Title
Consider and take action on a resolution authorizing a Professional Services Agreement with Freese and Nichols, Inc for CIP Project Management Assistance in an amount not to exceed $398,000 (Director of Budget & Project Management)
Background:
If approved, this Professional Services Agreement will authorize the City to enter into an agreement with Freese and Nichols, Inc. (FNI) for the purposes of providing Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) Project Management Assistance. This is a continuation of the services provided by Freese and Nichols since August 2018 at the same rate. These services will include but not be limited to liaising with critical stakeholders and partners to best leverage City resources, to help balance shifting priorities in order to best meet the demands/desires of the City’s customers and deliver the most appropriate projects within budget and time constraints, to implementing best management practices, identify potential roadblocks with options for resolution, and to be an immediately available resource for technical Subject Matter Expertise in areas where the current City PMO staffing model has a void.
The proposed FNI Team Leader has over two decades of Project Management Expertise and is widely considered to be among the nation’s elite practitioners. Additionally, the Team Leader has a well-documented history of assisting other local municipalities as they have reorganized their PMO’s and has assisted League City’s Project Management Office for the past two years. There are many areas the FNI Team Leader brings additional value on top of his standard quality control, process analysis and situational training with the project managers, general training classes and consultant fee analysis. The FNI Team Lead has taught six classes for our project managers covering the areas of roadway, drainage, parks, trails, water, and wastewater. All training handouts and videos are saved in our files and used as reference and training of new project managers. He also reviews design agreements prior to award including scope and fee along with change orders for design and construction contracts. In several cases, he has identified areas of savings which has resulted in a reduction. He also provides technical expertise and has been valuable in trouble shooting roadblocks, contacts with outside entities such as utilities, and identifying potential flaws in project scope and design as it relates to how the project fits with the overall City system.
Examples that come to mind is (1) his assistance in working with Union Pacific to have the crossing on Walker Street repaired, which saved the City $200,000 programmed for the project in the FY2019 CIP. (2) He also worked with the City’s project manager to save the City roughly $60,000 on a change order for the Animal Adoption Center for the detention pond. And last but not least, (3) there have been many times the project managers have presented engineering proposals to design new projects that are lower than the original submission after passing through the FNI Team Lead for review.
The contract of $398,000 will be funded in the amount of $199,000 in FY2021 from the Project Management. The remainder of the contract ($199,000) will be included in the FY2022 budget.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Data Sheet
2. Proposed Resolution
3. Exhibit A - Agreement with Freese and Nichols, Inc.
4. Vendor Report Card
FUNDING
{X} Funding in the amount of $199,000 is available in Project Management Contractual Services account 1750000-53490 in FY2021. An additional $199,000 will be included in the FY2022 budget.
STRATEGIC PLANNING
{X} NOT APPLICABLE