PURPOSE:

Staff is requesting City Council approval of contract documents, award of a construction contract for Bid Schedule No. 1197, Public Works Underground Tank Retrofit Project, and to amend the FY 2005-06 budget to appropriate $446,174.00 from the 534 unappropriated fund balance to complete the project.

BACKGROUND:

In early 2004, staff retained the services of Triangle Environmental to complete required underground tank and monitoring systems testing as required by Senate Bill 989.  The testing revealed numerous significant defects, which needed to be repaired.

In June 2004, Triangle Environmental submitted their findings, which outlined the necessity to refurbish seven (7) fueling facilities located within the City in order to comply with the State Water Resources Control Board regulations.

Plans and specifications for this repair work were completed in the latter part of 2004 and the project was sent out for bids.  During the bidding process, it was determined that one of the potential bidders was not eligible to bid because he had provided the City some limited technical assistance in the development of the project specifications.   As a result, the bid process was cancelled and a new consultant was hired to redesign the work.  A few months into the design process, new and additional underground tank regulations were implemented.  The City�s consultant was directed to incorporate these additional work items into the plans and specifications.

ANALYSIS:

Bid Schedule No. 1197 was advertised in the Burbank Leader on October 24, 2005 and October 28, 2005.  Nineteen (19) copies of the bid were taken out and four (4) bids were received at the bid opening ranging from $739,446.00 to $1,057,204.00 (Exhibit A).  Upon review of the bid documents, staff finds West Star Environmental Inc. of Fresno, California to be the lowest responsible bidder.  West Star Environmental Inc. submitted the low bid of $739,446.00, which is 13 percent below the estimate of $850,000.00.  

Staff has contacted the State of California Contractor�s State License Board and has found the license of West Star Environmental Inc. is current, active, and in good standing.  Additionally, staff contacted several references, which provided confirmation that West Star Environmental, Inc. had satisfactorily completed their projects.

In addition to the base bid amount, there are numerous work items (options) anticipated, which cannot be known until such time as the tanks tops have been exposed  to reveal whether or not required structural collars are present on the tanks.  Staff suspects due to the age of the tanks, that structural collars will not be present and will need to be installed.  Staff recommends awarding additional funding in the amount of $169,532.00 to provide for the cost of the options.  This amount is based on the bid proposal submitted by West Star Environmental Inc. (Exhibit B) and is commensurate with the nature and condition of the project.  This will allow staff to account for any incidental work and unknown field conditions, such as hauling of contaminated soil that could be encountered during construction.

Construction of this project is planned to occur between March and July 2006. A California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) environmental review categorized this project as a ministerial exempt project pursuant to Section 15031 (d) and (f) of the State CEQA guidelines.

FISCAL IMPACT:

The cost of repairing the tanks was originally estimated at $575,000.00 in June 2004.  Since that original estimate was appropriated into the budget, the project was revised to adhere to new and additional underground tank regulations implemented by the State of California resulting in an increase in construction costs.  Another contributing factor to the increase in costs is the recent rise in construction costs, both nationwide and globally, as well as the current abundance of construction work.

The total revised budget for Bid Schedule 1197 is $908,978. The available funds remaining after completing the engineering design phase of the project are approximately $462,804.00.  The proposed resolution will amend FY 2005-06 budget to appropriate $446,174.00 from account number 534.ND000.30004.0000.00000 to account number 534.PW33A.15032.0000.16572.

RECOMMENDATION:

Staff recommends that the City Council adopt the proposed resolution approving the contract documents, awarding a construction contract to West Star Environmental Inc. for Bid Schedule No. 1197, Underground Tank Retrofit Project, and to amend the FY 2005-06 budget for the appropriation of funds to complete the project.

Attachment:  Exhibits A and B

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