PURPOSE:

Staff is requesting City Council authorization for the City Manager to enter into a Professional Services Agreement (PSA) with Orsa Consulting Engineers, Inc. (Orsa) in the amount of $75,000 to provide preliminary engineering design services to relocate Burbank Water and Power electrical systems required for the Interstate 5 HOV / Empire Avenue Interchange project and to amend the Fiscal Year 2005 / 2006 Budget.

BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS:

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has committed funding to complete the Empire Interchange as part of the larger Interstate 5 HOV Project between State Route 134 and State Route 170 in the City of Burbank.  To meet a projected construction start date of 2008,  Caltrans must complete design work of the interchange and railroad grade separation.  To complete the design process, a large number of City and private utilities must be identified and relocated to accommodate the various new ramps and grade separations that are required for the project.  In order to meet MTA�s projected construction start date, this utility design work must be accelerated so that utility relocation can occur in 2007 prior to the actual project construction. On April 4, 2006 City Council directed staff to enter into a PSA with RBF Consulting (RBF) to perform conceptual design work for all city-owned utility relocations required for the interchange project.  As mentioned in the April 4, 2006 staff report, the City�s electrical relocation design work would be completed under a separate PSA and incorporated into the overall utility design work currently being performed by RBF. This PSA would allow Orsa to perform the necessary electric utility designs needed to accommodate the interchange project.

Orsa is currently working with the City and Caltrans on final electrical utility design for the State Route 134 Ramp project and has been selected by staff to perform work on the Empire Interchange project as well.  Their familiarity with the City�s electric system in working on the State Route 134 Ramp and other projects will allow them to complete preliminary design as quickly as possible to meet Caltrans construction deadlines.  Thus, staff feels they are uniquely qualified to provide these necessary design services.

Staff believes that expenditure of these funds is necessary to compete conceptual utility designs that will be combined with the work already being performed by RBF to produce a full set of designs for all of the City�s utilities affected by the project.  Completion of these conceptual plans will allow the City to prepare a scope of work for final, construction-level design and develop project phasing schedules for all components of the project.  This design work is required to ensure that MTA continues to fund the Empire Interchange and Buena Vista railroad grade separation improvements as part of their larger HOV project.  The electric utility relocation design work to be performed as part of this PSA, in addition to the work already underway for the City�s other utilities, is necessary to ensure that the project stay on schedule for an anticipated 2008 start date.

FISCAL IMPACT:

Currently, there are insufficient funds remaining in the Empire Interchange project account budgeted during the current fiscal year to fund this design work.  To execute this PSA, $75,000 would need to be appropriated from the Transportation Impact Fee Account   127.ND000.30004.0000.000000 to the Empire Interchange Capital Improvement Program project account 127.CD33A.70002.0000.13608.  Thus, a budget amendment would be required to execute this PSA.

RECOMMENDATION:

Staff recommends that the City Council adopt the proposed resolution authorizing the City Manager to enter into a Professional Services Agreement with Orsa Consulting Engineers, Inc. to perform preliminary engineering design services for City electrical utility relocations required for the Interstate 5 HOV / Empire Interchange Project and to amend the Fiscal Year 2005/2006 Budget.

LIST OF EXHIBITS:

Exhibit A:         Professional Services Agreement

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