FROM: James D. Herberg, General Manager
Originator: Kathy Millea, Director of Engineering
SUBJECT:
title
CONSTRUCTION OUTREACH SUPPORT SERVICES
end
GENERAL MANAGER'S RECOMMENDATION
recommendation
RECOMMENDATION:
A. Approve a Professional Consultant Services Agreement with Katz & Associates, Inc. to provide Construction Outreach Support Services, Specification No. CS-2022-1329BD, for a total amount not to exceed $450,000 for a three-year term;
B. Approve a contingency of $45,000 (10%) for the first three-year term;
C. Approve two (2) one-year optional renewals for an annual amount not to exceed $150,000 per year; and
D. Approve an annual contingency of $15,000 (10%) for each optional year.
body
BACKGROUND
Orange County Sanitation District (OC San) manages a $3 billion dollar Capital Improvement Program (CIP) with more than 90 projects occurring simultaneously at Plant No. 1, Plant No. 2, and throughout Orange County. To support the CIP, OC San has an extensive Construction Outreach Program as part of the Organizational Outreach and Advocacy goal within the Board adopted Strategic Plan. This program aims to keep the community and the various stakeholders informed of the CIP project activities.
Through the outreach program, relationships are established with the cities and ratepayers that are often initially unfamiliar with the agency and the services OC San provides. The outreach program introduces OC San, the need for the projects, and the benefits to the community which minimizes public complaints. Establishing contact and communication with the community early on helps build trust and allows for a smoother project start up and project completion, while also minimizing the workload and complaints from going directly to the cities.
RELEVANT STANDARDS
• Build brand, trust, and support with policy makers and community leaders
• Maintain collaborative and cooperative relationships with regulators, stakeholders, and neighboring communities
• Maintain influential legislative advocacy and a public outreach program
• Make it easy for people to understand OC San’s roles and value to the community
PROBLEM
Historically, the outreach program is managed internally with the support of sub-consultants as part of the design or construction contract. With the number of projects and potential overlap, a design consultant by project based approach can become complicated and cause confusion. In addition, without a centralized program, significant internal resources would be required and would cause a significant strain on staff to provide the proper outreach coordination while also supporting the other public affairs programs within the agency.
PROPOSED SOLUTION
Due to the large number of projects occurring simultaneously throughout various cities, OC San is proposing to reallocate the individual construction outreach budget within each of the individual projects to one centralized program to effectively maintain a smooth, efficient, and consistent program. Staff recommends approving an agreement to help support the outreach efforts for the CIP. Over the next few years, the CIP will have almost 20 projects with a combined construction cost of $730 million in design and construction that need outreach support. The selected team will help support the outreach for these projects.
TIMING CONCERNS
Large scale projects within the collection system are nearing the construction phase. Having Katz & Associates onboard prior to construction start will allow individual outreach plans to be developed and implemented to minimize public concerns.
RAMIFICATIONS OF NOT TAKING ACTION
Without supplementing the outreach program team, OC San will not have the necessary resources on hand to properly develop, implement, and support the various CIP projects to our current level of service.
PRIOR COMMITTEE/BOARD ACTIONS
N/A
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Consultant Selection:
OC San requested and advertised for proposals for Construction Outreach Support Services on July 7, 2022. The following evaluation criteria were described in the Request for Proposals (RFP) and used to determine the most qualified Consultant.
|
CRITERION |
WEIGHT |
|
Work Plan |
25% |
|
Qualifications & Experience of Firm |
20% |
|
Proposed Staffing & Project Organization |
20% |
|
Presentation/Interview |
15% |
|
Cost |
20% |
Three proposals were received on August 12, 2022 and evaluated in accordance with the evaluation process set forth in OC San’s Purchasing Ordinance by a pre-selected Evaluation Team consisting of the following OC San staff: Administration Manager, Engineering Supervisor, Principal Public Affairs Specialist, Senior Engineer, and Principal Staff Analyst. The evaluation team also included one non-voting representative from the Purchasing Division. The Evaluation Team scored the proposals on the established criteria as summarized in the table below.
|
Rank |
Proposer |
Criterion 1 (Max 25%) |
Criterion 2 (Max 20%) |
Criterion 3 (Max 20%) |
Subtotal Score (Max 65% |
|
1 |
Katz & Associates, Inc. |
23% |
18% |
18% |
59% |
|
2 |
S. Groner Associates |
19% |
16% |
13% |
48% |
|
3 |
Alliance Outreach |
17% |
15% |
12% |
44% |
The two highest ranking firms, Katz & Associates, Inc. and S. Groner Associates, Inc., were selected for the presentation round. Presentations took place on September 15, 2022. Following the presentations, the evaluation team finalized scores based on both the proposals and presentations using the evaluation criteria and weighting listed above.
|
Rank |
Proposer |
Subtotal Score (Max 65%) |
Presentation (Max 15%) |
Total Score without cost (Max 80%) |
|
1 |
Katz & Associates, Inc. |
59% |
14% |
73% |
|
2 |
S. Groner Associates |
48% |
8% |
56% |
All proposals were accompanied by a sealed cost proposal. Due to the natural break in the scoring after the interviews, only the cost proposal for the highest ranked firm was opened and negotiated.
|
Rank |
Proposer |
Subtotal Score (Max 65%) |
Presentation (Max 15%) |
Cost (Max 20%) |
Total Weighted Score (Max 100%) |
|
1 |
Katz & Associates, Inc. |
59% |
14% |
20% |
93% |
Cost Information for Opened Proposals:
|
Rank |
Proposer |
Cost |
|
1 |
Katz & Associates, Inc. |
$450,000 |
Staff is recommending approval of a 10% contingency that may be used for increased support to accommodate developments and implementation of the CIP.
Based on these results, staff recommends approving a Professional Consultant Services Agreement to Katz & Associates, Inc. The term of this Agreement will begin upon effective date of the Notice to Proceed.
CEQA
N/A
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS
This request complies with authority levels of OC San’s Purchasing Ordinance. This item has been budgeted as a part of the CIP.
|
Date of Approval |
Contract Amount |
Contingency |
|
11/16/2022 |
$450,000 |
$45,000 (10%) |
ATTACHMENT
The following attachment(s) may be viewed on-line at the OC San website (www.ocsan.gov) with the complete agenda package:
• Professional Consultant Services Agreement