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02-01-1994 - GP-87308 - New Fire Station #2 in Cortez ParkCity of West Covina Memorandum To CITY MANAGER AND CITY COUNCIL AGENDA FROM PATRICK J.. GLOVER .-�d MAINTENANCE DIRECTOR ITEM NO. C SUBJECT. CITY PROJECT NO. GP-873,08 DATE February 1, 1994 AWARD OF CONTRACT FOR NEW FIRE STATION NO. 2 IN CORTEZ PARK SUMMARY: On January 13, 1994, six bids were received and opened for this project which consists of a new 8,255 square foot fire station and training area in Cortez Park. The lowest bid received was $1,353,000 from State Link Construction of Cerritos. BACKGROUND The City established Fire Station No. 2 within a former horse barn in 1954. Since that time West Covina's population has grown from. 36,000 residents to over 98,000. This increase in population has resulted in a significant increase in fire and medical aid calls. As a result of this increase in calls, the City Council directed staff to undertake efforts to develop plans for an upgraded and expanded fire facility in Cortez Park. In November of last year, the City Council approved the plans and specifications for this project which consists of a modern 8,255 square foot three bay fire station. In addition to the building, there will be a 26,000 square foot concrete paved training area which will include a variety of training apparatus. . Notice Inviting Bids for this project was advertised in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune in December of last year. In addition, the project was advertised in the Contractors Green Sheet which notifies contractors of upcoming projects in Southern California. On December 14, 1993, the architect and Maintenance Director conducted a job site project review with all interested contractors. This job walk was attended by 22 Licensed general contractors. Prior to the bid opening on January 13, 1994, three addendums were issued to all contractors which reflected changes to the project that had cost implications. The changes were sent to contractors by both facsimile (FAX) and certified mail with return receipt. One company, -Irvine Engineering Company, alleged they did not receive notification of the last of the three addendums until the date of the bid opening. The transaction journal printout from our FAX machine verified that our transmission was received at -,the Irvine Engineering Company -office six days prior to the bid opening. However, the certified mail receipt indicates that the. mailed copy of the addendum was not received by the Irvine Engineering Company until the date of the bid opening due to an incorrect zip code. As a result, the Irvine Engineering Company did not submit a bid and tiled a protest letter. On,January 13, 1993, six bids were opened and reviewed in the office of the City Clerk. The lowest responsive bidder was States Link Construction Inc. of Cerritos in the amount of $1,353,000. Although, later that same day, State Link Construction Inc. tiled a letter informing the City of West Covina that they had made a $100,000 dollar error in calculating their bid and therefor requested to withdraw from the bidding process. The estimated cost for this project was $1,300,000. A summary of the bids received is as follows: No. Contractor City Bid Amount 1 State Link Construction Cerritos $1,353,000* 2 Torre Construction El Monte 1,475,000 3 Armstrong Construction West Covina 1,530,000 4 FTR International Inc. Irvine Irvine 1,548,000 5 Hayward Construction Monrovia 1,589,823 6 Merco Constructing Carmarillo 1,785,000 * Requested withdrawal from bidding due to $100,000 error. • ANALYSIS The letter submitted by State Link Cons reviewed by staff and found to be reason, Code which allows a bid to be withdrawn and that the mistake made the bid ma Therefor, staff recommends that the bi aforementioned grounds. However, Statl project under the State Public Contract C vction Inc. asking that their bid be withdrawn was lle based on the State of California's Public Contract )r bidders who can establish that a mistake was made rially different than the bidder intended it to be. from State Link Construction be rejected on the Link Construction Inc. is not permitted to rebid this de Section 10204. As previously mentioned, the City received a protest letter submitted by the Irvine Engineering Company, requesting that the project lie rebid because they allege not receiving ' the last addendum until the bid opening date. Based on the FAX transmission report showing that the FAX was received six days prior to the bid opening, staff and the City Attorney recommend that Irvine. Engineering Company's request by denied. However, the protest letter was considered in the determination of staff's final recomaion which is to rebid the project for the following reasons. In today's competitive bidding climate, there should have been more bidders on a project of this size. Rebidding the project will give staff an opportunity to contact additional contractors and attempt to receive lower bids than the Csecond low bid of $1,475,000 submitted by Tone Construction. In addition to this, the request to rebid the project submitted by Irvine engineering Company can be granted. There is a possibility that the recent earthquake could. limit the interest in this project because some contractors may be working to repair earthquake damage in the San Fernando Valley. Rebidding the project will result in a delayed ground breaking by approximately two months until late March or early. April. FISCAL IMPACT Sufficient funds for this project are available from the Capital Projects designated reserves account. Rebidding the project should result in a lower contract price. In addition, the City will receive approximately two months of additional interest on the funds in the Capital Projects designated reserves account. ALTERNATIVES Award the contract to the second low bid of $1,475,000 submitted by Torre Construction Company of El Monte for the work to be done. RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends that the City Council This will allow staff an opportunity to lower contract bid. Approved ry W. Thomas Public Works Division. Manager/City 201-94 all bids and re -advertise for new bid proposals. additional contractors in an effort to obtain a atrick J. v r Maintenance Director gineer