Title
Discuss and consider action to approve a Professional Services Agreement with Marmon Mok in the amount of $5,151,805 for professional engineering services associated with the Public Works Complex Project, and authorizing the City Manager to execute the same.
Summary
The City of Pflugerville Public Works Services Group consists of 3 departments: CIP Engineering, Water/Wastewater Utilities, and General Fund Operations. These 3 departments employ over 150 FTEs currently and are responsible for both the capital planning of infrastructure projects as well as the operations and maintenance of infrastructure that exists within the City of Pflugerville. As the City has a significantly large CIP for both transportation and utilities, the amount of staff that will be needed to both support these infrastructure projects as well as maintain them will continue to grow as they are constructed.
Currently, the Public Works Services Group offices out of various buildings that are compartmentalized around the perimeter of the Central Wastewater Treatment Plant. To make room for the expansion of the wastewater treatment plant that is nearing completion, operations staff have been moved to a rented office trailer to oversee the day-to-day operation of the facility. Furthermore, various construction and administration staff have been moved to a secondary leased office trailer to ensure work can continue for the infrastructure projects that are either under construction or in design. Staff have also reconfigured multiple areas within the Administration building to allow for shared office space where possible while ensuring acceptable work areas are provided. To allow for the additional staffing needs of the organization, staff will be proposing more leased office space and building renovations to allow for more office and workstation area. The Public Works Services Group also currently has staff around the facility that rely on temporary restrooms at their work area in lieu of a dedicated workstations with restroom facilities.
In order to facilitate the growing needs of the City’s infrastructure, a Public Works Complex Master Plan was initiated in 2019 but was delayed however due to items needing to be addressed at the central water treatment plant. In 2021, the Master Plan was resumed which outlined staff space needs for the group currently and space needs for the group in the future in order to continue serving the growing infrastructure needs of the City. During this master planning process, it was determined that the most economical and well-suited location for this facility would be on the other half of the property that the City owns to the east of the Surface Water Treatment Plant. As the City already owns this property, and it is not planned to be used for the Surface Water Treatment Plant expansion, it would allow for already acquired space to be utilized that will still allow the Public Works Services Group to serve the needs of the community. This location will also be located on the frontage of the major arterial of East Pflugerville Parkway that is slated to begin construction soon. The Public Works Facilities Master Plan was completed in July 2022 and outlined that with current staffing needs for the Public Works Services Group, the facility construction had an opinion of probable construction cost of $49.5 million.
To facilitate a contract for design and construction phase services, City staff developed a Request For Qualifications (RFQ) to seek out architectural firms that had a proven history in designing comprehensive Public Works facilities that not only support daily operations but also serve to provide critical infrastructure as a Public Works Emergency Operations Center enabling support of Public Works First Responders when needed. After carefully reviewing the Statements of Qualifications from multiple firms, the firms were narrowed to two (2) that had a history of designing Public Works facilities for different government entities. The two firms were then interviewed, and a clear winner was selected after demonstrating their commitment to ensuring a proper building design suited for the needs of Public Works. After reviewing Marmon Mok’s work history and conducting their interview, it was clear that they had both the best overall experience with designing Public Works facilities and had already started the planning process of the facility.
Once Marmon Mok was selected, staff began to work with them to negotiate their scope and plans for the facility to serve the public. City staff met numerous times with the Marmon Mok team to help develop their scope in a way that looks at the facility more holistically from start of the project design to the final construction walkthrough. As part of the initial steps of the design team’s scope, Marmon Mok will perform a pre-design analysis of the existing Public Works Facilities Master Plan to ensure the space needs of City staff and perform a detailed Space Program and Functional Use Requirements (SPFR) analysis. After this initial validation, the Marmon Mok team will begin the schematic design of the facility while also taking steps to procure the general contractor through a Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) process so that we can keep to the project schedule and minimize the City’s annual cost on leased space. By proceeding through a CMAR design process, the city can also build the facility in phases to alleviate space constraints at the existing Public Works Facility sooner if needed.
This project is currently listed in the FY2023 budget within the CIP and is partially funded currently, however at the May 23, 2023 City Council meeting a Notice of Intent to issue Certificates of Obligations was approved by City Council to pursue 50% of the funding for this entire project (design and construction) that supports the General Fund portion of Public Works with the remaining 50% of the project cost to be acquired via either Utility Fund issued Certificates of Obligations if the City cannot acquire lower interest financing through the federal WIFIA program that is currently being pursued. City staff intend to bring forward that agreement or issuance at a later date for the remainder of the project funding requirements.
This project is aimed to meet two of the strategic goals within the City’s Strategic Plan. The project will meet the infrastructure pillar of the strategic goals as this facility will allow the City of Pflugerville to operate and maintain infrastructure in a sound manner. As this facility is planned to have a hardened component, it will ensure that staff continue to provide service to maintain the city’s infrastructure even during natural disasters that affect our region. The project will also meet the City’s Services pillar of the Strategic Plan by allowing the Public Works Services Group to complete a facility that will help support a high quality of life for our residents as City staff will be able to maintain the various infrastructure components that allow the City to maintain a transportation network as well as a water and wastewater system that serves our residents daily.
Prior City Council Action
On April 24, 2018, City Council approved the allocation of funding to begin the process of a Public Works Facilities Master Plan.
On April 27, 2021, City Council approved a Professional Services Supplemental Agreement with Freese & Nichols which contained the Public Works Facilities Master Plan.
On May 23, 2023, City Council approved a resolution authorizing the publication of the notice of intention to issue combination tax and limited revenue certificates of obligation in and estimated amount not to exceed $76,000,000 for facility and roadway improvement projects which includes the Public Works Complex.
Deadline for City Council Action
Action is requested on June 27, 2023
Funding Expected: Revenue __ Expenditure _X_ N/A __
Budgeted Item: Yes _X_ No __ N/A __
Amount: _$5,151,805__
1295 Form Required? Yes _X_ No __
Legal Review Required: N/A __ Required _X_ Date Completed: 6/21/23.
Supporting documents attached:
Professional Services Agreement
Marmon Mok - Design Scope
Recommended Action
City staff recommends approving a Professional Services Agreement with Marmon Mok in the amount of $5,151,805 for professional engineering services associated with the Public Works Complex Project, and authorizing the City Manager to execute the same.