CITY OF WOODBURY, MINNESOTA

Office of City Administrator

Council Letter No. 05-

January 26, 2005

The Parks and Forestry Division has funds in the 2005 Operating Budget for the maintenance of existing pavement surfaces in the parks and trails system and the construction of new trails within City parks and along County roads. A consulting engineering company typically prepares the plans and specifications and provides the construction services for this project. Competitive proposals have been solicited for the engineering services and the project has been defined for the preparation of the plans and specifications.

RECOMMENDATION

It is recommended the City Council approve a contract with CEI Engineering Associates, Inc. to provide engineering services and authorize the preparation of plans and specifications based on the following rates:

The total funding available for the 2005 Park Pavement Project is $953,500. The breakdown is $225,500 in the 2005 General Fund Parks and Forestry Operating Budget for pavement maintenance, $241,000 in the 2005 Developers’ Deposit Fund Operating Budget for new trail construction within City parks and $487,000 in the 2005 Capital Improvement Fund Operating Budget for new trail construction along County roads. This funding is for the total project cost and includes construction, engineering and other miscellaneous fees.

Every year the Parks and Forestry Division completes a major park pavement project for maintenance of existing and construction of new trails, courts, and parking lots. A consultant is hired to provide engineering services for this project. Larson Engineering of Minnesota has been the consultant for the past four years.

Based on the new purchasing policy, staff solicited competitive proposals from four engineering firms that have previous work experience with City projects. The companies responding were Bonestroo, Rosene, Anderlik & Associates, Inc., CEI Engineering and Associates, Inc., Larson Engineering of Minnesota, and Short, Elliot & Hendrickson, Inc. The fees proposed by the firms are based on the percentage of the total bid amount of the pavement project for design and administration services.

The engineering company that is quoting the best value to the City is CEI Engineering and Associates, Inc. CEI is a national engineering company that opened an office in the metro area three years ago. They have provided engineering services in the metro area for projects that are similar in scope to this project. Staff checked with other cities that have used their services and received positive recommendations. Also, the engineer that would be assigned to this project worked with the City on past park pavement projects in 2001, 2002 and 2003, as an employee of Larson Engineering, and performed in a satisfactory manner.

The 2005 Park Pavement project is proposed to consist of the work as outlined in the table below. This scope will be further defined through the process of preparing the plans and specifications and may be adjusted as a result of site and budget constraints. A detailed cost estimate for the construction will also be developed. Upon completion of the plans and specifications, the project will be presented to the City Council for approval and to set a bid date. The schedule for the project is to take bids by early spring and to complete construction by late fall.