September 13, 2005
SUBJECT: Award of Request for Proposals No. F0406-72 to Provide Technical Support during the Selection of a SMaRT Station® Operator
REPORT IN BRIEF
Approval is requested for the award of a contract to Hilton, Farnkopf and Hobson of Fremont to provide technical assistance during the preparation of a Request for Proposals to operate the Sunnyvale Materials Recovery and Transfer (SMaRT) Station and the evaluation of proposals which will result in a recommendation to Council for the award of a multi-year (2008 through 2014) contract.
BACKGROUND
The existing contract for the operation of the SMaRT Station, currently held by GreenTeam/Zanker of Sunnyvale, will expire on December 31, 2007. Current annual refuse transfer and material recovery expenses of the participating agencies (Mountain View, Palo Alto and Sunnyvale) are approximately $6,000,000.
The consultant’s responsibilities under the requested contract include assisting in the preparation of an RFP; participating in meetings; assisting in the preparation of addenda, if any; comparing and evaluating proposals received; assisting in contract negotiations, and preparing a recommendation to Council for contract award.
Specialized assistance with this RFP process is necessary due to the complexity of the SMaRT Station operations contract and the large number of interested parties. (The 2000 RFP for this contract consisted of over 500 pages. The RFP and each of the five addenda were distributed to 31 interested parties.)
Evaluation of proposals will also be a complex process that involves extensive investigation of proposers’ technical expertise, financial soundness, and experience and reputation in addition to analysis of the various cost and revenue implications of each proposal.
DISCUSSION
Request for Proposals No. F0406-72 was prepared by Public Works and Purchasing staff and broadcast to potential proposers through the DemandStar by Onvia public procurement network. Fourteen firms requested proposal documents. Responsive proposals were received from Brown, Vence & Associates (BVA) of San Francisco; CalRecovery, Inc., of Concord; Hilton, Farnkopf, & Hobson (HF&H) of Walnut Creek; R3 Consulting Group of Sacramento; and Gershman, Brickner & Braton (GBB) of Fairfax, Virginia.
Proposals were reviewed by City staff and evaluated and ranked, based upon the proposed RFP preparation methodology, qualifications and expertise of the proposer, proposed timeline for completion of the project and cost to the City. The evaluation team determined that the proposal from Hilton, Frankopf & Hobson offered the best approach to RFP development and design and a realistic and cost-effective staffing with sufficient hours for timely completion. In addition, HF&H has extensive experience in relevant procurements, including the preparation of the City’s 2000 SMaRT Station RFP. The RFP 2000 project resulted in a significant reduction in costs to the Solid Waste Management Fund.
FISCAL IMPACT
The total project as proposed by HF&H is $59,961. In addition, staff recommends approval of a 25% contingency. Normal practice is to assign a 15% contingency to a contract for unexpected or unavoidable expenses that occur outside of the contract scope. In this case, staff is requesting a larger 25% contingency to provide funding for the potential use of some optional tasks that were proposed by HF&H. These include site visits to proposer facilities, attendance at the Council meeting for the approval of the Request for Proposals, and facilitation of the presentation of proposals to the Council. Staff recommends including this amount in the contingency to leave the optional tasks open, but not contractually obligated.
Staff recommends a total project cost of $59,961 plus a 25% contingency of $14,990 for a total contract amount not to exceed $74,951. The City will be reimbursed by the cities of Mountain View and Palo Alto for approximately 50% of the costs incurred. Funds for the City’s share of the costs are available in Special Project 821180 – Contribution to SMaRT Station Operations Contract RFP.
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that Council:
1. Award a contract, in substantially the same form as the attached draft and in the amount of $59,961, to Hilton, Farnkopf & Hobson to provide technical support during the selection of a firm to operator the SMaRT Station from 2008 through 2014; and
2. Approve a project contingency in the amount of $14,990.
Prepared by:
Elaine Wesely
Purchasing Officer
Reviewed by:
Mary J. Bradley
Director, Finance
Reviewed by:
Marvin Rose
Director, Public Works
Approved by:
Amy Chan
City Manager
Attachment:
A. Draft Consulting Services Agreement