HomeMy WebLinkAboutPW Fire Stations 54 & 55 Contractor Prequalifications Procedures - Essential Facilities Projects____________________________________________________________________________________
FOR CITY CLERK ONLY
Council Meeting: March 1, 2021
Disposition: Resolution 14894
Agenda Item No: 5.e
Meeting Date: March 1, 2021
SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
Department: Department of Public Works
Prepared by: Bill Guerin, Public Works Director City Manager Approval: ________
TOPIC: FIRE STATIONS 54 AND 55 CONTRACTOR PREQUALIFICATION
PROCEDURES - ESSENTIAL FACILITIES PROJECTS
SUBJECT: RESOLUTION APPROVING USE OF A PREQUALIFICATION PROCESS AND
AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER AND ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER TO
ACT AS THE PREQUALIFICATION APPEALS PANEL FOR THE FIRE
STATION 54 AND FIRE STATION 55 PROJECTS
RECOMMENDATION: Adopt the resolution approving the use of a prequalification process and
authorizing the City Manager and Assistant City Manager to act as the prequalification appeals
panel for the Phase 2 Essential Facilities projects (Fire Station 54 and Fire Station 55).
BACKGROUND: Measure E passed on November 5, 2013 extending for 20 years an existing
0.5% sales tax and increasing it by 0.25%. On February 3, 2014, the San Rafael City Council
directed staff to set aside the revenues from the added quarter percent to begin to address
our aging essential facilities. On July 20, 2015, the City Council unanimously approved an
Essential Facilities Strategic Plan. The plan calls for seismic and operational Upgrades to Fire
Stations 54 and 55.
The designs for Fire Stations 54 and 55 have been approved by the Planning Commission and
Design Review Board and are nearing completion. The projects are to be bid for construction as
a single project, beginning with the selection of a general contractor. San Rafael Municipal
Code, Chapter 11.50, generally requires that public works projects be competitively bid under
the traditional low bid design-bid-build procedure and staff intends to follow that procedure for
this project.
Public Contract Code Section 20101 allows public agencies to require licensed contractors that
wish to bid for public works jobs to “prequalify” for the right to bid on a specific public works
project. Essential facilities such as Fire Stations 54 and 55 are highly complex and critical
public safety buildings serving the public’s needs. Staff and the City’s consultants recommend
selecting highly qualified general contractors that have had experience in building similar
essential facilities and can demonstrate certain specific qualifications needed for the essential
facilities projects, including: a strong team; experience with projects of similar size, complexity
and quality; strong references from previous clients; a strong safety record; and a record of
collaborative and litigation-free delivery of previous projects. To ensure highly qualified
SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT / Page: 2
general contractors for the Fire Stations 54 and 55 projects, staff recommends a contractor
prequalification process for these projects.
ANALYSIS: The prequalification process requires that proposers respond to a defined
prequalification questionnaire. City staff proposes a selection committee that would review each
contractor’s application and rate each firm against defined criteria. Staff would use the
Department of Industrial Relations Labor Commissioner’s Model Pre-Qualification Questionnaire
and would perform specific reference checks with additional questions to standardize the
prequalification evaluation. Proposers provide various references and staff will question the
references regarding strength of project personnel, experience with similar projects, approach
and organization, reference checks, safety record, and claims avoidance record in order to
create a short-list of highly qualified bidders that would then be asked to submit bids for the Fire
Station project.
The short-list of highly qualified contractors chosen would be provided with a set of complete
construction documents in order to prepare a bid. The request for bids for Fire Stations 54 and
55would be issued in the spring of 2021. The City would award a contract for the projects to
the lowest responsive responsible contractor. A prequalification process maximizes the overall
quality of bidders while still allowing for a larger pool of potential contractors to ensure
adequate competition. This method ensures highly qualified contractors are building the
prominent Essential Facilities projects in order to produce high quality buildings on schedule
and within budget.
The Public Contract Code Section 20101(d) requires that the City’s prequalification process
allow for appeals of disqualification determinations. Public Contract Code Section 20101(d)
requires public agencies that require prospective bidders to prequalify to establish a process
that will allow prospective bidders to dispute their proposed prequalification rating prior to the
closing time for receipt of bids. To implement the appeals process mandated by the Public
Contract Code, staff recommends that the City Council authorize the City Manager and the
Assistant City Manager to be the designated appeals panel for the prequalification appeals
process for the Phase 2 Essential Facilities projects (Fire Station 54 and Fire Station 55).
FISCAL IMPACT: There is no fiscal impact associated with this report.
OPTIONS:
1. Adopt resolution as presented approving use of a prequalification process and
designating the City Manager and Assistant City Manager as the prequalification
appeals panel for the Fire Stations 54 and 55 project.
2. Council may direct staff to modify the resolution.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Adopt the resolution.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Resolution approving use of a prequalification process and authorizing the City Manager
and Assistant City Manager to act as the prequalification appeals panel for the Fire
Stations 54 and 55 project.
1
RESOLUTION NO.14894
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN RAFAEL APPROVING USE
OF A PREQUALIFICATION PROCESS AND AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER AND
ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER TO ACT AS THE PREQUALIFICATION APPEALS PANEL FOR
THE FIRE STATION 54 AND FIRE STATION 55 PROJECTS
WHEREAS, the City of San Rafael intends to construct two new essential facilities
projects, to update and improve Fire Station 54 and Fire Station 55; and
WHEREAS, the City of San Rafael intends to expend considerable public resources to
construct these facilities; and
WHEREAS, these new facilities are complex in nature and need to be constructed to
ensure they are operable during and after a significant natural or man-made hazardous event in
and/or around San Rafael; and
WHEREAS, these essential facilities need to be constructed to the highest quality in order
to continue to function effectively decades into the future with minimal maintenance or downtime;
and
WHEREAS, the City has a great interest in selecting construction contractors with certain
specific qualifications needed for the essential facilities projects, including: a strong team;
experience with projects of similar size, complexity and quality; strong references from previous
clients; a strong safety record; and a record of collaborative and litigation-free delivery of previous
projects; and
WHEREAS, City Staff has initiated, and recommends that the City Council approve, a
process to prequalify bidders before they are offered the opportunity to bid on these essential
facility projects; and
WHEREAS, the prequalification process will require that proposers respond to a specific
set of defined pre-qualification questions and to provide various references describing strength of
project personnel, experience with similar projects, approach and organization, reference checks,
safety record, and claims avoidance record; and
2
WHEREAS, City staff will establish a selection committee who will review each
contractor’s application and rate each firm against defined criteria. The selection committee will
use the results of the evaluation to create a short-list of highly qualified contractors. Only this
short-list of contractors will be invited to submit a cost proposal; and
WHEREAS, Public Contract Code Section 20101(d) requires public agencies that require
prospective bidders to prequalify pursuant to this law to establish “a process that will allow
prospective bidders to dispute their proposed prequalification rating prior to the closing time for
receipt of bids”; and
WHEREAS, Staff recommends that the City Council authorize the City Manager and the
Assistant City Manager to be the designated appeals panel for the prequalification appeals
process for the Phase 2 Essential Facilities projects (Fire Station 54, and Fire Station 55);
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN RAFAEL RESOLVES
as follows:
1. The City Council hereby approves the use of the staff-initiated contractor
prequalification process for the Fire Station 54 and Fire Station 55 projects.
2. The City Manager and Assistant City Manager are hereby authorized to act as the
appeals panel for the prequalification process.
I, LINDSAY LARA, Clerk of the City of San Rafael, hereby certify that the foregoing resolution
was duly and regularly introduced and adopted at a regular meeting of the Council of said City on
the 1st day of March, 2021, by the following vote, to wit:
AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS: Bushey, Hill, Kertz, Llorens Gulati & Mayor Kate
NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS: None
ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: None
LINDSAY LARA, City Clerk