Addendum 1 - Page 2 ADDENDUM #1 CITY OF SUISUN CITY RFQ FOR CITY ENGINEER CONSULTANT SERVICES The City s Building and Public Works Department has received a number of questions to this RFQ. We anticipate receiving additional questions to the RFQ after the issuance of this Addendum #1, and any further questions are to be submitted to Nick Lozano at nlozano@suisun.com no later than 12 noon on December 4, 2014. Below are answers to questions received to date from RFQ holders. Q1. Who was your previous Contract City Engineer and will they or their firm be proposing for this contract? A1. Our outgoing Contract City Engineer is Dane Schilling with Coastland Engineering. Coastland Engineering can no longer staff the City Engineer position and therefore will not be proposing on this RFQ. Q2. Do you need the Contract City Engineer with the CE license pre-33966 or a Land Surveyor license in order to sign maps? A2. Currently the Solano County Surveyor is our Acting City Surveyor. Any signing of maps by the Contract City Engineer is to be done in compliance with the regulations of the California Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors and Geologists and the Map Act. Furthermore, the signing of maps is to be performed by qualified personnel, whether that s the Contract City Engineer or another staff member with the Contract City Engineer s firm. Q3. Will the Contract City Engineer be required to be in City Hall a certain number of hours per week - - or have regular office hours? A3. The Contract City Engineer will be required to be physically in City Hall to perform certain services such as supervising Department staff, participating in face-to-face meetings, signing of plans, and other services. The City will provide the Contract City Engineer with a furnished office at City Hall, including a desktop computer and a telephone (land line). In recent past, the Contract City Engineer was needed at City Hall anywhere from one to two days a week. The Contract City Engineer s office hours are to be consistent with the business hours at City Hall. Q4. Can the work be performed offsite, especially as regards to development and map checking? A4. Most of the outgoing Contract City Engineer s work was performed at City Hall. However, his firm s staff, when needed on City projects, performed their work off-site. This is the level of on-site and off-site services anticipated in the upcoming contract.
Addendum 1 - Page 3 Q5. Are you expecting the Contract City Engineer to supervise City staff? A5. Some supervision of City staff by the Contract City Engineer is expected. Q6. In section 4B of the RFQ, there is a bulleted item Prepare PS&E. Do you expect the submitting firm to have design engineering capabilities? Is it acceptable to have a subconsultant on our team for that? Does the City intend to use other consultants for specific project development? A6. The outgoing Contract City Engineer s firm has design engineering capabilities. On a few past City projects the firm has prepared PS&E for smaller projects and used their subconsultants as needed to provide these services. Determining if the Contract City Engineer will perform design engineering on a project is based on the project scope, schedule and funding. The practice of the Contract City Engineer s firm hiring a subconsultant for design engineering activities has not previously been prohibited by the City s Building and Public Works Department. The Department is not opposed to having PS&E performed entirely by subconsultants as long as it does not adversely impact the projects and services required of the Contract City Engineer firm. Q7. Related to the previous question, other than the preparation of PS&E, the scope as included in the RFQ does not lend itself to the use of subconsultants, and therefore DBE participation. Would the City consider waiving the need to include DBE participation in this SOQ and postpone it until the time that a specific project and scope on a Federal funded project is determined? A7. The Building and Public Works Department is in agreement that Disadvantage Business Enterprise (DBE) participation is required on specific projects only. As specific projects become available, DBE participation will be required. In the SOQ, firms are to provide detail on how it will meet DBE participation requirements on future specific projects. Q8. Do we need to include a back-up City Engineer on our team or is that optional? A8. On our outgoing contract a back-up City Engineer was never formally named. When the Contract City Engineer was out of town or on vacation, there was always someone available at his firm to provide the services needed by the City. That approach was more than sufficient. Q9. The Contract Services Agreement appears to be for a general contractor as it includes performance bond and liquidated damages and other requirements that are atypical for a consulting services agreement. Will the City entertain modifications to the Agreement or replacing it with one that is better suited for consulting services? A9. Section 5.3, Performance Bond, and Section 7.7, Liquidated Damages, of the Contract Services Agreement will be deleted from the contract. Proposer s request for other modifications to this the City s Contract Services Agreement will be reviewed by the City Attorney. In no way, however, will this Agreement be replaced with another agreement. Q10. What is the duration of contract being contemplated by the City for this RFQ?
Addendum 1 - Page 4 A10. There is no specific contract duration. Duration is dependent on many variables, including the performance of the Contract City Engineer and his firm, the goals and priorities of the City, and other variables. Q11. Was the previous contract for City Engineer services (in the last 6 years) on a renewal basis, and if so, was the renewal term on an annual basis or some other period? A11. Although the upcoming contract will not be for a specific duration, the contract will be evaluated on an annual basis. The new contract will be reviewed annually and extended at the City s discretion. Q12. Who has been providing the services for the past six years? (name of person and firm/or sole practitioner)? A12. See answer A1 on page 2 of this addendum. Q13. How many hours per week did/does your CE perform services A13. See answer A3 on page 2 of this addendum. Q14. Do you see this level of service increasing or decreasing in the future? A14. Various variables impact the level of service need by the City, and City staff cannot predict what the City will need of the Contract City Engineer and his firm in the future. Q15. Is your current Contract City Engineer s services augmented by other engineers, inspectors, etc. from his/her firm? A15. Yes. Q16. What is the current billing rate your contract City Engineer is charging? A16. The RFQ is not requiring the submittal of a cost proposal in this stage of the process. Per the RFQ, cost proposals and billing rates will be discussed with the top ranked firm. Q17. I was not able to find your current CIP on your city website is it available for review? A17. The City s current CIP is not on the City s website. Also, the CIP is currently not available for review. Q18. What is the nature of the design services we could perform under this CE contract? All projects? Only small ones? A18. Design services for which the City will be requesting federal and State grant reimbursements will not be performed by the Contract City Engineer. The outgoing City Engineer provided design services on smaller projects and on paving projects which had no federal or State grant reimbursements for design services.
Addendum 1 - Page 5 Q19. What engineering firms has the City used in the past year for design and other contract services, besides your City Engineer contract? A19. The following firms provided services to the City in the past year: BKF for the design of a new traffic signal; Mark Thomas & Company for preparing plat maps and legal descriptions; and Pacific Municipal Consultants (PMC) for preparing an environmental study report. Q20. I don t see reference to the City Engineer being able to sign subdivision maps (ie pre-1982 license or LS). Does your County Surveyor sign the maps or do you want this service from the firm you retain for CE services? A20. See answer A2 on page 2 of this addendum. Q21. Must our designated City Engineer be QSP/QSD or sufficient for our firm to have those capabilities? A21. It is sufficient for just the firm, and not the necessarily the designated City Engineer, to have those capabilities. Q22. What are the City s expectations and firm commitment for this service? How many days per week commitment or hours per week? A22. See answer A3 on page 2 of this addendum. Q23. Clarification on Process Development Engineering Bonds. Is this related to public infrastructure to be completed by developer on behalf of the City and just processing improvement agreement/subdivision improvement agreement? A23. Yes. Q24. Will the selected firm have the ability to take on the CIP design work to assist the City in project delivery or will each CIP project have a separate RFP? A24. Yes, the selected firm will be given an opportunity to take on design work on CIP projects as noted in answer A18 on page 4 of this addendum. Q25. What is the budget allocated per year for the services? A25. The budget will vary each year depending on level of service needed. See answer A14 on page 4 of this addendum. Q26. Will the City Engineer be expected to attend City Council meetings or will the Director of Public Works be attending all Council meetings? A26. The Contract City Engineer is expected to attend City Council meetings when technical expertise is needed. Our outgoing Contract City Engineer attended one City Council meeting approximately every four months.
Addendum 1 - Page 6 Q27. Solano Transportation Authority (STA) Representation and Regional Projects: As the assigned City Engineer, will this be undertaken by the City Engineer or City Staff? A27. Representation on regional projects will be undertaken by City staff as well as by the Contract City Engineer.