City of South San Francisco
Legislation Text
P.O. Box 711 (City Hall, 400
Grand Avenue)
South San Francisco, CA
File #: 23-814 Agenda Date: 10/11/2023
Version: 1 Item #: 10.
Report regarding a resolution awarding a Consulting Services Agreement to MIG, Inc. of Berkeley, California for the Linden Avenue Park Project (project no. pk2305) in an amount not to exceed $526,920, authorizing the City Manager to execute the agreement, and approving a contract contingency of $52,692 on behalf of the City of South San Francisco. (Philip Vitale, Deputy Director of Capital Projects)
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council adopt a resolution approving a Consulting Services Agreement with MIG, Inc. of Berkeley, California for the Linden Avenue Park Project (project no. pk2305) in an amount not to exceed $526,920, authorizing the City Manager to execute the agreement, and approving a contract contingency of $52,692 on behalf of the City of South San Francisco.
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION
The proposed Linden Avenue Park project is comprised of two parcels located at 616 Linden Avenue, 700 Linden Avenue, and the section of Pine Avenue (Project Site) in between the parcels, totaling approximately one acre. The site is in a mixed residential and commercial area. 616 Linden Avenue is currently a parking lot.
Environmental investigation is underway and any further remediation measures may be incorporated into the design of Linden Avenue Park. 700 Linden Avenue is an undeveloped grass lot.
The Old Town neighborhood was identified in the 2015 Parks and Recreation Master Plan and 2022 General Plan as an area of concern for its lack of parks and open space. To address this need, the 616 and 700 Linden Avenue parcels will be developed into Linden Avenue Park.
Funding was requested to transform 616 Linden Avenue and 700 Linden Avenue into a vibrant neighborhood park and cultural plaza for the community to enjoy. Situated in the historic Old Town neighborhood, this is a highly visible public site due to its centralized location and cultural significance. This densely populated area is considered one of South San Francisco’s most socio-economically diverse communities.
The City is currently in the process of completing the purchase of the parcels from the Successor Agency to the Former Redevelopment Agency to begin construction of this community amenity.
While additional community engagement will take place as the project advances, for planning and cost estimating purposes, Linden Avenue Park project may include the following elements:
1. Landscape design including seat walls, bollards for a closed street roundabout, raised road/speed table.
2. Play area
a. Examples: playground structures, interactive elements, rock climbing wall.
3. Recreational spaces
a. Examples: game tables, exercise stations, yoga and tai chi spaces.
4. Sports court
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File #: 23-814 Agenda Date: 10/11/2023
Version: 1 Item #: 10.
a. Examples: basketball courts, and futsal courts.
5. Gathering/seating areas
a. Examples: entertainment, markets, fairs, leisure, and gathering spaces; tables with seating, and shaded areas.
6. Overhead structures or entrance nodes.
7. Opportunities for public art that are representative of the community.
The exact program elements and design will be informed by numerous community engagement and listening sessions, in English and Spanish at a minimum.
Linden Avenue Park Professional Services Procurement
Staff issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) on the OpenGov website on July 12, 2023 and advertised in the local newspaper on July 19, 2023. While this RFP was open to the general public, to generate interest in the project, staff notified all nine landscape architecture firms from the City’s on-call consultant list. Fifty-five firms downloaded the proposal packet. Proposals were due on August 9, 2023, with 10 firms submitting proposals.
All 10 proposals were reviewed by a panel of five staff consisting of the Director of Capital Projects, Deputy Director of Capital Projects, Director of Parks and Recreation, Deputy Director of Parks and Recreation, and the Parks Manager.
Members of the panel rated the proposals in the following areas:
1. Knowledge and Understanding: Demonstrated understanding of the RFP objectives and work requirements. Identification of key issues. Methods of approach, work plan, and experience with similar projects related to type of services.
2. Management Approach and Staffing Plan: Qualifications of project staff (particularly key personnel such as the project manager), key personnel’s level of involvement in performing related work and the team’s experience in maintaining schedule.
3. Qualifications of the Proposer Firm: Experience with similar projects. Technical experience in performing work related to type of services; capabilities of developing innovative or advanced techniques; strength and stability of the firm; technical experience and strength and stability of proposed subconsultants; and demonstrated communications quality and success.
4. Presentation of a Concise and Responsive Proposal
Proposals were scored by the panel as follows:
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File #: 23-814 Agenda Date: 10/11/2023
Version: 1 Item #: 10.
The following is a summary of the fee proposals received:
Firms with the four highest rated proposals were invited to an in-person interview. Interviews were City of South San Francisco Page 3 of 5 Printed on 4/15/2025 powered by Legistar™
File #: 23-814 Agenda Date: 10/11/2023
Version: 1 Item #: 10.
Firms with the four highest rated proposals were invited to an in-person interview. Interviews were conducted on September 12, 2023 and September 13, 2023 by a panel of five consisting of the Director of Capital Projects, Deputy Director of Capital Projects, Director of Parks and Recreation, Deputy Director of Parks and Recreation, and the Parks Manager.
Members of the panel rated the interviews in the following areas:
1. Community Engagement: Public outreach and engagement are key components of this project. What steps will you take to ensure outreach is inclusive and representative of the community? How do you make certain that you are reaching a wide range of the community, especially households who may not have access to the internet or a computer (i.e. paper fliers, newspaper ads, phone calls, door-to-door, etc.)?
2. Public Art - Are there public art components included in your design of the Linden Park project? How will you ensure that it is representative of the surrounding community and their background?
3. Site Specific - What challenges have you identified for this project, if any, and how do you plan on addressing those challenges? This public park project will involve significant changes to the area such as removal of a public parking lot, potential closure of a through street, and building a public park on remediated land. How will you address community concerns (site specific challenges - partial road closure, remediation of one parcel)?
4. Operations and Maintenance - What experience do you have utilizing environmentally sustainable materials and equipment that requires minimal maintenance? How do you balance the interests of the community with the City’s need to minimize the operations and maintenance requirements?
5. Project Management - A. How will you approach this project and its allocated resources to ensure the project goals are met within the deadline and budget constraints? Who will be involved during the lifetime of the project and what will be their roles? How many projects are you currently working on? When you are working on multiple projects simultaneously, how do you ensure a project is adequately staffed? What is your typical workload?
Interviews were scored by the panel as follows:
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File #: 23-814 Agenda Date: 10/11/2023
Version: 1 Item #: 10.
Based on the scoring, and overall consensus of the panel, staff engaged MIG, Inc. to scale efforts to complexity of the project, resulting in a negotiated fee of $526,920.00, up from the original proposed fee of $499,613.00.
This final fee of MIG, Inc. is 1.5% less than the Royston Hanamoto Alley & Abey (RHAA) proposed fee, 2% more than the Callander Associates proposed fee and 22% less than the SWA Group proposed fee. Moving forward with the MIG, Inc. team now allows staff to maintain the anticipated schedule for the Linden Avenue Park project, which is scheduled to complete construction by the end of 2025.
Award of this project is based on the factors noted above, most notably successful performance with similar projects, and the outstanding breadth of community engagement, with multiple bi-lingual design professionals on the project team, including the principal landscape architect.
The design contingency is for additional costs related to unforeseen conditions requiring design changes during construction operations.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact to the budget for fiscal year 2023-24. This project is included in the City of South San Francisco’s fiscal year 2022-23 Capital Improvement Program and there are sufficient funds to award the Consulting Services Agreement. Design and a portion of construction cost will be funded by Park Development Fees in the amount of $300,000 and by a grant from the California Budget Act of 2022 (Mullin) in the amount of $3,200,000 which was accepted by Council in February 2023.
RELATIONSHIP TO STRATEGIC PLAN
Approval of this action will contribute to the City’s Strategic Plan. It aligns with Priority #2, which is focused on enhancing quality of life by building and maintaining a sustainable city, making our city a great place to live, learn and play.
CONCLUSION
Staff recommends that the City Council of the City of South San Francisco adopt a resolution authorizing the City Manager to execute a Consulting Services Agreement with MIG, Inc. based on their qualifications and experience.
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