BOARD AGENDA MEMORANDUM
Government Code Section 84308 Applies: Yes ☒ No ☐
(If “YES” Refer to Attachment A)
SUBJECT:
Title
Approve the Agreement No. A4745A, with Panorama Environmental Inc., for the Canal Maintenance Program CEQA and Permitting Support Services for the Small Capital Improvements, Raw Water Transmission Project, Project No. 92764009, PlanetBids File No. VW0198, for a Not-to-Exceed Fee of $997,772 (Santa Clara County, Districts 1-7).
End
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Approve the Agreement No. A4745A, with Panorama Environmental Inc., for the Canal Maintenance Program CEQA and Permitting Support Services for the Small Capital Improvements, Raw Water Transmission Project, Project No. 92764009, PB File No. VW0198, for a Not-to-Exceed Fee of $997,772.
Body
SUMMARY:
The Canal Maintenance Program addresses preventative, routine, and corrective maintenance of Santa Clara Valley Water District’s (Valley Water) operable and inoperable canals to reduce liability risk, avoid the need for emergency repairs during heavy precipitation events, and obtain the environmental approvals needed to conduct the maintenance in a timely manner and in accordance with regulatory requirements. The Canal Maintenance Program will cover all operable and inoperable Valley Water canals except Almaden Calero Canal, which is being covered under a separate existing project.
Valley Water does not have sufficient staff resources nor all of the required technical capabilities to complete the project in-house. However, select tasks (most notably, CEQA scoping and the development of the CEQA Project Description) will be completed in-house by staff.
Staff recommends the Board approve the Agreement for Canal Maintenance Program CEQA and Permitting Support Services.
Consultant Scope of Services
Consultant will provide environmental planning, CEQA, and permitting support services relating to the Canal Maintenance Program. These services include environmental field surveys, preparation of a CEQA Environmental Impact Report (EIR), and development of all data and information needed to obtain regulatory permits.
A summary of tasks and budget for this Consultant Agreement is presented in Table 1. The basic scope of services is described in Tasks 1-8. Supplemental Services (Task 9) may include additional services related to the project scope of services.
|
Table 1 COST BREAKDOWN |
|
Task |
Description |
Not-to-Exceed Fees |
|
1 |
Project Administration |
$70,714 |
|
2 |
Review Existing Information and Identify Key Environmental Issues and Requirements |
$50,204 |
|
3 |
Environmental Investigations |
$290,619 |
|
4 |
Project Description |
$22,559 |
|
5 |
Administrative Draft Environmental Impact Report |
$293,354 |
|
6 |
Draft EIR Preparation, Circulation, and Public Review |
$65,156 |
|
7 |
Final Environmental Impact Report |
$99,701 |
|
8 |
Resource Agency Consultations and Permits |
$14,758 |
|
9 |
Supplemental Services |
$90,707 |
|
Total Not-to-Exceed Fees |
$997,772 |
Consultant Selection Process
Prior to publishing the RFP, staff conducted outreach to 383 firms that were registered in the Valley Water Procurement Portal, PlanetBids (PB) The following PB category codes were targeted for the RFP outreach to firms: 90657 Land Development And Planning - Architectural; 91843 Environmental Consulting; 90742 Geotechnical - Soils; 91875 Management Consulting; 90775 Site Assessment And Site Field Observation; 92600 Environmental And Ecological Services; 91800 Consulting Services; 95825 Conservation/Resource Management Services; 91812 Analytical Studies And Surveys (Consulting); 95897 Wildlife/Fish Management Services (Including Endangered Species And Wildlife Census). Staff also issued advertisements in the SJ Post and SBEINC.com prior to publishing the RFP.
On June 22, 2022, staff published a Request for Proposals (RFP) for Canal Maintenance Program CEQA and Permitting Support by sending it to 383 firms that were registered in Valley Water’s Procurement Portal, PlanetBids. A pre-proposal meeting was held for this RFP. Of the 383 firms informed of the solicitation, 33 firms confirmed to be prospective bidders in the VW Procurement Portal.
Firms were required to meet the following minimum qualifications to be considered responsive:
• The Proposer’s key staff shall have 10 years of experience in environmental planning and permitting.
• The Proposer team members shall possess knowledge of federal, state, and local regulations and permitting requirements for water and biological resources.
• The Proposer’s team members shall be familiar with local conditions relating to ecological communities, special-status species, and regulatory processes in Santa Clara County, including familiarity with the Santa Clara Valley Habitat Plan.
• The Proposer’s team members shall have experience preparing Environmental Impact Reports (EIRs).
A total of one (1) proposal was received on July 27, 2022, from the following firm: Panorama Environmental, Inc.
An Evaluation Committee (EC), consisting of four panelists from Valley Water with subject matter expertise evaluated the written proposal. The EC completed their technical evaluation in accordance with the evaluation criteria of the RFP. The EC invited Panorama Environmental, Inc. to participate in an oral interview. The EC completed the final selection process for the subject RFP, and based on their overall, technical and oral evaluation, have concluded that Panorama Environmental, Inc. demonstrates the overall experience, approach to, and understanding of the scope of services. The EC recommended that staff proceed with agreement negotiations with Panorama Environmental, Inc.
Negotiations with Panorama Environmental, Inc. have been successfully completed. Staff recommends Board approval of the Standard Consultant Agreement with Panorama Environmental, Inc. to provide Canal Maintenance Program CEQA and Permitting Support, for a not to exceed fee of $997,772 and a term of 36 months with the option to extend for two (2) one (1) year terms.
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE IMPACT:
Environmental Justice impacts are not anticipated but, in accordance with E-1 Governance Policies, staff will identify the communities that could be potentially impacted by the Canal Maintenance Program, confirm the program would not result in disparate impacts, and outreach to stakeholders and the public. Stakeholder and public outreach will occur via the CEQA scoping process. Notice of scoping efforts will be provided through mailings, newspaper and social media postings, and web page updates. Planning staff will coordinate with Valley Water communications staff to produce scoping materials in multiple languages (commonly spoken languages in Santa Clara County include Spanish, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Tagalog, Korean, Hindi, and Japanese) to ensure all potentially affected members of our community are notified.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The Small Caps, Raw Water Transmission Project, Project No. 92764009 is included in the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) FY2024-28 Five-Year Plan and in the FY 2023-24 Adopted Budget. There are adequate funds in the FY 2023-24 Adopted Budget for the Small Caps, Raw Water Transmission Project to encumber $500,000 for the consultant services occurring in FY24. Additional funds to cover subsequent fiscal year services under this Agreement will be included in the biennial budget process and recommended by staff during the annual fiscal year budget process or through budget adjustment(s), if needed. The Project is funded by Water Utility Enterprise Fund (Fund 61) with 62.3% of the costs allocated to Zone North W-2, 23.1% to Zone South W-5, 14.5% to Zone South W-7, and 0.1% to Zone South W-8.
CEQA:
The recommended action to approve the Agreement does not constitute a project under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because it does not have the potential to result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment.
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment A: Gov. Code 84308
Attachment 1: Agreement
Attachment 2: Canals Figure
UNCLASSIFIED MANAGER:
Manager
Greg Williams, 408-630-2867