CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM
ACTION REQUESTED:
title
Approve the award of RFQ 17-220, Downtown Washington Street Bridge Improvements Phase II Consultant Services to Ciorba Group for an amount not to exceed $745,362.30 (Item 1 of 3)
body
DEPARTMENT: Transportation, Engineering and Development
SUBMITTED BY: William J. Novack, Director
BOARD/COMMISSION REVIEW:
N/A
BACKGROUND:
The other related items on the City Council agenda are:
• 19-453, Adopt the resolution to appropriate funds for the Downtown Washington Street Bridge Improvements Phase II Consultant Services.
• 19-471, Adopt the resolution to approve the local-public agency agreement with the Illinois Department of Transportation
The Washington Street Bridge is located in downtown Naperville and crosses the West Branch of the DuPage River between Aurora Avenue and Chicago Avenue. The original structure was constructed in 1928 and the superstructure was replaced in 1977. In 2004 the bridge deck was overlaid to extend the service life of the bridge by ten to fifteen years.
In order to improve the safety and extend the life of the bridge, a feasibility study was completed in 2014 to evaluate design alternatives for the rehabilitation or replacement of the Downtown Washington Street Bridge. The report recommended that the existing bridge be replaced.
In order to fund the project, the City applied for assistance through the Federal Bridge Program - STP-BR (Surface Transportation Program - Bridge) and obtained approval from the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) to perform the project. The Surface Transportation Program (STP) is a federal program which provides funding for projects that preserve and improve the conditions and performance on various transportation facilities. STP-BR is an IDOT Bridge Program which utilizes STP funds to replace or rehabilitate deficient highway bridges, perform systematic preventive maintenance and seismic retrofit.
Because federal STP funding will be used for the Downtown Washington Street Bridge improvements project, a quality-based selection (QBS) process is required for the consultant selection to perform engineering services.
In April 2016, the City Council approved the award of RFQ 16-079 to Alfred Benesch & Company to perform the Phase I preliminary engineering services. Design approval for the new structure was received from IDOT on April 5, 2019. With this approval, the City can begin the Phase 2 design engineering services to develop the construction documents and specifications.
DISCUSSION:
Procurement Process
In Fiscal Year (FY) 2013, the City of Naperville completed a Request for Qualifications (RFQ 14-119) to shortlist consulting engineering firms to provide preliminary and design engineering services for future bridge projects during Fiscal Years 2014 - 2017. Five consultants were short-listed as a result of this process:
AECOM Civiltech Engineering, Inc.
Alfred Benesch & Company Crawford, Murphy, and Tilly
Ciorba Group, Inc.
By November 2017 most of the preliminary engineering for the bridge was completed, so the Transportation, Engineering and Development (TED) Department issued RFQ 17-220 for Phase II Design Engineering Services for the Downtown Washington Street Bridge Improvements project to the shortlisted consultants. Unfortunately, the final approval of the preliminary engineering from IDOT and the Federal Highway Administration took considerably longer than anticipated, and this award of the Phase II engineering could not be completed until after formal approval of the Phase I engineering. All five shortlisted consultants submitted proposal responses.
A selection team comprised of staff from the TED Business Group and Water Utilities evaluated the proposals which were scored based upon the criteria set forth in the RFQ:
1. Project approach and information demonstrating a thorough understanding of the scope of services (20%)
2. Qualifications and experience of the project manager and consulting team, including subconsultant (20%)
3. Related experience with IDOT bridge design standards, DuPage County Storm Water Permitting and Requirements, and implementation of federally funded (STP, CMAQ, HBP) projects based upon the example projects included in the submittal. (20%)
4. Related experience with watermain and sanitary sewer improvement projects (15%)
5. Experience with bridge projects involving streetscape and riverbank improvements (15%)
6. Experience with public process and project marketing with stakeholders (10%)
After review and scoring the proposals, the selection committee invited the top three firms to attend interviews to confirm their experience and qualifications, including: Ciorba Group, TranSystems Corporation and Civiltech Engineering. Following the interviews, the selection committee rescored the proposers and Ciorba was determined to be the most qualified firm. Staff subsequently negotiated the scope of work and fee for the design engineering work for the Downtown Washington Bridge Improvements.
The drafted Phase II Design Engineering Agreement is currently under review by IDOT. Typically, the engineering agreement will be submitted to City Council for approval after the agreement is approved by the IDOT because IDOT may make comments based upon their review and the final approved scope and fees may be different from the initial submittal.
However, the existing Washington Street Bridge is in poor condition and continues to deteriorate. IDOT has instructed the City to perform monthly inspections to closely monitor the condition of the bridge. In order to move forward with the detailed design and its replacement before further deterioration occurs, staff is submitting the contract award and intergovernmental agreement to the City Council ahead of IDOT approval. Even though the final approved scope and fees could be different from the drafted agreement, staff expects the final approved fee will be the no more than the $745,362.30 fee in the drafted agreement. Staff requests the City Council’s consideration and approval of the drafted agreement. Staff is also requesting authorization to revise the final agreement without further Council approval provided that the final fee will not exceed $745,362.30
Local-Public Agency Agreement with IDOT
A joint City-State agreement is required when local agencies are involved in projects that are financed in whole or in part with State and/or Federal funds. The resolution approving the intergovernmental agreement with the Illinois Department of Transportation for Phase 2 design engineering services is included in Agenda Item 19-471.
Since the numbers in the current Local Public Agency Agreement (BLR 05310) are based on the drafted agreement, we also ask the Council to consider and approve the intergovernmental agreement and authorize the staff to revise the final agreement without going back to the Council as long as the total cost in the agreement will not exceed $745,362.30
Appropriation of Funds
One of the requirements of the intergovernmental agreement with IDOT is the local agency shall attest that sufficient moneys have been appropriated or reserved by resolution or ordinance to fund the local agency share of project costs. Therefore, a resolution approving the appropriation is included in Agenda Item 19-453.
FISCAL IMPACT:
CIP#: BR031 - Downtown Washington Street Bridge
The Downtown Washington Street Bridge Project is expensed to the land, and architect and engineering accounts list below. The total budget for BR031 in 2019 is $1,925,000. The award of $745,362.30 for Phase II engineering consultant services is one component of the total award for this project, and is within budget. There will be additional awards for the following services: Construction (2020) and Construction Engineering (2020).
|
Account Number |
Fund Description |
Total Budget Amount |
|
30282200-531301 |
Capital Projects Fund |
$951,724 |
|
30282300-531301 |
Capital Projects Fund |
$1,922,976 |
|
30282300-551503 |
Bond Fund |
$2,247,024 |
Per the intergovernmental agreement, the City will be the lead agency for the project. The City will be responsible for 20% of the Phase 2 engineering services cost ($149,072) through the City Capital Improvement Program. The other 80% will be covered by Federal STP-BR funds, which is estimated to be $596,590. The City will pay the engineering services cost up front and will be reimbursed through IDOT. Federal participation for the future construction phase is also 80%.