Staff recommends the City Council award a professional services contract to provide construction contract administration services for the 2020 Build Grant: Northwest Billings Connector and Marathon Loop to Sanderson Stewart, in the amount of $1,248,000.

This contract will provide the construction contract administration services for the 2020 Build Grant: Northwest Billings Connector and Marathon Loop.  Additional major scope of work items include construction observation, construction staking, weekly construction meetings, and materials testing.  The construction project consists of two schedules.  Schedule 1: W.O. 09-12 Inner Belt Loop (Northwest Billings Connector) will construct 5 miles of new road and multi-use trail connecting Alkali Creek Road to Highway 3 at Zimmerman Trail.  Schedule II: W.O. 21-38 Skyline Trail (Marathon Loop) will construct the Skyline Trail and associated parking lots between Zimmerman Trail and the eastern limits of the existing Skyline Trail. 

Sanderson Stewart was selected for the project using the proposal process.  Four other proposals were received from DOWL HKM, Kadrmas Lee & Jackson, Morrison-Maierle, and HDR Engineering.  The consultant selection was based on Project Team and Availability; Project Approach; and Firm Qualifications and Experience as related to the project needs.

The consultant selection process and draft contract has been reviewed and approved by Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) as part of the Build Grant process.

City Council may:

• Approve awarding the Professional Engineering Services Contract to Sanderson Stewart, or;
• Not approve awarding the contract to Sanderson Stewart. If the project is not awarded, the City will not be able to provide construction contract administration services as required by the Build Grant Agreement and the City may be in jeopardy of losing the Build Grant Funding for the project.

Schedule 1: The City committed $7,000,000 of previous years' arterial construction fees for the Northwest Billings Connector project toward the 2020 BUILD Grant. The funding was approved by the City Council as part of the annual budgeting process. The BUILD grant amount is $7,620,385, bringing the total available funding to $14,620,385.

Schedule 2: Billings TrailNet donated $85,000 towards the Marathon Loop (Skyline Trail) portion of the project and BUILD grant funds total $4,036,380 for a total project funding of $4,121,680.

The total project funding is $18,742,065.  The construction contracts total $14,106,653.20.  This contract is for $1,248,000.  Total construction and engineering is $15,354,653.20.  There is sufficient budget to award this contract.  Remaining funds will be used for contingency and any change orders.  Staff submitted a list of potential project enhancements to FHWA to utilize some of the contingency budget and is awaiting that approval.