Agenda Packets - 2013/05/28 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Res. 8108, Auth. Stantec to Perform Engr. Design and Prepare Bidding Documents for Area G Page 2 A geotechnical and environmental evaluation of subsurface conditions is customarily performed for any project with land disturbing activities. These evaluations provide recommendations to be incorporated into the engineering design of pavements, utilities, and infiltration basins. Public Works recommends authorizing up to $10,000 for this work. If authorized, City engineering staff will solicit fee proposals from qualified firm(s) and oversee the work. Discussion of a Combined Area G/H Project: The original schedule for reconstructing the 25.9 miles of streets included in the Program was to occur over 18 years. This schedule was revised to nine project areas (A-1) over ten years (including construction) which was the schedule adopted by the Council for the Program. This adopted schedule was modified when Area C (2.7 miles) was accelerated and included with Area B (1.4 miles). This decision was made since Area B was smaller in length and monies were available to fund the combined projects and construction could occur simultaneous on the two areas since they were located in different parts of the city. This 4.1 mile project was substantially completed in one summer. There has been some discussion about accelerating Area H (2.4 miles) with Area G (1.8 miles) due to their proximity to one another. A combined G/H project would be 4.2 miles in length — similar to the 4.1 mile B/C project. However, there are some different constraints from B/C that need to be considered into any decision for a combined G/H project. The following summarizes these constraints. 1. Unlike Areas B and C, Areas G & H are located adjacent to each other and separated by Red Oak Drive. A combined G/H project would disrupt the entire northern part of the city with construction focused in one location — with or without simultaneous work crews going. In addition, the block lengths (distance between intersecting roads) are much greater in G and H than B and C. Not having as many intersecting streets will reduce options for phasing and have a much greater impact on accessibility to properties by property owners. 2. There are many known drainage issues in Areas G & H but many unknowns in the best ways to address these issues. Public Works has received many calls over the years on the inadequacies of drainage and storm sewer capacity in Areas G & H. Trunk storm sewers exist in easements and located in side and back yards of residential parcels. This will result in removing fences, gardens, sheds, and anything else property owners have constructed over the trunk lines — resulting in much more coordination and time spent by Public Works compared to previous projects. 3. There may be some construction cost savings by combining two projects into one. Larger work quantities typically lower unit prices, however, this is noticeably less when the project is already big enough to warrant those lower unit prices. A 1.8 mile street and utility project is a large project by itself and will warrant lower unit prices. The total mobilization costs of two separate projects may exceed one combined project, but mobilization is commonly calculated as a percentage of total project construction costs. Therefore if unit prices are already negligible by the scope of a single project, the mobilization may also be negligible. 4. There may also be some engineering consulting cost savings by combining two projects into one. This savings primarily comes from eliminating the duplicating efforts in the public bidding process (e.g., only one plan/specification set is needed). However, the project bid phase is typically only between $5,000 and $10,000 compared to the total project engineering fees of $250,000 to $500,000. The vast majority of engineering costs for projects reside in the design and construction phases. The costs associated with these services are linear to time spent designing and overseeing construction. This time will not be drastically different if the same work is done in one project compared to two. 5. Public Works engineering staff time is heavily influenced by the street projects. Larger projects demand larger amounts of time coordinating with consultants and property owners. There has been no increase in city engineering staffing levels since the Program began and this additional demand has exceeded the work load that staff can reasonably handle. The Streets and Utilities Committee discussed and evaluated a combined Area G/H Project at their March 2013 meeting and unanimously recommended having separate construction projects for the two areas.