Construction Services for the 247th Street Area Water Main Replacement Project

Page 2 SECTION I GENERAL INFORMATION A. INTRODUCTION / BACKGROUND The City of Lomita is requesting proposals from qualified and experienced consulting firms to facilitate and implement a Citywide School Loading Zone Study for Vision Zero Neighborhood Planning Initiatives & Infrastructure for the City of Lomita. The City is seeking a safety consultant who is a qualified subject matter expert and has experience on similar projects. The City of Lomita is an urban, densely populated 1.97 square miles (total area is 1,261 acres), located at the base of the Palos Verdes Peninsula in the Los Angeles Basin, Los Angeles County. The City of Lomita is located in the southwestern part of Los Angeles County, 26 miles south of downtown Los Angeles and bounded by the City of Torrance on the north and west, the Harbor Region of Los Angeles on the east, the City of Rolling Hill Estates on the southwest, and the City of Rancho Palos Verdes and unincorporated Los Angeles County on the southeast. The

City is almost completely developed with mostly residential neighborhoods and commercial units. Schools within the City of Lomita generate traffic during drop-off and pick-up times. This leads to increased traffic congestion, parking/vehicle code violations, as well as pedestrian and bicycle safety concerns. A Study to analyze the existing conditions and provide recommendations to improve safety for students and caregivers walking and bicycling to school is desired. The City has been awarded a Sustainable Transportation Planning Grant from the California Department of Transportation for this Study. B. PROJECT DESCRIPTION This project involves the facilitation and implementation of a Citywide School Loading Zone Study for the City of Lomita. The Study is intended to provide an engineering toolbox for promoting safe streets around schools, as well as recommendations for specific infrastructure and operational improvements. It is also intended to be a roadmap for Lomita, partnering entities, and the broader community to improve safety for students and caregivers walking and bicycling to school. The effort will include partnerships and collaboration across agencies and school communities to create safe and equitable environments for local youth who are traveling to and from school, while also expanding new pathways to help promote physical activity among Lomita’s K-8 populations. The qualified consultant will facilitate and implement the proposed Study by closely examining existing conditions and analyzing data to accurately inform City staff on the current status of all four schools’ built-in environment and physical setting, school Page 3 population characteristics, transportation, education, and law enforcement. Public engagement components will involve important project stakeholders, a bicycle ambassador program, and bilingual communication engagement methods bolstered by a wide spectrum of outreach events including community-based workshops and charrettes in key Lomita transportation hubs and Council/Commission meetings, as needed. The Study will analyze the information gathered and make recommendations for changes aimed at improving safety for students and caregivers walking and bicycling to school. A series of Technical Memos and a Study report will be prepared that include the process and findings. Area of Focus This Study’s area of focus includes district-managed public schools, a charter school, and a private school located within the City of Lomita. Traffic in the vicinity of these schools during drop off and pick up is substantial and leads to unsafe driving and parking practices, increased risk to pedestrians and bicyclists, and challenges to residents living close to the schools. The selected schools are: • Alexander Fleming Magnet Middle School - 25425 Walnut St. • Lomita STEAM Magnet School - 2211 247th St. • St. Margaret Mary School - 25515 Eshelman Ave. • Eshelman Avenue Elementary School - 25902 Eshelman Ave. Overall Project Objectives Topics to be discussed include prioritization of the project’s four emphasis areas accompanied by typologies and a strategic framework approach that’s developed for sustainability and focusing on equity. Overall project goals include enhanced pedestrian/bicyclist and vehicular safety for students making their daily commutes; while also recognizing that because humans are prone to making mistakes, Lomita’s local transportation system must be purposefully designed to minimize the consequences of those errors. The project’s primary objective is re-assessing school loading zone traffic for all four schools and recommending changes ranging from modifying signage and curb paint to potential recommended street and drop-off/pick-up zone reconfiguration. Community-Wide Objectives These two overarching goals and primary objective are closely related to the following community-wide objectives associated with the School Loading Zone Study: 1. Designating family bicycling loops to encourage increased ridership, doubling the rates of students walking and biking to school from the current 14% to 30% by 2025. This will require meeting with local families and caretakers at popular City Page 4 recreation and community events to discuss their wants and needs from the project. 2. Improving off-street bicycle and pedestrian pathways so that Lomita student commuters of all ages/skill levels can commute safely without the worries of riding alongside motorized vehicle traffic. This means reducing Lomita’s annual rate of average fatalities/injuries experienced by youth ages 18 or younger from approximately 14 to zero by the end of 2026. 3. Standardizing school zone engineering design and analysis procedures that are in sync with the Safe Routes to School education and learning templates all Lomita students will be encouraged to learn once in elementary, middle, and high school. 4. Piloting Bicycle Ambassador and Teacher Champion programs that train students how to ride bikes as part of required school curriculum (e.g., paying teachers/administrative staff to enroll in a train-the-trainer course before delivering the curriculum at their schools). 5. Installing wayfinding around schools in coordination with neighborhood bikeways being built around the City to include locations that will enhance walkability/bikeability for students and grow school participation rates by over 55%. 6. Expanding Lomita’s grid and neighborhood street systems to facilitate a connected network of bicycle and pedestrian routes. Closure of gaps will prove instrumental to addressing missing and/or incomplete links to existing bike routes that are currently limiting access to neighboring cities (e.g., Torrance, Carson, Long Beach). 7. Prioritizing pedestrian, family, and active transit issues to allow for more effective safety measures by partnering with Los Angeles’ Unified School District to advertise active transportation as a strategy for improving student wellness. The project will also take into consideration elements including the South Bay Local Travel Network, the South Bay Cities Council of Governments, and the City of Lomita’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan. In addition, beautification of crosswalks, artistic elements, applicable signage, and designation of routes will be considered. Specific tasks related to the above community-wide objectives include: • Improve bicycle skills, education on how to ride a variety of bicycle facilities, and encouragement of youth to walk or ride bikes to and from school. Develop an engineering toolbox for promoting safe streets around schools, including specific infrastructure recommendations and operational improvements for change. • Distribute easy-to-read, bilingual safety-related programming in both print and online formats so that participating schools can revise their pick-up/drop-off Page 5 strategies and Lomita K-8 students begin actively traveling to school again without experiencing fear for their safety. • Collaborating with the targeted schools to develop a comprehensive school travel plan that addresses safety and operations of school drop-off and pick-up processes. • Working with Lomita’s school and community advocacy groups to establish buddy programs for young students preferring to walk or bike, but whose parents’ working hours may interfere with being able to safely accompany them to school. • Hold quarterly project stakeholder meetings with participating schools and hosting community-led assessments that result in newly formed, advantageous partnerships with local businesses/organizations eager to champion and support school communities. • Identify opportunities and promotional strategies for a walking/bicycling student mode share goal based upon regularly updated student travel and survey results. Some of these tasks have been incorporated into the Citywide School Loading Zone Study or the Study’s recommendations, as appropriate. C. DESCRIPTION OF WORK The consultant will facilitate and implement the Study and prepare a series of Technical Memos after key tasks are completed as well as a Study report at the completion of the Study. The Study will begin by closely examining existing conditions and analyzing data to accurately inform City staff on the current status of the four specific schools’ built-in environment and physical setting, school population characteristics, transportation, education, and law enforcement. Public engagement components of the Study will involve important project stakeholders (such as caregivers, school staff, community members), a bicycle ambassador program, and bilingual communication engagement methods bolstered by a wide spectrum of outreach events including community-based workshops at the individual emphasis schools which are the key Lomita transportation hubs for this Study, and Council/Commission meetings, as needed. Following data analysis and public engagement, the Study will consider various options and provide recommendations for minor and significant improvements that will help Lomita meet the two overall project goals and the primary objective. Finally, the Study will include the development of assessment tools for the City to use after Study recommendations have been implemented to aid in determining their effectiveness. These tools include safety assessment tools, a School Zone Safety Checklist, and evaluation criteria protocols to regularly track and measure what type of progress has been achieved. The final Study report will be presented to the Public Safety and Traffic Commission, the City Council, and the public. The Study report will be organized with Page 6 separate sections for each of the four emphasis schools so that stakeholders can easily locate information pertinent to a specific school. The Scope of Services (Section III) is a minimum suggested scope for the work of the project. The contract will be regulated according to the provisions of all Federal, State and local laws and ordinances that are applicable. This includes compliance with prevailing wage rates and their payment in accordance with California Labor Code, Section 1775. D. PROJECT DURATION The estimated time to complete this project is eight (8) to nine (9) months. E. PROJECT SCHEDULE A tentative schedule is included below. The proposals submitted shall use this schedule as a guide to further define an appropriate work schedule in accordance with the requirements of the Scope of Services in Section III. The final schedule will be negotiated based on the final scope of work and work plan agreed to by the City and the selected consultant. Milestone Date* RFP Release March 26, 2024 Last Day for Questions April 9, 2024 at 1:00 PM Issue Addendum April 15, 2024 Proposal Deadline April 22, 2024 at 1:00 PM Consultant Interviews May 2-7, 2024 Expected City Council Approval May 21, 2024 Kick-off & Notice to Proceed May 29, 2024 *Note – All dates are estimates and subject to change Page 7 SECTION II PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS A. GENERAL The proposal must be concise, well organized and should demonstrate the consulting firm’s team qualifications and experience related to this project. The proposal shall be printed on 81⁄2" x 11" pages and include resumes, past experience, graphs, tables, etc. It must include the following: 1. Cover Letter (one page): Provide a one-page cover letter, which includes the firm’s legal name, name, address, and telephone number of the person(s) to be used for contact who will be authorized to make presentations for the firm. The cover letter must bear the signature of the person authorized to sign on behalf of the proposer and to bind the applicant in a contract. The cover letter will include a statement offering the proposer's acceptance of all conditions listed in the "Request for Proposals" document. Any exception on the Proposer's behalf must be stated in the proposal cover letter. 2. Qualification and Experience (maximum of 10 pages): The proposed team shall have experience working with public agencies in similar assignments. It is highly desirable that the key project team members have served public agencies in various capacities, are accustomed to working with governmental agencies, and have a good understanding of public agency issues, procedures, and policies. In addition, it is highly desirable that the team have experience performing similar studies. Qualifications and experience to be shown in the proposal shall include, but not be limited to, the following: • Project organizational chart. • Identification of experience of principal staff members, including major subconsultants, if utilized. Resumes of principal staff should not exceed one page per person. • Identify the availability of your team and the percentage of current workload of the staff that would be committed to this project, including subconsultants. • Experience of the firm, the team and subconsultants on similar projects. Page 8 3. Scope of Work and Project Approach (maximum 10 pages): The Consultant shall include in their proposal a detailed scope of work and understanding of the process to undertake such a project and complete it in compliance with all applicable rules, regulations, standards, and requirements. Other items to include: • Description of the consulting firm's quality control (QC) and quality assurance (QA) procedures that will be used for the project. • A project schedule for various activities undertaken by the team with the milestones of major tasks of the project identified. • Address any schedule challenges that the team foresees. • Discussion of document control. 4. The following completed forms: • Conflict of Interest Statement (blank form included in Attachment D) • Darfur Certification Form (blank form included in Attachment D) • Civil Rights Certification Form (blank form included in Attachment D) 5. Consultant shall submit a fee proposal for the project in a SEPARATE SEALED ENVELOPE (or separate email attachment) marked “Fee Proposal” along with the project title. The City will negotiate with the top-ranked consultant in compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local guidelines. The fee proposal shall include all tasks required to perform the work with a maximum not-to-exceed fee for each task and a grand total not-to-exceed fee. The fee proposal must contain a task and fee breakdown of all components of cost, including labor base rate, overhead and all other direct and indirect costs. The fee proposal shall clearly show hours and cost per task. The task and fee breakdown must match the scope of services in the format, as presented within the RFP. Consultants will be required to submit certified payroll records, if requested. The Consultant and all subconsultants shall not be compensated by the City for any time spent on commuting to or from the project site and other peripheral work not directly performed as a result of this project. The Consultant shall provide their services for the duration of the project for the approved scope of work and fee. The proposal must remain valid for at least 90 days from the due date of this RFP. The City will create a shortlist of candidates that includes approximately three consulting firms which it may interview prior to selection of the top candidate for the project. 6. Prevailing wages will apply if the services to be performed meet the criteria according to California Department of Industrial Relations web site at: http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlsr/statistics_research.html. The City will not assume any about:blank Page 9 responsibility for the Consultant’s failure to pay prevailing wages in accordance with State law. 7. The work shall comply with the requirements of all of the following without limitation, and shall apply to this RFP and any subsequent contract as though incorporated herein by reference: • Federal laws • State laws • Local laws • Rules and regulations of jurisdictional authorities including the City of Lomita, Caltrans, Los Angeles Unified School District, and the project-specific schools. B. EXAMINATION OF PROPOSAL DOCUMENTS By submitting a proposal, Consultant represents that it has thoroughly examined and become thoroughly familiar with the work required under this RFP and has the staffing and resources capable of performing quality work to achieve the City’s objectives. C. ADDENDA Any changes to the requirements will be made by written addendum to this RFP. Any written addenda issued pertaining to this RFP shall be incorporated into the terms and conditions of any resulting Agreement. The City will not be bound to any modifications to or deviations from the requirements set forth in this RFP as the result of oral instructions. Consultants shall acknowledge receipt of addenda in their proposals. D. QUESTIONS AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Questions relating to this RFP shall be emailed to the Public Works Department at: publicworks@lomitacity.com no later than Tuesday, April 9, 2024, at 1:00 PM. E. PROPOSAL SUBMITTAL Proposals are due on or before Monday, April 22, 2024, at 1:00 PM. One (1) electronic PDF copy of the proposal shall be emailed to the Public Works Department at publicworks@lomitacity.com with “Proposal for Citywide School Loading Zone Study” in the email title. about:blank Page 10 The Fee Proposals shall be emailed to the Public Works Department at publicworks@lomitacity.com with “Fee Proposal for Citywide School Loading Zone Study” in the email title. F. INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS The successful Consultant shall procure and maintain, for the duration of the contract, insurance policies as listed in Section 20 - Insurance Requirements of the attached sample Professional Service Agreement (PSA), Attachment C. All insurance policies must be open to inspection by the City and copies of policies must be submitted to the City and/or upon written request. G. SELECTION CRITERIA Responses to this RFP will be evaluated using a point rating system, as shown in Section IV. The evaluation will be completed by a selection committee composed of staff from the Public Works Department. H. CHANGES IN THE RFP Should any prospective proposer be in doubt as to the true meaning of any portion of this (RFP), or should the proposer find any ambiguity, inconsistency, or omission therein, the proposer shall make a written request for an official interpretation or correction. Such requests must be received by the Public Works Department no later than Tuesday, April 9, 2024, at 1:00 PM. Such interpretation or correction, as well as any additional RFP provisions that the City may decide to include, will be made only as an official addendum, and will be sent to each firm recorded as having received a copy of the RFP. Any addendum issued by the City shall become part of the RFP and will be incorporated into the proposal. I. DISCLOSURES Under the Freedom of Information Act (Public Act 442), the City is obligated to permit review of its files, if requested by others. All information in a submitter’s proposal is subject to disclosure under this provision. This act also provides for a complete disclosure of contracts and attachments thereto. J. POST-SUBMITTAL PROCEDURES After reviewing and evaluating the proposals that are received, the City will select one or more firms with whom it will negotiate a Professional Services Agreement (PSA). A about:blank Page 11 sample of the standard PSA is included in Attachment C. Additional requirements from Caltrans are included in Attachment D. Those who wish to submit a proposal to the City are required to carefully review the PSA and the additional requirements from Caltrans. The PSA will include a Scope of Services and Fee Schedule (not-to-exceed amount), both of which may be modified by mutual consent during the negotiation phase. The Insurance Requirements outlined in the PSA may not be revised or changed. Prior to its final execution by the selected firm and the City, the PSA must be submitted to, and approved by, City Council and/or the City Manager. The City reserves the right to award the total proposal, to reject any and all proposals in whole or in part, and to waive any informality or technical defects if, in the City’s sole judgment, the best interests of the City will be so served. K. COST LIABILITY The City of Lomita assumes no responsibility or liability for costs incurred by the Consultant prior to the execution of a Professional Services Agreement. The liability of the City is limited to the terms and conditions outlined in the Agreement. L. INVOICES Consultant shall submit invoice(s) at the end of each month for the work performed. Each invoice, at a minimum, shall include the following information: • Project name • Period for which invoice is submitted • Invoice number • Task name • Balance remaining and percent completed for each task • Total project budget (approved tasks only) and remaining balance • Each employee’s name, number of hours worked, date, task, rate, and total charge Invoices must be accompanied by payroll and any other supporting documents that will be necessary to expedite the review and approval process. Page 12 Disclosure: Consultants shall disclose in their responses to any Request for Proposals whether they have been the subject of any legal investigation by County, State, and/or Federal agencies within the past 5 years. If so, each responding consultant shall identify the agency and contact person, the nature of the investigation and any determination over outcome of said investigation. Non- compliance with this section shall result in rejection of the Proposal, but a consultant’s disclosure of any such investigation (even one which resulted in a determination that was adverse to the consultant) will not automatically result in rejection of the Proposal. The occurrence, nature, underlying facts and outcome of any such investigation are not by themselves determinative but are simply included among many factors that will be considered by the City in evaluating Proposals. Page 13 SECTION III SCOPE OF SERVICES A. DESCRIPTION This RFP is to solicit proposals for a consulting firm to complete a Citywide School Loading Zone Study for the City of Lomita. The following scope of services is a minimum suggested scope for the work of the project. The City of Lomita is requesting proposals from qualified and experienced consulting firms to facilitate and implement this Study for the City. Consultant shall assign a project manager that will serve as the point of contact and coordinate all communication with City of Lomita staff. Consultant must provide an experienced team that has knowledge and understanding of school zone safety measures, pedestrian and bicycle safety, traffic engineering, relevant federal, state, and county standards, as well as other industry standards and appropriate application. The Consultant may provide additional items which they feel are pertinent to or add value to achieving the City’s overall project objectives. However, they must fit under the existing tasks; no new tasks are allowed. In addition to the kick-off meeting, the Consultant shall plan for sufficient meetings with Lomita staff to complete the project and keep the City informed. A minimum of one update meeting per month is anticipated to be necessary in addition to meetings throughout the course of the project to discuss project elements. Consultant shall prepare agendas for all meetings and submit them to the City two (2) working days prior to the meeting for review. For each meeting, Consultant shall record minutes and distribute them within five (5) working days of the meeting. The time required for this work shall be charged to the tasks associated with the meeting. Consultant shall submit monthly progress reports with each invoice. Progress reports shall contain work performed, project concerns and impacts, and the work anticipated for the next month. Invoices shall be submitted in accordance with Section II.L. Furthermore, Consultant shall ensure that all Caltrans requirements outlined in Attachment D are met. The project tasks include, but are not limited to, the following: Task 1 – Existing Conditions Consultant shall research existing conditions and gather information to understand which community needs have remained unmet and to target disadvantaged neighborhoods and the four project emphasis schools (i.e., Alexander Fleming Magnet Middle School, Lomita Page 14 STEAM Magnet School, St. Margaret Mary School, and Eshelman Avenue Elementary School). • Consultant shall coordinate a kick-off meeting with Lomita staff to review details of the project scope of work. • Consultant shall coordinate a kick-off meeting with Lomita staff, Caltrans staff, subconsultants, and key project stakeholders to present the project scope of work. • Consultant shall review existing programs from adjacent local agencies, Los Angeles County, existing City practices and concerns, industry standards, and other model agency programs. • Consultant shall closely examine existing conditions and analyze data to accurately inform City staff on the current status of all four schools’ built-in environment and physical setting, school population characteristics, transportation, education, law enforcement, and quantities of students walking, biking, or being dropped off daily. In addition, Consultant shall gather equity and existing conditions information that includes current mode share and collision data for school bicyclists and pedestrians (both in absolute numbers and as a percentage for all injuries/fatalities). • Consultant shall research and create a map with attendee zones or address clusters for each emphasis school. • Consultant shall, at a minimum, conduct four site walks of existing bicycle and pedestrian facilities in targeted school areas to note the condition of sidewalks, pedestrian crosswalks and signal timing; patterns of existing drop-off, pick-up, and surrounding traffic; presence of bike lockers, school parking availability, water fountains, and other related amenities. • Consultant shall prepare a Technical Memo summarizing the existing conditions. Task 2 – Equity Data and Collision Analyses Consultant shall then perform detailed equity and data analyses, prepare draft School Pathways Network Maps, investigate options for improvements, and make recommendations. • Consultant shall perform detailed equity and data analyses. • Consultant shall use the analyses to determine how to significantly reduce collisions occurring in loading zones during school drop-off/pick-up. • Consultant shall, in coordination with the City, set a goal for collision, serious injury, and fatality reduction after and following the implementation of