Agenda Item Wording:
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Contract for Land Surveyor - Authorize the City Manager to enter into a contract with Bedrock Engineering for, to provide professional land surveyor services for a one-year term, with the option to renew for four additional one-year terms, in an amount not to exceed $200,000 per year.
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Deadline for Action: None
Submitting Department: Administration - CIP Engineering
Contact Name and Phone Number:
Jaklin Rowley, Assistant Engineer, Jaklin.Rowley@visalia.city, (559) 713-4369
Frank Senteno, City Engineer, Frank.Senteno@visalia.city, (559) 713-4331
Nick Mascia, Assistant City Manager, Nick.Mascia@visalia.city, (559) 713-4323
Department Recommendation:
Staff recommends that the City Council authorize the City Manager to award a contract to Bedrock Engineering to provide professional land surveyor services, within the City of Visalia's Administration CIP Engineering division, on a yearly renewable contract not to exceed $200,000.
Background Discussion:
In 1982 California enacted a law that divided the role of a Registered Civil Engineer (RCE) into two distinct categories, the Professional Civil Engineer (PE) and the Professional Land Surveyor (PLS). This legal change prohibited Professional Civil Engineers from determining property boundaries and related elements, making it essential to have licensed Professional Land Surveyors (PLS) to perform these tasks. Since the enactment of this law, there has been a decline in the number of individuals obtaining PLS licenses, while many individuals with the pre-1982 RCE license have retired. Additionally, limited programs for becoming a licensed Professional Land Surveyor have contributed to a shortage in the industry, despite a growing demand for their services. Across California, there are approximately 4,000 Licensed Professional Land Surveyors.
The City needs and requires a licensed land surveyor to provide professional services that demand licensure in the State of California and expertise in a variety of municipal engineering responsibilities. The absence of a licensed land surveyor has persisted for over a year since the position became vacant in April 2022. The vacancy has persisted primarily due to the high demand for land surveying services in both the public and private sectors and availability of California Licensed Surveyors.
During this vacancy period, the Administration - CIP Engineering Division secured an emergency six-month contract with Borum Land Surveying (BLS) to fulfill essential survey services. This contract was renewed for an additional year to allow time for the assembly and award of an RFP, which will ultimately cover the services currently provided by BLS. Furthermore, the previous City land surveyor undertook tasks beyond the scope of the emergency contract, such as supervisory duties, internal project coordination, Community Development Department’s mapping needs, CAD drawing for topographic maps, and field surveying. With the exception of supervisory duties and tasks pertaining to Community Development, the consultant hired through the RFP may be called upon for these additional services as needed. Although these tasks do not explicitly require a licensed land surveyor, they may necessitate technical expertise typically associated with a Professional Land Surveyor (PLS). Currently, City engineering staff is managing to meet some of these responsibilities until the City Surveyor position is filled. Recruitment for City Surveyor is being advertised on a continuous basis until filled.
The following list outlines the essential services requiring a licensed land surveyor to review and certify documents for the City:
Right Of Way Acquisition:
• Drafting legal descriptions
• Preparing exhibits
• Providing closures
• Requesting title reports
• Finalizing acquisitions through Title Company (final title report approval)
• Reviewing private land development dedication documents, including deeds, closures, exhibits, and title report review for City acceptance
Easements/Temporary Construction Easements:
• Similar requirements as Right of Way
Construction Survey:
• Establishing survey control
• Data processing through the Trimble Software (GPS calibration)
• Reviewing topos for consultants (survey control, basis of bearings)
• Monument preservation and filing of corner records
Other occasional tasks:
• Assisting with parcels for sale
• Creating lease site descriptions
• Preparing parcel descriptions for the sale of City land
• Reviewing Title Reports for pending acquisitions and sales of City land
• Maintaining the City's benchmark catalogue and setting/altering monuments
• Coordinating with private land developers, contractors, Caltrans, Tulare County representatives, or other public entities regarding land surveying inquiries
• Processing Certificates of Corrections
To estimate monthly services, staff analyzed the time spent by the former City Land Surveyor over his last five and a half months (384 hours) and a six-month period from January 2021 to June 2021 (600 hours in six months). On average, this equated to 500 hours of work. The typical charge for consultant surveyors, depending upon experience and skill, ranges from $170 - $200 per hour.
Furthermore, a critical need for the Administration - CIP Engineering Division is the preservation and filing of survey monuments and corner records, a task that requires a licensed surveyor. There are currently approximately 25 corner records related to three grind and overlay projects (Goshen Avenue, Murray Avenue, and Walnut Avenue). Numerous CIP projects are progressing to construction, necessitating ongoing survey services, and there are design projects that require the preparation of legal descriptions. All work is expected to be performed on an as-needed basis. Having licensed surveyors available is essential to ensure the uninterrupted provision of City services and the continuation of City projects.
Upon the successful recruitment of a full-time City Surveyor, a transition plan will be implemented to ensure a smooth integration between the hired consultant and the new City Surveyor. The plan will involve a thorough knowledge transfer from the consultant surveyor, covering ongoing projects, project manager interactions, and specific nuances associated with the City's surveying requirements. Additionally, a detailed handover of ongoing and upcoming projects will be facilitated, including documentation, project status reports, and project manager communications to enable the new City Surveyor to seamlessly assume responsibility. The goal is to foster collaboration between the incoming City Surveyor and existing engineering staff, providing the necessary training sessions or workshops to familiarize the new hire with internal processes and protocols.
Communication regarding the successful hiring of a full-time City Surveyor will be disseminated to project managers, clients, stakeholders, and relevant departments, to help provide an uninterrupted transition between the consultant and City Surveyor. The consultant surveyor contract will be terminated upon the City Surveyor successfully completing their one-year review/evaluation. During this time, the consultant will slowly transition to an inactive role, starting with handing over projects and assisting the new city surveyor in understanding the city’s process for surveying services. Through this comprehensive transition plan, the aim is to demonstrate a commitment to seamless and effective integration, ultimately enhancing the overall efficiency and quality of surveying services provided by the municipality.
Selection Process:
The City of Visalia received three (7) proposals in response to the advertised Request for Proposals, RFP 22-23-61, seeking annual Professional Land Surveying services for the CIP Engineering Division. These proposals were received on October 26th, 2023, from the following:
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Company: |
Location: |
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GSI |
Poway, CA |
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Central Valley Engineering |
Selma, CA |
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Borum Lan Surveying |
Grover Beach, CA |
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Bedrock Engineering |
Madera, CA |
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4-Creeks |
Visalia, CA |
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Precision Civil Engineering |
Fresno, CA |
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D.P.S.I. Inc |
Bakersfield, CA |
All firms were found technically qualified to do the work. All proposers indicated previous experience serving as a consultant surveyor. Therefore, to ensure a thorough and fair evaluation of the consultants' proposals, a proposal review committee was assembled. The proposal review committee diligently assessed and scored the proposals, providing detailed comments throughout the process. The primary objective was to select a consultant who demonstrated the highest level of qualification for the needed services and a comprehensive understanding of the scope of work. Following the committees' evaluations, staff identified Bedrock Engineering as the most qualified candidate due to their meticulously outlined and well-structured proposal, and their extensive portfolio of land surveying services, including consultant City Survey Services for other municipalities.
1. Bedrock Engineering has been the consultant city surveyor (or provided consultant survey services) for the following cities/municipalities in California:
• City of Orange Cove
• Fresno County
• City of Del Rey
• City of Parlier
Bedrock Engineering comes highly recommended based on the references provided in their RFP. Notably, they have received praise for their longstanding commitment to clients, maintaining relationships that have endured for over 20 years. Among the references are Summers Engineering and Mike Giersch, who describe Bedrock Engineering as proactive team players with extensive knowledge. The references emphasize Bedrock's commitment to thorough work without taking shortcuts. Their references express a desire to continue working with Bedrock Engineering in the future. Mike from Giersch and Associates specifically mentioned, "[I] have enjoyed working with them; they are extremely sharp, honest, and fair.
Given their expertise and excellent references Staff recommends that Bedrock Engineering be chosen as the designated Consultant Professional Land Surveyor for the City.
Fiscal Impact:
Multiple CIP projects are currently advancing to the construction phase, and these projects require survey services to support the progress of construction crews. In addition to these ongoing projects, there are CIP projects in the design stage that require the creation of legal descriptions.
To manage these services, the City's Administration CIP Engineering Department will bill each CIP project for the specific work carried out by consultant surveyors, and each project will include a pre-determined and approved budget allocation for survey needs. This billing approach mirrors the prior method where the City's Professional Land Surveyor (PLS) tracked time spent on each project and billed accordingly on an established purchase order basis. On-call consultants will also employ a similar time and materials tracking system for billing on each project.
It's important to note that the total cost for these consultant services should not exceed $180,000 for the CIP Division. The amounts mentioned are annual caps, and the contract will include a yearly renewal option until a City Surveyor is hired full-time.
Furthermore, various CIP projects will be responsible for covering their individual survey service costs.
In addition to these project-specific needs, the CIP Division recommends establishing a contract for consultant services with a yearly cap of $200,000. Within this overall cap, $20,000 will be funded by the salary savings from the currently vacant City Surveyor position for tasks not directly associated with a CIP. The City Surveyor position is budgeted within the General Fund, CIP Engineering Division.
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Budget Summary: Survey Services (Yearly Renewal) |
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Professional Survey Services |
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Administration - CIP Engineering (various CIP’s) |
$180,000.00 |
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Land Surveyor Services not directly related to a CIP (General Fund - CIP Engineering Design Division Operating Budget) |
$20,000.00 |
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Total Not to Exceed Amount: |
$200,000.00 |
Prior Council Action:
None
Alternatives: None
Recommended Motion (and Alternative Motions if expected):
recommendation
I move to authorize the City Manager to enter into a yearly renewable contract for consultant professional survey services with Bedrock Engineering in an amount not to exceed $200,000 each year.
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Environmental Assessment Status:
No environmental assessment required.
CEQA Review:
No environmental assessment required.
Attachments:
Bedrock Fee Schedule 2024