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AGENDA BILL Agenda Item No. 5(J) Date: May 19, 2015 To: El Cerrito City Council From: Maria Sanders, Interim Operations + Environmental Services Division Manager Yvetteh Ortiz, Public Works Director/City Engineer Subject: Castro Park Field Renovation, City Project No. C-5032 ACTION REQUESTED Adopt a resolution for the following: 1) Approve plans for the Castro Park Field Renovation; and 2) Amend the Capital Improvement Program and the Fiscal Year 2014-15 Adopted Budget to appropriate $200,000 in the Capital Improvements Fund (Fund 301) for the Castro Park Field Renovation, City Project No. C-5032. 3) Authorize the City Manager to award a contract, contingent on successful negotiations with Bauman Landscape and Construction, Inc. (the lowest responsible bidder for the project), for a deductive change order after undergoing value engineering process which is not inconsistent with the budget for the Castro Park Field Renovation, City Project No. C-5032. BACKGROUND On October 21, 2014, the City Council Adopted Resolution 2014-64 executing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the West Contra Costa Unified School District for the renovation of the Castro Park athletic field. Renovation of the Castro Park field was deemed necessary by the District and City due to the age of the field, District plans to use the field beginning in January 2016, increasing usage by athletic leagues, and impacts related to the construction of the Fred T. Korematsu Middle School project at 7125 Donal Avenue, which is adjacent to the field. The District offered to pay up to $200,000 for design and construction services needed to renovate the field and the City offered to manage and direct the renovation project in order to expedite completion. Additionally, because the City is currently responsible for maintenance of the field, the City wished to conduct the renovation such that long-term maintenance requirements were carefully considered and minimized as much as possible. ---PAGE BREAK--- Agenda Item No.5(J) Page 2 Designs for the field were developed by Siegfried Engineering of Sacramento, a full- service engineering firm that has extensive experience working with the public sector in designing high-wear athletic fields. Siegfried’s scope of work included field user and maintenance audits, stakeholder engagement in the design process, and development of conceptual design alternatives, construction documents and a long-term maintenance protocol. As a part of design development process, Siegfried provided design alternatives ranging from basic improvements that fit the current budget to a full menu of improvements (such as buffer landscaping, a home-run fence) that could be phased in the future as funding allows. Project Description Castro Park is a high-wear, natural turf athletic field that has only a few times per year in which the grass can rest and regenerate. It also contains zones of poor drainage where the turf is chronically waterlogged and therefore easily damaged. In order for high-wear fields such as Castro Park to be resilient and more sustainable, the turf should be able to develop a root structure that is between six and eight inches deep. This allows the turf to withstand damage from heavy use and to access water and nutrients from deeper in the soil. The key to deep root growth is at least six to eight inches of well drained soil containing organic amendments. Due to the heavy clay soils under Castro Park, the root structure for the existing turf is only about two inches deep. In order to improve soil conditions, the project as bid was intended to: break up and amend the clay soils to facilitate deeper root growth and drainage throughout the outfield; grade the turf area to provide a more level play area and to facilitate better drainage; renovate the existing irrigation system which dates back to the 1990s; install living turf sod throughout the outfield and on the sidelines and a new warning track to demarcate the edge of the field; and replacing unused turf areas on slopes with bark mulch. Besides providing a safety benefit for sports users, the warning track also eliminates the need for additional irrigation, amendments and sod and thus helps lower both installation and operating costs. ANALYSIS The construction project was posted to the City’s website and advertised for bid in the West County Times on April 13 and 20, 2015. Two bids were received on May 5, 2015 with the following results: Name Location Base Bid Deductive Alternates Bauman Landscape & Construction San Francisco $ 260,137.80 -14,000.00 Suarez & Munoz Construction Hayward $ 266,350.00 -18,300.00 Engineer’s Estimate $ 174,560.56 -9,816.00 ---PAGE BREAK--- Agenda Item No.5(J) Page 3 The low bidder is Bauman Landscape & Construction with a bid approximately 49 percent above the Engineer’s Base Bid Estimate of $174,560.56, which places the bid outside the project budget. Staff has considered various options: 1. Reject all bids, redesign the project, and go out to bid again. Given the time constraints on this project (where the project is to be completed this summer after the close of baseball season and before the start of soccer season) staff does not recommend this approach. 2. Award the project and rely on the value engineering process to reduce the total project costs through deductive change orders. Staff is recommending Option the value engineering through a deductive change order approach. Staff has worked with the designer on several value engineering options to lower the project costs, including eliminating sand amendments and fines for the baseball warning track, both of which were bid at high prices. Staff believes there is a strong likelihood that deductive change order can be negotiated successfully with the low bidder to bring the project within the existing budget. Because we are still in the competitive bidding process, the City cannot negotiate with any bidder. Therefore, we cannot know the actual value of a deductive change. Staff has conservatively estimated that that the cost can be reduced by applying the deductive bid items, value engineering changes, and scope deductions that would bring the project within budget. City staff has also contacted WCCUSD staff to discuss the availability of additional funding to help meet a portion of the shortfall. We will continue these discussions to determine if this is a possibility; however, some level of scope reduction will still be needed. STRATEGIC PLAN CONSIDERATIONS Renovation of the Castro Park athletic field is consistent with El Cerrito Strategic Plan Goal C – Deepen a sense of place and community identity, and Goal D – Develop and rehabilitate public facilities as community focal points. Specifically, the partnership with the School District to renovate the play field at Castro Park is in line with the following strategies listed under Goals C and D, respectively: “Be a strong partner with the schools” and “Develop a plan to address ongoing and deferred maintenance of facilities and infrastructure”. ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS The renovation project is categorically exempt from review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Section 15301 (Existing Facilities) because the project is a repair to an existing facility involving negligible or no expansion of use beyond that presently existing. More specifically, restoration or rehabilitation of deteriorated or damaged facilities to meet current standards of public health and safety, unless it is determined that the damage was substantial and resulted from an environmental hazard such as earthquake, landslide, or flood, is exempt from CEQA. ---PAGE BREAK--- Agenda Item No.5(J) FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS The project is funded by the West Contra Costa Unified School District through the MOU executed in October 2014. The City invoices the School District upon completiop of significant milestones. The total project budget is $200,000 as shown below. An amendment is required to the Capital Improvement Program and the Fiscal Year 2014- 15 Adopted Budget to appropriate $200,000 in the Capital Improvements Fund (Fund 301) for the Castro Park Field Renovation, City Project No. C-5032. Design $ 25,000 Construction $ 165,000 Contingency $ 10,000 TOTAL $ 200,000 LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS The City Attorney has reviewed the proposed action and found that legal considerations have been addressed. Attachments: 1. Accompanying Resolution Page 4 ---PAGE BREAK--- Agenda Item No. 5(J) Attachment 1 RESOLUTION 2015–XX RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF EL CERRITO APPROVING PLANS FOR THE CASTRO PARK FIELD RENOVATION PROJECT; AMENDING THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM AND THE FISCAL YEAR 2014-15 ADOPTED BUDGET TO APPROPRIATE $200,000 IN THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS FUND (FUND 301) FOR THE PROJECT; AND AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO AWARD A CONTRACT TO BAUMAN LANDSCAPE AND CONSTRUCTION, INC. IN AN AMOUNT TO BE DETERMINED AFTER UNDERGOING A VALUE ENGINEERING PROCESS FOR THE CASTRO PARK FIELD RENOVATION PROJECT, CONTRACT NO. C-5032 WHEREAS, the Castro Park athletic field in El Cerrito is owned by the West Contra Costa Unified School District (District); and WHEREAS, the City maintains and programs use of the Castro Park facilities including the athletic field per an existing agreement with the District; and WHEREAS, the athletic field at Castro Park will be utilized by the Fred T. Korematsu Middle School students for physical education and other activities starting in the 2015-2016 school year; and WHEREAS, due to the age of the field, increasing usage, and impacts related to the construction of the Middle School, the Castro Park athletic field and associated elements are in need of renovation in order for the District and the City to be able to provide a safe and quality athletic field for the increasing numbers of school and community users; and WHEREAS, the District has offered to cover the costs of renovating the Castro Park athletic field in an amount not to exceed $200,000 and the City has offered to manage and direct the renovation project to expedite completion; and WHEREAS, the project was advertised for bids on April 13 and 20, 2015 and two bids were received on May 5, 2015; and WHEREAS, the lowest bidder was Bauman Landscape and Construction, Inc., whose total bid, in the amount of $246,137.80, was 48 percent above the Engineer’s Estimate, exceeding the project’s fundable budget; and WHEREAS, staff intends to pursue value engineering options to reduce project costs without jeopardizing any of the critical elements of the project; and WHEREAS, the City has the authority to authorize the City Manager to award the contract for this project pursuant to the established common-law doctrine articulated in the case of Graydon v. Pasadena Redevelopment Agency (1980) 104 Cal.App.3d 631; and ---PAGE BREAK--- Page 2 WHEREAS, the project is categorically exempt from review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Section 15301 (Existing Facilities) because the project is a repair to an existing facility involving negligible or no expansion of use beyond that presently existing. NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of El Cerrito approves the following: 1) Approves plans for the Castro Park Field Renovation, City Project No. C- 5032; 2) Amends the Capital Improvement Program and the Fiscal Year 2014-15 Adopted Budget to appropriate $200,000 in the Capital Improvements Fund (Fund 301) for the Castro Park Field Renovation, City Project No. C-5032; and 3) Authorizes the City Manager to award a contract, contingent upon successful negotiations with Bauman Landscape and Construction, Inc. for a deductive change order after undergoing a value engineering process which is not inconsistent with the budget for the Castro Park Field Renovation, City Project No. C-5032. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that this Resolution shall become effective immediately upon passage and adoption. I CERTIFY that at a regular meeting on May 19, 2015, the City Council of the City of El Cerrito passed this Resolution by the following vote: AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS: NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS: ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: IN WITNESS of this action, I sign this document and affix the corporate seal of the City of El Cerrito on May X, 2015. Cheryl Morse, City Clerk APPROVED: Mark Friedman, Mayor