In the recent past Council has directed staff to prepare request for proposals (RFP's) for various improvement projects; ranging from water studies, park planning, transportation, and design, as a means of "testing the market" to ensure we are always receiving the best value.  These RFP's usually entail specialized work that is outside the expertise of City staff, but other times it is necessary to seek assistance in an effort to meet project deadlines.  Staff came before the PW Committee in February to discuss a process of distributing an RFP to solicit professional engineering services, with the intent of developing a consultant pool for overflow and specialized technical services.  Initiating a City consultant pool would allow the engineering department to streamline its operations by selecting qualified firms for overflow municipal engineering work similar to how we currently handle geotechnical engineering.

During the engineering department reorganization in the fall of 2010 one engineering position was eliminated and additional dollars (total of $31,500) were budgeted for miscellaneous professional services to cover the historic specialty needs, and any overflow work such as drafting to assist the department in project delivery.  Staff would work within the confines of this budgeted item and the current City purchasing policy for any intended consulting services.  If higher cost, high profile projects are initiated during the term of this consultant pool we would seek direction from the Council prior to approving any consulted services.

Handling consulting services by issuing a single RFP and developing a pool gives staff some discretion to manage our workload in an efficient manner. We are specifically looking for general municipal engineering assistance (traffic, street and utility design, feasibility studies, etc.), AutoCAD drafting and design for plan preparation and exhibit creation, acquisition and finance assistance, structural analysis, and registered land surveying services. Other areas of technical expertise include electrical/mechanical, environmental services, water/wastewater, and landscaping/urban design. By establishing a well-rounded all-encompassing pool of consultants we will have the ability to handle all technical matters that presents themselves, and eliminate the time consuming RFP process for each individual project that may come up.

Our intent of creating a pool allows for a more streamlined process for project delivery, establishes flexibility for staff to call on the specific expertise they need in an efficient manner, and allows relationships to be built with consulting firms for project continuity within the City over time. The PW Committee agreed with this approach and requested the consultant pool be established with 3-5 firms for a 3 year term, and Council ratified that decision on March 8, 2011.

Staff distributed the RFP to select consultants (17 total) on May 5, 2011, and received 14 responses.  There were several excellent proposals submitted, and we have been evaluating them to ensure adequate coverage in all technical areas.  A summary will be presented at the meeting, and we would like to discuss with the Committee the next steps in the process to establish the City's consultant pool.  Some of the items to consider include:

• Adequate coverage in each technical specialty such that competition exists for individual projects
• Evaluating future workload and potential need for certain specialty services
• Whether the PW Committee and/or Council would desire to conduct interviews
• Cost considerations

Preparation and review of the RFP has been handled with staff time.  Ultimate funding for any consultant pool expenditures, if approved, would be from the budgeted general fund or the specified project budget.

Staff recommends input from the Committee on establishing a consultant pool for professional engineering services, and direction on completing the process.