Agenda Item Wording:
title
RFB Award & Appropriation of Funds: Authorize the City Manager to award the construction contract with Avison Construction for the Inc. for RFB 23-24-19, Shirk Capacity Enhancement Project from School Ave to Riggin Ave in the amount of $16,444,225.00 and authorize additional appropriations of funds.
body
Deadline for Action: 9/16/2024
Submitting Department: Community Development
Contact Name and Phone Number:
Diego Corvera, Senior Civil Engineer, Diego.Corvera@visalia.city, 713-4209
Dolores Verduzco, Financial Analyst, Dolores.Verduzco@visalia.city, 713-4540
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 that the City Council:
1. Authorize the City Manager to award a contract with Avison Construction Inc. for RFB 23-24-19 for the Shirk Capacity Enhancement Project from School Ave to Riggin Ave 3010-72000/CP0369-999) in the amount of $16,444,225.00; and
2. Authorize an additional appropriation of $4,241,000 from the Measure R Local Fund (131) and an additional $4,801,000 from the Wastewater Trunkline Fund (231).
Background Discussion:
The Circulation Element of the 2030 City of Visalia General Plan, adopted October 14, 2014 identifies Shirk Street as a widening project from State Route 198 to Riggin Avenue. Shirk Street is to be widened from 2 to 4 lanes with center medians and become an arterial status roadway. During the development of the 2018/19 and 2019/20 City of Visalia Budget, the City of Visalia City Council and staff identified the need to start implementing the widening of this segment of Shirk Street as soon as possible. Development in the areas surrounding this corridor has increased significantly over the past five years, resulting in significant congestion along the segment and increased demand for vehicular access to the SR 198 interchange.
As directed by City Council during the budget review and adoption process, city staff commenced the preliminary engineering required to widen the Shirk Street segment from 2 lanes to 4 lanes. Initial transportation planning and preliminary engineering shows that there is insufficient right of way and budget available to fully implement the ultimate arterial street design of 110 foot right of way with medians throughout the entire corridor as required by the Circulation Element; however there is sufficient right of way width available, via right of way acquisitions along the easterly half of Shirk, to reasonably, and economically implement an operational improvement widening of Shirk Street by delaying the median construction and still provide for 4 lanes of traffic.
As directed by the City Council through the budget process, an operational improvement widening will be implemented as soon as possible, and the full, ultimate arterial street design requirements will be implemented as a subsequent phase, as further development occurs, and the needed right of way is dedicated to the City. City staff estimates that the Shirk corridor capacity enhancement project will operate at a reasonable level of service for a minimum of 10 years after this first phase is implemented.
The Shirk Capacity Enhancement project spans from School Ave to Riggin Ave and consists of widening the east side of Shirk St at various locations to accommodate four lanes of travel with a center two-way left turn lane, buffered Class II bike lanes and the installation of approximately 8,200 lineal feet of 48” diameter sewer main and associated infrastructure in the existing street. The project will modify existing traffic signals to accommodate the new street configuration as well as install a new traffic signal at Doe Ave and Shirk St.
Traffic Impacts
The project construction documents require the contractor to maintain a single lane of travel in both the north and southbound direction along Shirk Street throughout construction. A construction management firm will be hired by the City to manage public outreach and to work with the contractor to minimize traffic impacts during construction and ensure the safety of the motoring public.
If during construction, it is determined that a closure is necessary, appropriate public notification will be coordinated with the contractor and the construction management firm to efficiently notify the public and establish traffic detours accordingly.
Bidding Process:
Staff advertised RFB 23-24-19 for the Shirk Capacity Enhancement Project beginning July 2, 2024 and the RFB closed Tuesday, August 13th, 2024. The project was split with the “Base Bid (A)” encompassing the plan delineated street improvements and a “Base Bid (B)” relating to the sewer mainline installation. This project received the following three (3) bids:
|
Base Bid(A) + Base Bid(B) |
|
|
Contractor |
Location |
Bid Amount |
|
1 |
Avison Construction Inc. |
Madera, CA |
$16,444,225.00 |
|
2 |
Cal Valley Construction |
Fresno, CA |
$16,766,605.50 |
|
3 |
Yarbs Grading and Paving Inc. |
Fowler, CA |
$17,342,539.50 |
City Staff proceeded to review all three (3) bids submitted and found the 2nd lowest bidder “Cal Valley Construction” submitted a bid with tabulation errors. Cal Valley’s bid cost was tabulated to be $944,470.66 lower than their proposed amount. This resulted in Cal Valley construction having the lowest bid by tabulation. Staff reached out to Cal Valley to determine if this tabulated price is accurate. Cal Valley stated an error was made and withdrew their bid.
Avison Construction’s bid proposal was determined to be the lowest responsive bid and as part of the review process; the references provided by Avison Construction Inc. have been verified. The references provided included City of Fresno, City of Clovis, Kerman Unified School District, and City of Dinuba. These references were called by City staff with favorable responses from all jurisdictions. As a result, Staff recommends that the construction contract be awarded to Avison Construction Inc.
Tentative Project Schedule
Construction Contract Execution - Fall 2024
Sewer Construction - January - May 2025
Roadway Widening - June - September 2025
Project Substantially Completed - October 2025
Fiscal Impact:
Shirk Capacity Enhancement Project is a multi-funded project with funds budgeted from the Gas Tax Fund (111), Wastewater Trunkline Fund (231) and funds budgeted from the Measure R Local Fund (131). See the project funding breakdown below.
The project budget was initially estimated in 2021 at approximately $12.5M with a 60% plan set. Since that time, the project construction documents were finalized, and the final construction estimate was completed in July 2024 showing an estimated cost of $17.8M. The final construction bids received fell within the most current engineers’ cost estimate (Average $16.5M). The primary reason for the increase stemmed from a linear foot cost increase of the 48” sewer pipe adding $1M to the original estimate, an increased cost for the railroad crossing operations adding $900K to the original estimate and general construction cost increases over the past 3 years.
|
Shirk St Capacity Enhancement Project - CIP0369 |
|
Project Budget |
|
|
Gas Tax (fund 111) |
$2,430,699.20 |
|
Measure R Local (Fund 131) |
$1,900,000.00 |
|
Wastewater Trunkline (Fund 231) |
$8,493,721.69 |
|
Total Project Funding |
$12,824,420.89 |
|
Estimated Project Costs: |
|
|
Project Management |
$350,000.00 |
|
Design Services |
$810,000.00 |
|
Acquisition Cost (ROW) |
$396,299.24 |
|
Misc Administration Fees (RR permit) |
$3,000.00 |
|
Utility Relocation SCE (distribution pole relocation) |
$150,000.00 |
|
Cal Water Relocation |
$35,000.00 |
|
Railroad Coordination |
$50,000.00 |
|
Construction Sewer Installation Base Bid (B) |
$9,998,000.00 |
|
Construction Street Construction Base Bid (A) |
$6,446,225.00 |
|
Construction Contingency (~10% of Construction) |
$1,644,422.50 |
|
Construction Management |
$750,000.00 |
|
Construction Services (Material Testing, Inspection, Survey) |
$1,233,316.88 |
|
|
|
|
Total Estimated Project Costs: |
$21,866,263.62 |
|
Surplus (Deficit) (10% contingency) |
($9,041,843) |
|
|
|
|
Total Appropriation of Funds |
$9,042,000 |
|
Measure R Local (131) |
$4,241,000 |
|
Wastewater Trunkline (231) |
$4,801,000 |
Due to the above-identified budget deficit, staff recommends an additional appropriation from the Measure R Local fund in the amount of $4,241,000 and from the Wastewater Trunkline fund in the amount of $4,801,000 for the completion of this project. The Measure R Local fund has enough cash to fund the additional appropriation. The amount being requested from the Wastewater Trunkline represents the proportional amount of funds needed to fund the installation of the sewer main. The Wastewater Trunkline Fund will need a cash advance from the General Fund in the amount of $3.5 million during the project construction phase. Future Projects will be reprioritized during the next two year budget (FY 26/27 - 27/28).
Prior Council Action:
October 16, 2023
Authorized the City Manager to approve Amendment No. 2 with Quad Knopf Consultants for additional professional design services in the amount not to exceed $139,635.
September 20, 2021
Public hearing to consider and adopt a Resolution of Necessity to acquire portions from three separate properties APN 077-780-003; 077-640-001 and 077-650-001 generally located along Shirk Street between Riggin Avenue and Goshen Avenue for the purpose of widen Shirk Street.
August 3, 2020
Adoption of Resolution No. 2020-42 authorized the acceptance of portions of an “Irrevocable Offer of Dedication” for street right-of-way on the east side Shirk Street just north of Ferguson Avenue and between Doe Avenue and Goshen Avenue. In addition, adopted resolution No. 2020-43 designating a portion of City owned property located at APN 077-710-077 which is property located along the east side of Shirk Street just south of Ferguson Avenue, as part of the public City Street System.
October 21, 2019
Authorized the City Manager to enter into a contract with Quad Knopf, Inc. for RFP 19-20-08 to prepare Plans, Specifications, and Estimates for the Shirk Capacity Enhancement and Sewer Trunkline Project in the amount not to exceed $533,746.
Recommended Motion (and Alternative Motions if expected):
recommendation
I move to Authorize
1. The City Manager to enter into a contract with Avison Construction Inc. for RFB 23-24-19 Shirk Capacity Enhancement Project (3010-72000/CP0369-999), in the amount of $16,444,225.00, and;
2. Appropriate $4,241,000 from Measure R Local (fund 131) and $4,801,000 from Wastewater Trunkline (fund 231).
end
Environmental Assessment Status:
CEQA Exempt
Attachments:
1. Avison Construction Inc. Ownership Disclosure Form
2. Project Location Map