DATE: June 12, 2018
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Steven E. White, Director
Department of Public Works and Planning
SUBJECT: Orange Avenue Cooperative Overlay Project with the City of Fresno
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
1. Receive verbal report from Department of Public Works and Planning staff regarding the bid opening for the Orange Avenue Overlay Project and authorize the Director of the Department of Public Works and Planning to issue a letter to the City of Fresno approving the City’s award of the construction contract.
2. Authorize the Director of the Department of Public Works and Planning to execute contract change orders up to an amount consistent with the statutory limit to be identified in the verbal report from Department staff.
REPORT
Approval of the first recommended action will allow your Board to receive a verbal presentation regarding the bid results for a cooperative project to overlay Orange Avenue from California Avenue to Jensen Avenues and authorize the Director of the Department of Public Works and Planning to issue a letter to the City of Fresno (City) that indicates that the project can be awarded. Approval of the second recommended action will authorize the Director to execute contract change orders up to an amount identified by Department staff as the statutory limit based on the amount of the construction contract to be awarded. This item pertains to a location in District 3.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
If the County’s estimated contribution to the cost of the project based on the lowest responsive bid does not exceed $866,200, it will not be necessary for your Board to authorize the Director to issue a letter to the City approving the City’s award of the contract since such authorization was previously granted to the Director by your Board. However, if the County’s estimated contribution to the cost of the project, based on the lowest responsive bid does exceed $866,200 and if the Director is not authorized to issue a letter to the City approving award of the contract, the City would be unable to construct the project.
If the second recommended action is not approved, the Director will only be able to approve contract change orders in a cumulative amount not to exceed 10% of the first $250,000 of the construction contract amount, plus 1% of the contract amount in excess of $250,000. This, in turn, could make it necessary to return to your Board to authorize contract change orders, increasing delays and resulting in additional costs.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no Net County Cost associated with the recommended actions. Based on the revised estimated cost of the project, including contract construction, preliminary engineering, and construction engineering, the County’s share is anticipated to be $786,422, and the revised total estimated project cost is $1,479,977; an increase of $154,593 from the original engineer’s estimate.
Cooperative Agreement No. 18-167 approved by your Board on April 3, 2018, provides that the construction contract shall be awarded by the City provided that the lowest responsive bid does not exceed the original engineer’s estimate for contract construction (not including contingencies or engineering costs) of $844,740 by more than 10% and that award of the contract may still be made by the City even if the lowest responsive bid exceeds the engineer’s estimate by more than 10% upon written approval by the Director.
The first recommended action also authorizes the Director to provide written concurrence for the City to award the construction contract provided that the total estimated County contribution, based on the lowest responsive bid, does not exceed $866,200, which is 25% more than the original estimated County contribution of $692,960. The cost will be paid from Road Fund 0010 and sufficient appropriations will be included in the -Department’s Org 4510 FY 2018-19 Recommended Budget.
DISCUSSION:
Orange Avenue from California Avenue to Jensen Avenue is under County and City jurisdiction within the limits, as shown on Exhibit A. Orange Avenue is in need of maintenance, and it would be impracticable and costly for each agency to perform its own separate maintenance project. As a consequence, a Cooperative Agreement was approved by your Board on April 3, 2018 pursuant to which the City will perform engineering, bidding, award of the construction contract, and construction inspection. The project, in general, includes grinding and an overlay of asphalt concrete and the construction of Americans with Disabilities Act-complaint curb ramps in certain locations.
After the Cooperative Agreement was approved, the City noted that the deterioration of the street was significant and that the original plan to remove 0.20-foot of existing asphalt concrete from the travel lanes and replace it with 0.40-foot of new asphalt concrete might not be sufficient to provide a durable product. Consequently, the City asked Department staff to meet in the field and it was determined that the full depth of the existing asphalt concrete should be removed and replaced in the travel lanes. Consequently, up to 0.45-foot of asphalt concrete will be removed and will be replaced with up to 0.65-foot of new asphalt concrete in the travel lanes. In addition, there is one area north of Church Avenue in the southbound lanes of Orange Avenue where it will be necessary to remove part of the subgrade material to a depth of six inches below the existing asphalt concrete and replace the removed subgrade with new asphalt concrete.
The revised plan has led to an overall increase in the total estimated project cost, including contingencies and engineering, from $1,325,384 to $1,479,977 or $154,593. Based on the earlier agenda item to approve the Cooperative Agreement, the Director is authorized to issue approval to the City to award the contract as long as the County’s total anticipated share based on the lowest responsive bid does not exceed $866,200. In the event that the County’s anticipated share is less than this amount based on the lowest responsive bid, it will not be necessary for your Board to authorize the Director to issue a letter to the City to recommend that the project be awarded. If the County’s total anticipated share based on the low responsive bid exceeds $866,200, it will be recommended that your Board authorize the Director to issue a letter to the City to allow the project to be awarded
The Cooperative Agreement provides that contract change orders which impact facilities within the County’s jurisdiction must be approved by the Director. The second recommended action requests authorization for the Director to approve such contract change orders to the greatest extent permissible under the Public Contract Code, avoiding the necessity to return to your Board for contract change order approval, which could delay completion of the project and result in increased costs.
For contracts in excess of $250,000, Public Contract Code, section 20395(d) limits the extent to which the Director may be authorized to execute contract change orders to 10% of the first $250,000, plus 5% of the contract amount in excess of $250,000. Your Board’s authorization for the Director to approve contract change orders up to the statutory limit, which will be expressly identified in the verbal report by Department staff, would reduce the time required to process contract change orders, paperwork, potential claims for additional cost and time due to administrative delays, and help keep costs down. The contract change order authorization would not apply to, nor allow, changes to the scope of the work.
OTHER REVIEWING AGENCIES:
The City of Fresno prepared the plans and specifications and conducted the bid opening.
REFERENCE MATERIAL:
BAI #40, April 3, 2018
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE
Exhibit A
CAO ANALYST:
Sonia De La Rosa