of Santa Monica. Based on these criteria, KPFF is recommended as the best bidder.
Staff reached out to the firms that reviewed the RFP for feedback on why they did not submit a proposal.
Several firms attributed their decision to the vast amount of work in the industry, which limited their capacity to prepare proposals.
Environmental Review
The project is statutorily exempt from the provisions of California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Section 21080.25 of CEQA in that the Project consists of a bicycle facility project. Section 21080.25 states that Pedestrian and Bicycle Facilities which include, but are not limited to, bicycle parking, bicycle sharing facilities, and bikeways, are exempt from CEQA. The Project consists of a new bike ramp between the Santa Monica Pier and the Marvin Braude Bike Trail.
Additionally, the Project is categorically exempt per Section 15303 (Class 3 – new construction of small structures) and Section 15304 (Class 4 – minor alterations to land). Class 3 provides exemption for the construction of small new structures. Class 4 5 of 6
exempts minor alterations including grading to land. The Project would construct a new 20-foot-wide bike ramp with a height that matches the existing pier to connect to existing bike path/pedestrian facilities. The Project would involve minor grading/earthwork and paving in the area to the south of the Santa Monica Pier.
Furthermore, none of the exceptions specified in Section 15300.2 of CEQA Guidelines would apply that would preclude the use of this CEQA exemption. The project site is not located in a sensitive environment; the Project would not have a significant effect on the environment due to unusual circumstances; the Project would not damage scenic resources including historic buildings, rocks, or similar resources within an officially designated scenic highway; the Project would not be located on a hazardous waste site; and the Project would not cause a change to a historical resource. Therefore, this Project is a Class 1 and Class 4 project that is categorically exempt per Section 15301 of the CEQA Guidelines.
Past Council Actions
01/13/2015 (Attachment C) Council authorized the City Manager to apply for and accept CMAQ grant funds, including the commitment to
expend local match obligations and to include such grant funds and local match obligations in the City’s future fiscal year Capital Improvement Program (CIP) budget.
09/14/2021 (Attachment D) Council authorized rejection of the single bid for RFP #2447.
Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
Staff seeks authority to approve funding from the Local Return Fund and the Miscellaneous Grants Fund to award a design contract with KPFF Consulting Engineers to provide final design and construction engineering support services for the Beach Bike Path Ramp Connection to Santa Monica Pier Project.
Contract Request
FY 2021-22 Budget
Request Amount CIP Account # Account Description Total Contract Amount $82,881 C2706720.689110 Local Return - Proposition C $82,881 6 of 6
$34,400 C2706720.689130 Local Return - Measure M $34,400 $131,055 C2006720.689000 CMAQ; Grant Funding $131,055
Total $248,336
Prepared By: Tom Shahbazi, Civil Engineer
Approved Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. Support Letters
B. LACDPW Support Letter
C. January 13, 2015 Staff Report
D. September 14, 2021 Staff Report
E. KPFF Oaks_Initiative_