City Council
MEETING DATE: 7/11/2018
TITLE:
Title
Biennial on-call and/or as needed Service Contract Award for Traffic Signal Maintenance and Emergency Services.
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FROM:
John A. Corella, P.E. - City Engineer
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Staff recommends the City Council award a biennial on-call and/or as needed service contract to Siemens ITS, Riverside, CA for Traffic Signal Maintenance and Emergency On-Call Services; and authorize the City Engineer and Public Works Manager to negotiate the final rates for traffic signal maintenance; and authorize the City Manager to execute the contract.
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BACKGROUND:
This item was continued from the City Council Meeting of June 13, 2018.
DISCUSSION:
City Engineering Staff solicited Request for Proposals (RFP) for Traffic Signal Maintenance and Emergency On-Call Services in May 2018. The RFPs for Services were advertised and circulated to all firms that indicated an interest in providing these services for the City. Firms were asked to provide qualification proposals as well as cost proposals that included hourly rates and/or unit costs for various services in a separate, sealed envelope.
Many agencies award traffic signal maintenance based on price only. Based on years of experience with several different service providers, Staff believes that one of the keys to successful Public Works and Engineering Departments is having a good contracted/on call support team. To accomplish this goal, Staff prefers to utilize the Request for Proposal (RFP) process to acquire a service provider who has the right skill set and experience level to assist the City with traffic signal maintenance.
The Request for Proposal (RFP) process is one of the most complex of the procurement processes. An RFP is issued when a project has characteristics or issues which need to be part of the decision to award other than price.
The time it takes to prepare and issue an RFP is substantially longer than an "Invitation to Bid" because of the need for extra care and detail in developing the selection criteria, specifications, requirements, scope of work and terms of the RFP. An RFP process allows more flexibility in the evaluation of criteria for award; however, it also requires more diligence and effort to produce a document that clearly identifies project requirements, needs and the process for award. An evaluation team must be created and organized which adds time to the process as well.
The City's RFP process requires that responses to the RFP consist of two parts: The first part contains the firm qualifications, experience, scope of services and assigned personnel resumes. The second part is a cost proposal contained in a separate, sealed envelope. Staff reviews the qualifications, experience, scope of services and staff qualifications and assigned personnel and assigns values to five ranking criteria discussed below. After evaluating and ranking the proposals, the second step is to open the cost proposal and begin contract negotiations with the top-ranked firm. The successful firm is expected to enter into the Agreement for Services with the City.
If negotiations with the top-ranked firm dissolve; Staff will open the cost proposal and begin contract negotiations with the second ranked firm, and so forth until an agreement is reached.
The RFPs for Traffic Signal Maintenance contained the following language and five evaluation criteria:
The contract award will be based on the most responsive proposer per the selection criteria listed below:
1. Ability of the firm to perform the specific tasks outlined in the Request for Proposals based on the descriptions as submitted in the scope of work.
2. Qualifications of the specific individuals who will be significantly involved in the project and their familiarity with traffic signal and on-call Services, operations, communications and City of Cathedral City procedures.
3. Effective use of information technology to dispatch and track work and to successfully communicate with the City.
4. Demonstrated record of successfully providing maintenance services directly to the City of Cathedral City or to nearby agencies.
5. Degree of responsiveness with regard to the Contractor addressing the items listed in the Request for Proposals.
The City evaluated proposals on “Best Value”.
Using those evaluation criteria, the Proposals were reviewed by a panel consisting of City Staff. Based on these reviews, the panel ranked Siemens the most responsive, qualified, and knowledgeable about the requirements for the various services and knowledge of Cathedral City and its projects. The reviews were based strictly on the material submitted. Again, once the evaluation of the Proposal based on the Five criteria outlined above were completed, Staff then reviewed the sealed Cost Proposal.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Staff compared the Siemens Cost Proposal to the current contracted rates. The Siemens Routine Maintenance rates are within 0.14% of the current rates. The Siemens Labor and Equipment rates range from 38% lower to 27% higher and the rates for Additional Work are either equal to current rates or up to 47% lower than current rates. If authorized, the City Engineer and Public Works Manager will negotiate with Siemens to achieve reasonable parity with current rates.
ATTACHMENTS:
Traffic Signal Maintenance Agreement Siemens ITS
Public Comment for the Record