TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Mark Danaj, City Manager
FROM:
Tony Olmos, Director of Public Works
Joe Parco, City Engineer
SUBJECT:Title
Approve the Appropriation of Additional Surface Transportation Program - Local (STPL) Funding in the Amount of $481,249 to the Strand Stairs Rehabilitation Project (Public Works Director Olmos).
APPROVE APPROPRIATION
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Recommended Action
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council approve the appropriation of additional Surface Transportation Program - Local (STPL) funding in the amount of $481,249 to the Strand Stairs Rehabilitation Project.
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FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
City receives approximately $100,000 each federal fiscal year in STPL funding. City’s current available balance of STPL funding is $481,249. There is a local match requirement of 11.47%, however, staff has confirmed from Caltrans that State toll credits may be used as a local match for this project. The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA21) allows states to use certain toll revenues as a credit toward the non-federal local match of certain program. As a result, no City funds are required as a local match.
BACKGROUND:
There are currently two major recreational features located along the City’s entire two mile coastline, a pedestrian walkway (Strand) owned and maintained by the City and a bike path (Marvin Braude Bike Path) owned and operated by the County of Los Angeles Department of Public Works. The bike path is situated to the west of the Strand and is separated from the Strand by a vegetated slope of varying widths and grade. The improvements will provide safe access from the Strand to the beach and will comply with current ADA requirements.
The Strand Pedestrian Access Improvement Project was included as an earmark in the federal surface transportation bill in 2005. The SAFETEA-LU listed the Strand Stairs Rehabilitation Project as a high priority project in the amount of $1,600,000 with actual funding dependent on the extent of congressional appropriations over the life of the bill. Ultimately, $1,439,840 of federal funds was made available for the entire project. The additional STPL funds of $481,249 would supplement the existing funding to fully fund the project.
DISCUSSION:
Bids were previously solicited on two separate occasions on an open and competitive basis in accordance with the provisions of the State Public Contract Code. In October 2014, this project was advertised for bids and only two bids were received. The low bid was $1,512,000, which was almost 50% more than the original engineer’s estimate. The second bidder was $1,660,860.
The project was rebid in June 2015. Although more contractors pulled plans prior to bidding, only two bids were received once again. The low bid was $1,376,705 and the second bid was $1,675,083. After review of the bids, the low bidder’s bid packet was incomplete and thereby found to be non-responsive. Since the engineer’s estimate was $1.3M the second bid far exceeded the available budget for this project. In both cases, City Council rejected all bids.
In discussing this project with contractors to ascertain the reason as to why the previous bid had a lack of bidders, the following issues were discovered:
1. The current economic climate in Southern California has caused an increase in both the number of projects out to bid as well as under construction. In addition, both residential/building and public works construction contractors in general are having a difficult time finding and retaining skilled labor to keep up with demands. These conditions have caused construction prices to increase and caused contractors to be very selective on which projects to bid on.
2. The Strand Stairs Rehabilitation Project is a specialty type project that the typical Public Works contractors who normally bid on typical CIP type projects opted not to bid on. The major scope of work item is the rebuilding/reconstruction of stairways and railings. Given No. 1 above, these Public Works Contractors have more recently opted to focus resources on the “typical” CIP projects, i.e. roadway, brides, etc.
Per City Council direction, the project will be rebid once again. In an effort to increase the number of bidders for the upcoming bid, staff has outreached and notified several reputable contractors who did not submit bids regarding the upcoming bid. Staff has also contacted and setup up meetings with contractors who previously submitted bids to receive input in an effort to enhance the bid-ability of the project.
The proposed schedule for the project is as follows:
Caltrans (E76) Federal authorization of funds - 9/16/15 to 11/16/15
Advertise for Bid - 11/20/2015
Bid Opening - 12/16/2015
Council Award - 01/05/2015
Start Construction - 02/05/2016
End Construction - 06/15/2016
CONCLUSION:
STPL funds appropriated to City can be used for rehabilitation, resurfacing, restoration and operational improvements for highways, transit projects eligible for assistance under the Federal Transit Act and publicly owned intracity or intercity bus terminals and facilities, carpool projects, fringe and corridor parking facilities, bicycle and pedestrian walkways, highway and transit safety improvement and programs.
Since the Strand Stairs Rehabilitation Project will enhance the pedestrian safety in the Strand area and restore the aesthetic appearance, this project qualifies for use of STPL funds. These funds are recommended for use on this pedestrian project as the Strand is a pathway to the ocean that is heavily used by local residents and visitors alike and this project has been a high priority for the City for a number of years.
It is staff’s recommendation that the City Council approve appropriation of additional Surface Transportation Program - Local (STPL) funding to the Strand Stairs Rehabilitation Project in the amount of $481,249, making the total available funds for this project $1,921,089.
Attachments:
1. Budget Summary