FROM: Robert Thompson, General Manager
Originator: Mike Dorman, Director of Engineering
SUBJECT:
title
ON-CALL MATERIALS TESTING, INSPECTION, AND OTHER GEOTECHNICAL TESTING SERVICES FOR ORANGE COUNTY SANITATION DISTRICT’S CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM, FACILITIES ENGINEERING, OPERATIONS, AND MAINTENANCE PROJECTS, PSA2025-003
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GENERAL MANAGER'S RECOMMENDATION
recommendation
RECOMMENDATION:
Approve Professional Services Agreements to provide on-call Materials Testing, Inspection, and Other Geotechnical Testing Services for Orange County Sanitation District’s Capital Improvement Program, Facilities Engineering, Operations, and Maintenance Projects, PSA2025-003, for a three-year period commencing May 1, 2025, through April 30, 2028, with two one-year renewal options, for an amount not to exceed $750,000 per individual agreement ($3,000,000 total) with the following four firms:
• Kleinfelder, Inc.
• Barnett Quality Control Services, Inc. dba NOVA Services, Inc.
• Ninyo & Moore Geotechnical & Environmental Sciences Consultants
• Atlas Technical Consultants LLC
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BACKGROUND
The Orange County Sanitation District (OC San) uses outside specialty Consultants for materials testing, inspection, and other geotechnical testing services to support the Capital Improvement Program, Small Construction Projects, and Maintenance Projects during the planning, design, and construction of facilities both inside the plants and for the collection system.
RELEVANT STANDARDS
• Ensure the public’s money is wisely spent
• 1, 5, 20-year planning horizons
• Comply with California Government Code §4526: Select the “best qualified firm” and “negotiate fair and equitable fees”
PROBLEM
The current on-call materials testing, inspection, and other geotechnical testing services agreements are expiring in April 2025. Without new agreements, OC San would not have access to these services to support the Capital Improvement Program, Small Construction Projects, and Maintenance Projects.
PROPOSED SOLUTION
Approve four Professional Services Agreements to provide on-call materials testing, inspection, and other geotechnical testing services for collection system and treatment plant projects for up to a five-year period ending in April 2030.
The agreements will cover a three-year period with two one-year renewal options. The recommended agreement amounts are based on the number and type of services utilized in the past and the anticipated needs going forward. Staff will use these Consultants on an as-needed basis.
TIMING CONCERNS
Delaying the new agreements will prevent the use of these services to support collection system and treatment plant projects.
RAMIFICATIONS OF NOT TAKING ACTION
Increased risk of construction quality and code compliance problems in supporting the Capital Improvement Program, Small Construction Projects, and Maintenance Projects.
PRIOR COMMITTEE/BOARD ACTIONS
N/A
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
On September 25, 2024, OC San issued a Notice to Prospective Proposers to over 1,500 vendors which outlined the timeline for the solicitation. On October 8, 2024, OC San requested and advertised for proposals. 11 companies identified themselves as potential proposers, so an adequate response was expected.
14 proposals were received on November 21, 2024. The proposals were evaluated in accordance with the evaluation process set forth in OC San’s Purchasing Ordinance by a pre-selected Evaluation Team consisting of OC San staff: two Construction Inspection Supervisors, one Senior Construction Inspector, one Construction Inspector, and one Senior Safety and Health Specialist. The Evaluation Team also included one non-voting representative from the Contracts Administration Division.
The following evaluation criteria were described in the RFP and used to evaluate the proposals.
|
CRITERION |
WEIGHT |
|
Project Approach and Scope of Work Understanding |
25% |
|
Staff Qualifications |
40% |
|
Professional Registration and Experience |
35% |
The Evaluation Team scored the proposals on the established criteria as summarized in the table below:
|
Rank |
Firm |
Approach and Understanding (Max 25 Pts.) |
Staff Qualifications (Max 40 Pts.) |
Experience (Max 35 Pts.) |
Total Score (Max 100 Pts.) |
|
1 |
Kleinfelder, Inc. |
23 |
38 |
32 |
93 |
|
2 |
Barnett Quality Control Services, Inc. dba NOVA Services, Inc. |
23 |
38 |
31 |
92 |
|
3 |
Ninyo & Moore Geotechnical & Environmental Sciences Consultants |
23 |
34 |
32 |
89 |
|
4 |
Atlas Technical Consultants LLC |
22 |
33 |
32 |
87 |
|
5 |
AESCO |
18 |
31 |
28 |
77 |
|
6 |
The Converse Professional Group dba Converse Consultants |
18 |
23 |
31 |
72 |
|
7 |
TGR Geotechnical, Inc. |
18 |
30 |
23 |
71 |
|
8 |
G3 Quality, Inc. |
16 |
31 |
21 |
68 |
|
9 |
Group Delta Consultants, Inc. |
17 |
26 |
25 |
68 |
|
10 |
Hushmand Associates, Inc. |
17 |
30 |
21 |
68 |
|
11 |
American Engineering Laboratories, Inc. |
18 |
30 |
16 |
64 |
|
12 |
Fenagh Inc. dba Fenagh Engineering and Testing |
12 |
30 |
18 |
60 |
|
13 |
Willdan Engineering |
11 |
18 |
18 |
47 |
|
14 |
MTGL, Inc.* |
|
|
|
Non-responsive |
The proposal by MTGL, Inc. was determined to be non-responsive as their submitted proposal did not conform with the RFP requirements; and they did not submit their Cal OSHA 300/300A Logs and Summaries for the three prior calendar years. A clarification request for the missing information was issued by OC San. The response from MTGL, Inc. identified an Accident Frequency Factor of 1.67, which is above OC San’s acceptable limit of 1.25. On December 11, 2024, OC San issued a proposal rejection to MTGL, Inc.
Based on this scoring, staff recommends approval of agreements to the top four-ranked firms. The Proposers recommended for approval generally had a better approach to meeting OC San’s needs in combination with highly qualified staff and demonstrated experience performing the type of inspections, testing, and other services needed for OC San’s projected work over the agreement period. Lower scoring Proposers generally did not address all requirements of the RFP.
Review of Fee Proposal and Negotiations:
The fee proposals for the selected firms were opened on January 23, 2025, and the rates were reviewed for general conformance and found to be acceptable. Staff recommends approval of the agreements to Kleinfelder, Inc., Barnett Quality Control Services, Inc. dba NOVA Services, Inc., Ninyo & Moore Geotechnical & Environmental Sciences Consultants, and Atlas Technical Consultants LLC.
CEQA
N/A
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS
This request complies with authority levels of OC San’s Purchasing Ordinance. The budgeted costs for the proposed Professional Services Agreements are contained within the approved CIP project budgets and no additional funding is necessary.
ATTACHMENT
The following attachment(s) may be viewed on-line at the OC San website (www.ocsan.gov) with the complete agenda package:
• Professional Services Agreements
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