Agenda Item Wording:
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Award construction contract for Santa Fe earthwork - Authorize the City Manager to award the construction contract with Archer Civil Construction for the Santa Fe Street earthwork project in the amount of $900,036.10.
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Agenda Date: 10/05/2026
Prepared by:
Katherine Woodhull-Fuget, Associate Engineer, Katherine.Woodhull-Fuget@visalia.gov, 713-4447
Eric Bons, Senior Civil Engineer, Eric.Bons@visalia.gov, 713-4350
Chris Crawford, City Engineer, Chris.Crawford@visalia.gov, 713-4331
Jason Huckleberry, Engineering & Building Director, Jason.Huckleberry@visalia.gov, 713-4495
Department Recommendation: Staff recommends that the City Council authorize the City Manager to award a contract with Archer Civil Construction, LLC for the Santa Fe Street earthwork project in the amount of $900,036.10.
Summary:
This project will mitigate the arsenic-impacted soil in the former Santa Fe railroad embankment between Houston Ave and Riggin Ave in preparation for the future Santa Fe street extension.
The Santa Fe Street earthwork project was advertised (RFB 26-27-05) and closed September 22, 2026 with twelve (12) construction proposals received. Archer Civil Construction LLC was the low bidder in the amount of $900,036.10.
Background Discussion:
This project is to remove the majority of the arsenic-impacted soil within the Santa Fe Street alignment from Houston Avenue to Riggin Avenue and haul the arsenic-impacted soil to the Tulare County land fill. The Santa Fe Street corridor extends approximately 1 mile from Houston Avenue to Riggin Avenue. The corridor was acquired from the railroad in 2006 and is 100’ wide. The railroad tracks and railroad ties were removed from the site prior to being purchased by the city. The Santa Fe trail, completed in 2018, occupies the eastern third of the corridor. The elevated embankment of the former railroad remains and occupies the central third of the corridor. Soil analysis done during the trail project revealed elevated arsenic levels in the soil of the former rail embankment.
The removal of the contaminated railroad embankment was initially intended to be part of the trail project, but it was deemed too expensive to be funded by the CMAQ grant used to fund the trail and was deferred to the Santa Fe Street project. During trail construction, the community expressed concern over the safety hazard posed by the embankment, which decreases visibility for trail users and provides an area for transient gathering. In order to address these concerns sooner and simplify future street construction, the mitigation of the railroad embankment was made into a separate project.
In 2017, staff researched the possibility of utilizing an EPA Brownfields Cleanup Grant to remove the contaminated embankment soil but determined that the site was ineligible for the grant because a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment was not performed prior to purchasing the property.
Based on soil testing results, there were discussions with the Tulare County Solid Waste Environmental Coordinator, and it was determined that the arsenic-impacted soil in the Santa Fe corridor from Houston to Riggin was eligible for disposal at the Visalia landfill. This will enable the City to remove the soil of concern from the project site entirely and avoid needing to keep track of the soil indefinitely as would be required by the previous project approach. This will significantly simplify the future road project while meeting safety standards.
Pre-characterization testing of the embankment soil for acceptance by the Tulare County landfill was conducted in August 2025, and approval of the Soil Pre-Characterization Report by the Tulare County Solid Waste Environmental Coordinator was obtained in September 2025.
The Santa Fe Street earthwork project scope includes removal of the former railroad embankment between Houston Ave and Riggin Ave, rough grading of the corridor to the future street corridor elevations, minor storm drain installation, demolition and replacement of the trail cross-connections at Parker Ct, Buena Vista Ave, and Ferguson Ave, and stabilization of the exposed soil.
In order to comply with the State Water Board’s Construction General Permit, the soil exposed by the project’s grading activities will need to be stabilized to prevent erosion until the street itself can be constructed. In discussion with Public Works and Parks/Trails staff, it was determined that vegetative cover would be the easiest to maintain for the indeterminate length of time until funding for street construction is secured. To that end, the RFB included additive alternate bid items for three different seeding methods to establish vegetative cover.
Depending on construction timing, naturally occurring spring growth may provide sufficient vegetative cover for erosion control purposes and deliberate seeding may be unnecessary. If the naturally occurring weed cover, with appropriate maintenance, is sufficient groundcover, the additive alternative will be extracted from the project and budget.
The Santa Fe Street earthwork project was advertised (RFB 26-27-05) and the bid proposals were opened on September 22, 2026. There were a total of twelve (12) bid proposals submitted.
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|
Contractor |
Location |
Base Bid |
|
1 |
Archer Civil Construction LLC |
Tulare, CA |
$ 881,766.10 |
|
2 |
Terra West Construction |
Clovis, CA |
$ 933,189.00 |
|
3 |
Dave Christian Construction |
Fresno, CA |
$ 999,589.00 |
|
4 |
Agee Construction |
Clovis, CA |
$ 1,028,240.00 |
|
5 |
Avison Construction |
Madera, CA |
$ 1,047,525.00 |
|
6 |
Juarez Brothers |
Madera, CA |
$ 1,062,491.48 |
|
7 |
Synergy Construction & Development |
Bakersfield, CA |
$ 1,073,955.00 |
|
8 |
Granite Construction Company |
Fresno, CA |
$ 1,111,597.00 |
|
9 |
Cal Valley Construction |
Fresno, CA |
$ 1,125,519.00 |
|
10 |
JT2 dba Todd Companies |
Visalia, CA |
$ 1,257,000.00 |
|
11 |
Dawson Mauldin, LLC |
Selma, CA |
$ 1,393,065.00 |
|
12 |
Eclipse Construction |
Bakersfield, CA |
$ 1,558,410.00 |
The basis of award was the lowest base bid amount. Archer Civil Construction LLC submitted the apparent low bid of $881,766.10. City staff have reviewed the bid documents and found them to be complete and acceptable. As part of the review process, the references provided by Archer Civil Construction LLC have been verified. The responses from each reference were favorable and demonstrated that Archer Civil Construction LLC can perform the work for this project.
Archer Civil Construction provided the following costs for the site stabilization additive alternate bid items:
|
Add/Alt |
Description |
Archer Civil Construction Cost |
|
A |
Hydroseeding |
$66,178 |
|
B |
Drill Seeding |
$18,270 |
|
C |
Broadcast Seeding |
$18,270 |
Drill seeding (Alt B) and broadcast seeding (Alt B) were equally low-cost site stabilization methods. Combined with the base bid amount of $881,766.10, the recommended award amount is $900,036.10. Site stabilization will be a one-time cost and would only be utilized if, after the project is completed, natural vegetative growth was not expected to occur timely, allowing the State Water Board’s Construction General Permit to be closed out.
Fiscal Impact:
The Santa Fe Street earthwork project (CP0308) is funded by the Transportation Impact Fee Fund (241) as shown in the following table.
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Construction Budget - Fiscal Year 2026-27 Project Balance |
|
|
Fund 241 Transportation Impact |
$2,295,000 |
|
Construction Expenditures |
|
|
Construction Management & Administration (Estimated) |
$45,000 |
|
Construction Proposal Base Bid - Archer Civil Construction |
$881,766.10 |
|
Site Stabilization Add/Alt - Drill/Broadcast Seeding |
$18,270 |
|
Construction Staking (Estimated) |
$9,000 |
|
Inspection & Geotechnical (Estimated) |
$106,000 |
|
Contingency (10%) |
$91,000 |
|
Expenditures Subtotal: |
$1,151,036 |
|
|
|
|
Project Summary |
|
|
Construction Funding |
$2,295,000 |
|
Construction Expenditures |
$1,151,036 |
|
Surplus /(Deficit) |
$1,143,964 |
The vegetative cover provided by the site stabilization additive alternate is not anticipated to result in an increase to the annual maintenance cost of the site. Annual maintenance of the corridor consists primarily of weed abatement for fire prevention.
After the earthwork project is complete, staff intend to initiate design of the street itself when staff become available to manage the design portion of the project, which is a separate CIP with funding in the current fiscal year. While preliminary design of the street was initiated as part of the earthwork project, development of a complete, “shovel-ready” plan for street construction cannot start until the rough grading is complete, an updated topographic survey can be collected, and either internal city staff become available to complete the design or an external consultant is hired to complete the design.
While design of this road segment is budgeted in the current fiscal year, construction of Santa Fe Street from Houston to Riggin is currently in the planning years of the capital budget and will be contingent on grant funding. Staff intend to look for appropriate grants as part of the design process.
Prior Council Action:
April 2, 2018 - City Council authorized the filing of a Notice of Completion for the Santa Fe Trail Project between Houston and Riggin.
February 21, 2017 - City Council awarded the construction contract for the Santa Fe Trail Project between Houston and Riggin to Avison Construction Inc in the amount of $887,787.
August 7, 2006 - City Council authorized the acquisition of 33.34 acres of property for the Santa Fe Street alignment between Avenue 272 and the St Johns River from American Trails Association and Tulare Valley Railroad.
Alternatives: None recommended.
Recommended Motion (and Alternative Motions if expected):
recommendation
I move to authorize the City Manager to award the construction contract for the Santa Fe earthwork project to Archer Civil Construction LLC for the base bid and additive alternate B/C in the amount of $900,036.10.
Environmental Assessment Status: This project is intended to serve as the environmental mitigation of the arsenic-impacted soil for the future street project.
CEQA Review: A Notice of Exemption for the Santa Fe Street alignment as a whole was filed 9/14/26
Deadline for Action: 10/05/2026
Attachments:
1. Project Location Map
2. RFB 26-27-05 Draft Construction Contract
3. Archer Civil Construction Bid Proposal
4. Archer Civil Construction Ownership Disclosure Form
Strategic Goal: Indicates which City Strategic Goal(s) this item supports. Check all that apply.
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☐ Economic Vitality |
☐  Organizational Excellence |
☐ Fiscal Strength |
☒  Infrastructure & Growth |
☐  Quality of Life |