Agenda Item Wording:
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Design Contract Award and Appropriation of Funds - Authorize the City Manager to award the design contract to Peters Engineering Group for the Houston Community Connectivity Project in the amount of $258,705 and authorize the additional appropriation of funds in the amount of $330,000 from the Measure R Local Fund (131).
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Prepared by:
Rudy Lopez, Associate Engineer, Rudy.Lopez@visalia.city, 713-4270
Rebecca Keenan, Senior Civil Engineer, Rebecca.Keenan@visalia.city, 713-4541
Chris Crawford, City Engineer, chris.crawford@visalia.city, 713-4331
Jason Huckleberry, Engineering and Building Department Director, Jason.Huckleberry@visalia.city, 713-4495
Department Recommendation:
Staff recommends City Council:
1. Authorize the City Manager to award the design contract to Peters Engineering Group for the Houston Community Connectivity Project in the amount of $258,705, and
2. Authorize an additional appropriation of funds in the amount of $330,000 from the Measure R Local Fund (131) for the Plans, Specifications & Estimates (PS&E) and Right of Way (ROW) of the Houston Community Connectivity Project.
Summary:
This project will provide safe crossings to and from Houston Elementary school, Construction of 5,700 linear feet of missing sidewalk gaps in surrounding small adjacent streets. The proposed improvements will include the construction of protected bike lanes Class II and Class IV along the north and south side of W. Houston Avenue, retrofitting of the existing and non-existing curb returns to comply with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Public Right-of-Way Accessibility Guidelines (PROWAG) requirements, intersections modifications such as crosswalks with flashing beacons and bulb out configurations for safe pedestrian crossing. This project also needs the additional appropriation of funds in the amount of $330,000 to subsidize the PS&E and ROW phases of the project and staff time for the two phases.
At this time, as per their design agreement, Peters Engineering Group has prepared a lump sum cost proposal of $258,705.00.
Background Discussion:
On May 16, 2022, the City Council authorized the City Manager to submit funding application for the 2023 Active Transportation program (ATP) Cycle 6 for The Houston Community Connectivity Project.
Project Description and Scope:
Cycle 6 2023 Active Transportation program (ATP) included The Houston Community Connectivity Project on the California Transportation Commission’s (CTC) list of awarded projects. The Houston Community Connectivity Project is an improvement project within the Houston Elementary attendance boundary in north Visalia consisting of multimodal improvements. These improvements include the construction of protected bike lanes Class II and Class IV along north and south side of W. Houston Avenue, construction and reconstruction of ADA/PROWAG compliant curb returns in multiple intersections from N. Mooney Blvd. to N. Stevenson St. with assigned bulb out configurations in specific locations. Construction of 5,700 linear feet of missing sidewalk gaps around Houston Elementary School small adjacent streets such as N. Rinaldi St., W. Switzer St. W. Goshen Ave., N. Jacob St., W. Allen Ave., and N. Turner St. Other modifications to the intersections consist of safe crossings pedestrian rails and restriping of intersection crosswalks with flashing beacons.
The Houston Community Connectivity Project is expected to slow down vehicular traffic, make pedestrians and bikes more visible through the intersections, and reduce crossing distances. The project is also expected to provide safe street crossings to and from Houston Elementary school and sidewalk walking paths creating continuous connecting points for students walking to and from home, school, surrounding shopping centers and recreational areas.
Consultant Selection Process.
On April 25, 2025, the City Council awarded the on-call civil engineering services contract for RFQ 24-25-29 to six (6) civil engineering consultants consisting of Peters Engineering Group, 4 Creeks, Inc., Provost & Pritchard Consulting Group, TRC Engineers, Inc., Lane Engineers, Inc., and CWE.
For the Houston Community Connectivity Project, a mini-RFP was sent to all six (6) Consultants to participate in this project and four (4) submitted a proposal.
1. Peters Engineering Group
2. 4 Creeks, Inc.
3. TRC Engineers, Inc.
4. CWE
The mini-RFP review committee evaluated and scored the proposals based on the selection criteria outlined in the mini-RFP. Peters Engineering Group was determined to be the most qualified for the project, ranked the highest consultant from the proposals received, based on the consultants’ proposed approach to the scope of work and their qualifications.
Peters Engineering Group has successfully worked on past city projects such as the St. Johns & Burke St. Traffic Signal Design and the Riggin Ave. Giddings & Conyer Traffic Signals.
Following a review of their proposal, refinement of scope, and negotiation of fee, Peters Engineering Group total design fee of $258,705.00 is determined to be reasonable.
Public Outreach
Engineering staff conducted public outreach to gather input and feedback from the community to ensure the community’s needs are addressed. The public outreach conducted included:
• 3 Online Surveys - 4/4/22 to 4/18/22
• 1 Pop Up Event
o Senior Center - 4/13/22
• 2 Public Workshops
o Houston Elementary Afterschool Program - 4/5/22
o Senior Center - 4/6/22
Engineering staff will conduct one last public outreach at the completion of 30% design deliverable, to ensure the community input and feedback are considered before moving forward on design and future construction of the project.
Budget Deficit
During the collection of documents and calculation for construction in the original estimate in the submitted ATP application of 2023, the allocation of funds consisted of $200,000 for PS&E (phase II) and $10,000 for ROW (Phase III).
Staff has updated the original project budget and identified a funding deficit in the PS&E (Phase II) and ROW (Phase III). This is because the project’s original estimate for the ATP allocation of funds underestimated the amount of TOPO work required for the project, since the scope of work consists of multiple locations with many variations in design for missing sidewalk gaps in minor streets and for the ADA/PROWAG compliant ramps. Also, the original budget estimate for this project reflected costs that did not anticipate increases in labor and materials costs now in 2025 due to inflation and other factors.
The allocation of funds requested in the ATP application of 2023 for the amounts of $200,000 for PS&E (phase II) and $10,000 for ROW (Phase III) will not be enough to cover the newly calculated costs for these two phases, therefore the allocation of extra funds is requested in this report.
Staff anticipate that there is sufficient funding in place for the remaining project phase for construction. The grant includes $2.1 million to fund construction costs, and the calculated budget for the increased scope of work is estimated to be within that amount. However, since bid climates change frequently, staff will work with the consultant to structure the construction bid package with a Base Bid and various Alternate Bids. The Base Bid will include the Houston Avenue corridor, as submitted in grant application, and any needed or recommended extra work items to create a more complete pedestrian route to and from Houston Elementary School. These details will be worked out with the consultant through the design process. The Alternate Bids will be focused on the areas of the project further away from the Houston Elementary School such that if eliminated from the scope of work these deductions still meet the minimum requirements stipulated per the ATP application. Setting up the project in this manner facilitates budget management and will allow the City to stay within the allocated grant funds for construction.
Fiscal Impact:
The Houston Community Connectivity Project is funded through the ATP state grant. ATP grant funds are allocated for each specific phase of the project. Staff have recalculated costs for each of the phases of the project, PA&ED, PS&E and ROW, estimating more defined costs. Table 1 shown below lists the grant funds approved and for each project phase. Table 2 shown below lists the incurred and calculated projected costs for the current phases of the project, PS&E and ROW.
Table 1. Grant Budget.
Table 2. Incurred & Calculated Costs for Phases II - III.
The project has been re-estimated and the calculation and assessment of costs for the PS&E (Phase II) and ROW (Phase III) show a budget deficit of $323,705, for which the additional appropriation of $330,000 will suffice to cover the costs for the design, incurred staff time as of today, plus the estimated staff time needed during the design phase of this project.
Staff recommends the additional appropriation of funds in the amount of $330,000 from the Measure R Local Fund (131).
Prior Council Action:
May 16, 2022: The City Council authorized the submission of funding application for the ATP funding (Cycle 6) and the city was awarded $2,385,000 for the Houston Community Connectivity Project.
April 21, 2025: The City Council authorized the City Manager to execute a one-year contract with Civil Engineering Consultant Peters Engineering Group and place the firm on an on-call list to provide civil engineering and related services in support of the City’s Capital Improvement Projects.
Other:
None
Alternatives:
None Recommended
Recommended Motion (and Alternative Motions if expected):
recommendation
I move to authorize the City Manager to:
1. Award the design contract to Peters Engineering Group for The Houston Community Connectivity Project in the amount of $258,705.00, and
2. Authorize an additional appropriation of funds in the amount of $330,000 from the Measure R Local Fund (131) for the Plans, Specifications & Estimates (PS&E) and Right of Way (ROW) of the Houston Community Connectivity Project.
Environmental Assessment Status:
CEQA Exemption - 2024-11
Deadline for Action:
06-01-26 (PS&E CTC Allocated funds are available for expenditure until June 30, 2026)
Attachments:
1. Project Location Exhibit
2. Peters Engineering Group Ownership Disclosure Form
3. Draft Contract