02-04-11 BPU RPT 04 - Laserfiche WebLink

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W A T E R I E N E R G Y I l I E E RIVERSIDE PUBLIC UTILITIES Board Memorandum P U R I 1 C U T T I T T T F $ BOARD OF PUBLIC UTILITIES DATE: February 4, 2011 ITEM NO: 4 SUBJECT: ADDITIONS AND DELETIONS TO THE ENERGY DELIVERY AND WATER CONSULTANT PANELS ISSUE: Board of Public Utilities approval is requested to authorize the Public Utilities General Manager to add or delete participants to the current Consultant Panels on an as-needed basis. RECOMMENDATIONS: That the Board of Public Utilities: 1. Authorize the Public Utilities General Manager to add additional qualified consultants to the five professional consulting panel currently approved by this Board on June 19, 2009, March 19, 2010, July 16, 2010 and August 20, 2010, and as further described herein, with subsequent reports back to the Board of Public Utilities from time to time on the addition or deletion of such new Panel members; and 2. Authorize the Public Utilities General Manager, to execute the Master Agreements with each firm, in substantially the same form as the form agreements previously approved by this Board. BACKGROUND: Beginning in April 2003, Riverside Public Utilities (RPU) began extensively using professional services panels of consultants to provide engineering services for energy delivery and water projects. RPU has had excellent success with these Panels and the need for these services continues. The Water and Energy Delivery Divisions use engineering consultants for a number of tasks and projects where in-house expertise is not available or work load is at a high level. Depending on the scope of work, consultants can range from small firms that are local to global entities with thousands of employees. Proposals are solicited from all qualified panel members and contracts for the professional services are awarded on the consultants demonstrated abilities, and not price alone. The Panels provide a ready list of staff and expertise to draw upon for projects that require professional services. When outside services are needed, engineering staff requests proposals from either a single firm or multiple firms depending on what services are needed. Staff awards work based on the proposals submitted and evaluates the consultant's scope of work understanding, assigned personnel and their expertise and current work load, and costs to perform the work. All Master Agreements with these consultants will be approved as to form by the City Attorney's Office. Each agreement will be the same form for each firm. In Water Engineering, there are two active consultant panels: 1. Environmental professional consulting services Panel, three consultants (projects are awarded on a rotational basis), approved by this Board on June 19, 2009, three year contracts, not to exceed $250,000.