Agenda Item Wording:
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Award Design Services Contract - Authorize the City Manager to execute a professional services agreement with 4Creeks, Inc., as a sole-source provider, for the design of the expansion and remodel of the clubhouse at the Valley Strong Stadium, in the amount of $420,000; to procure limited construction materials through 4Creeks during the design phase in an amount up to $1,100,000; and to appropriate $4,342,028 from the baseball fund.
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Deadline for Action: 10/7/2024
Submitting Department: Community Development
Contact Name and Phone Number:
Rebecca Keenan, Senior Civil Engineer, 713-4541; Rebecca.keenan@visalia.city
Christopher Crawford, City Engineer, 713-4331; chris.crawford@visalia.city
Jason Huckleberry, Eng & Bldg Director, 713-4495; jason.huckleberry@visalia.city
Department Recommendation:
Staff recommends that the City Council authorize the City Manager to execute a professional services agreement with 4Creeks, Inc., as a sole-source provider, for the design of the expansion and remodel of the clubhouse at the Valley Strong Stadium, in the amount of $420,000; to procure limited construction materials through 4Creeks during the design phase in an amount up to $1,100,000; and to appropriate $4,342,028 from the baseball fund which is subsidized by the general fund (001). Staff will transfer the appropriation amount into the Baseball Fund with the budget approval.
Background Discussion:
This project will expand and retrofit the existing clubhouse at the Valley Strong Stadium (Recreation Park Baseball Stadium) to comply with Minor/Major League Baseball (MiLB/MLB) requirements. The existing 6,200 square foot (SF) clubhouse does not meet current space and use requirements. In 2021, Ewing Cole prepared an audit report of the ballpark which graded the facilities, including the clubhouse, to determine if they are in compliance. Several features around the park received grades less than the standard cutoff, including the clubhouse. The clubhouse requires improvements to the home & visiting club facilities, as well as improvements to the weight room and pitching tunnel. The proposed improvements will expand the existing clubhouse to 7,490 SF, demolish the existing 1,920 SF pitching tunnel, and replace it with a 5,800 SF pitching facility. The new pitching facility will include a 4,400 SF tunnel, with the remaining space allocated for a weight room, equipment storage room, and team storage room (MLB club). The project will also include all required site improvements, including ADA upgrades, electrical and plumbing upgrades, fire department upgrades, and solid waste improvements.
MiLB/MLB has established an aggressive schedule for the completion of these improvements. All work must be complete by March 2026, before the start of the 2026 baseball season, which means that this project must be urgently expedited to meet the MiLB/MLB schedule. If the project is not complete by the given deadline, the MiLB/MLB will impose costly fines on the Rawhide.
In response to the audit, in 2022, the Rawhide independently hired 4Creeks to help create cost effective, conceptual clubhouse & pitching tunnel layouts to meet the new MiLB/MLB requirements. 4Creeks worked extensively with the Rawhide staff to develop and refine a floor plan for the clubhouse & pitching tunnel facility which adheres to the MiLB/MLB requirements and meets the local Rawhide needs. See Attachment 2 for the MiLB/MLB approved floor plan. In addition, they worked judiciously to find creative ways to reduce the anticipated construction costs. Initial construction cost estimates for the clubhouse and pitching tunnel improvements were developed for the Rawhide by a different consultant (early in 2022) and indicated that the improvements would cost approximately $5.7 million, excluding contingencies and support costs. Subsequently, the Rawhide began to work with 4Creeks to provide value engineering and find ways to reduce the cost. Through those efforts the anticipated construction cost was decreased to approximately $3.7 million in 2022 dollars, excluding contingencies and support costs. The current estimated construction cost is $3,753,000.
4Creeks has been involved with this project since 2022, through their relationship with the Rawhide, and they have developed a distinct awareness of the major deadline established by the MiLB/MLB, and the importance of meeting that timeframe. As such, their schedule proposes to split the two facilities into two phases, which will allow construction to occur around the Rawhide’s 2025 play season. Phase 1 includes completing and permitting the Construction Documents for the pitching facility by March 2025, with construction starting immediately afterwards, and concluding by November 2025. Phase 2 includes completing and permitting the Construction Documents for the clubhouse by July 2025, with selective demolition of the pitching tunnel starting in August 2025, followed by the remodel & expansion of the clubhouse between September 2025 to March 2026. This 17-month schedule is very aggressive, given the need to work around the Rawhide Team’s 2025 play season, but 4Creeks is confident that they can accomplish it.
In addition to the fast-tracked design and permitting of the new facilities, there are a couple of other critical aspects required to meet the aggressive Clubhouse schedule. The first is the elimination of the procurement process for the construction phase. The construction procurement phase typically adds approximately 6 months to a project like this, making it impossible to meet the March 2026 construction completion deadline. 4Creeks has the ability to provide turn-key design and construction services, known as Design-Build, and has included this option in their proposed schedule. At this time, they have submitted a scope of work and fee for the design phase of the project only; they will submit a construction cost proposal for the complete project after the 60% design phase, when they have a solid understanding of what the final design will include. The City will then have the option to accept the proposed construction fee, or to issue the PS&E package for additional bids. See Attachment 3 for the 4Creeks schedule, which includes the sole-source procurement and contracting for the construction of the clubhouse facility (Design-Build). The second critical aspect is the procurement of long-lead construction items. 4Creeks has identified the following four items to be purchased during the design phase, in order to have them ready to install as soon as the construction starts:
Staff requests authorization to procure the listed items through 4Creeks, up to the maximum total amount shown of $1,100,000. Staff will return to the City Council for further direction, should the cost exceed the indicated maximum amount. In addition, since these items will be procured prior to the award of construction, these costs will not be included in the proposed construction bid amount by 4Creeks. And, if 4Creeks is not the successful contractor, the pre-purchased materials will be delivered to the City of Visalia for use by the successful contractor. It should be noted that the amount show above is included in the overall Project Budget shown in Table 3.
As a local consultant, 4Creeks has worked on many different projects within the City of Visalia, including work on private land development projects and City of Visalia capital improvement projects. They are well versed in the City’s processes and requirements, meaning that they can swiftly navigate those to keep the project on schedule. They are also keenly aware that this facility is owned by the City of Visalia, and as such, they will provide a design that includes all tasks and services required to deliver a complete, functioning, fully code compliant construction bid package (plans, specifications, and estimates - PS&E), to the satisfaction of the City of Visalia, the Rawhide, and MiLB/MLB. Since 4Creeks has gone through an arduous preliminary process to develop the proposed site layout and estimated construction costs, they are uniquely positioned to help the City of Visalia and the Rawhide to deliver the project on time and within budget. Following is a summary of the proposed scope of work for the Design & Permitting Phase only. They will provide a separate proposed construction fee sometime after the 60% submittal package. See Attachment 4 for the full 4Creeks Scope of Work, including Task descriptions and applicable exclusions.
4Creeks developed the proposed layouts in compliance with MiLB/MLB requirements; they identified value engineering opportunities to significantly cut the construction costs; and they have included a creative & rigorous schedule in their proposed scope of work, which will meet the City’s, the Rawhide’s, and MiLB/MLB’s objectives. Opening up the design of the expansion and remodel of the clubhouse for a City standard procurement process will add a minimum of 3 months to the schedule, in order to issue the Request for Proposals (RFP), rank and interview the consultants, negotiate with the consultant, award the design, and execute the agreements. Once the consultant is hired, another 2 to 3 months will be spent familiarizing them with the project and starting the Schematic Design phase. This process alone will impact the schedule by up to 6 months, not including the construction procurement time (another 6 months) that is required through a standard Design-Bid-Build process and the purchase of long-lead construction materials. If the City requires that either one of these standard Design-Bid-Build procurement processes be included in the project, the project will not be complete by the March 2026 deadline. At this time, staff recommends award of the design & permitting contract to 4Creeks as a sole-source provider, since they have integral knowledge and expertise related to the project; and authorization to pre-purchase the long-lead items listed. Staff will return at a future date with a recommendation regarding the possible award for construction.
Fiscal Impact:
The total budget for completion of this project is estimated at $5,235,000, (including a 15% construction contingency) which is greater than the $4,342,028 amount included in the agreement between the City of Visalia and First Pitch. This budget amount includes the $420,000 to be awarded to 4Creeks for the Design, $11,500 previously awarded to 4Creeks for a topographic survey, the pre-purchase of the long lead items, construction costs, contingency, permitting fees, and other consultant costs (construction manager, materials testing, and staking services). At this time, staff requests an appropriation of $4,342,028 from the baseball fund which is subsidized by the general fund. This will keep the budget within the previously agreed to amounts. If needed, staff will return to the City Council for additional direction after the design progresses, and the budget numbers are refined. The estimated budget is further broken down in the Table 3:
It should be noted that the City of Visalia - First Pitch agreement includes $3,314,670 for the outfield fence, padding, batter’s eye, and LED lighting upgrades. Currently, the total estimated budget for those items is $2,201,200, leaving a potential surplus of $1,113,470 from those items. Staff will return at a later date to request authorization to award the construction of the clubhouse & pitching tunnel project and will provide an updated budget estimate at that time. For that reason, staff only requests that the amount in the agreement, $4,342,028 be appropriated now and that staff transfer cash into the Baseball Fund in the amount of the budget appropriation.
Prior Council Action:
None.
Alternatives: None recommended.
Recommended Motion (and Alternative Motions if expected):
recommendation
I move to authorize the City Manager to execute a professional services agreement with 4Creeks, Inc., as a sole-source provider, for the design of the expansion and remodel of the clubhouse at the Valley Strong Stadium, in the amount of $420,000; to procure limited construction materials through 4Creeks during the design phase in an amount up to $1,100,000; and to appropriate $4,342,028 from the baseball fund.
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CEQA Review: Environmental Document No. 2024-18, Notice of Exemption was filed at the Tulare County Assessor/Cleark-Recorder’s Office on May 9, 2024.
Attachments:
1. Location Map
2. MiLB/MLB approved floor plan
3. 4Creeks schedule
4. 4Creeks scope of work, including applicable exclusions
5. Ownership Disclosure