HomeMy WebLinkAbout101-Staff Report.pdf SARATOGA CITY COUNCIL
MEETING DATE: June 1, 2011 AGENDA ITEM:
DEPARTMENT: Public Works CITY MANAGER: Dave Anderson
PREPARED BY: Iveta Harvancik DIRECTOR: John Cherbone
Senior Engineer
SUBJECT: Contract Renewal for Geotechnical Consulting Services
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Approve a two-year contract renewal with Cotton, Shires, and Associates, Inc. for Geotechnical
Engineering Services and authorize City Manager to execute the same.
REPORT SUMMARY:
Cotton, Shires, and Associates, Inc. (CSA) have been providing geotechnical consulting services
and hillside applications peer review services for the City for many years. They are a well-
established professional consulting firm located in Los Gatos with extensive knowledge of local
geologic conditions.
They provide excellent services reviewing individual building sites to assist in establishing
conditions of design review approval relating to identification, evaluation, and mitigation of
geologic and geotechnical hazards. In addition, they provide engineering input to City sponsored
projects and City owned property and right-of-way. They have been very responsive to emergency
calls in connection with landslide hazards.
Attached to the contract is a rate schedule applicable for the two-year duration of the contract. The
rates charged to the City reflect a 30 percent reduction for peer review services and 10 percent
reduction for consulting services CSA charges for private clients.
It is therefore recommended that City Council approve an extension to the existing contract with
Cotton, Shires, and Associates, Inc. for peer review services and on-call geotechnical engineering
services for the City and authorize the City Manager to execute the same.
FISCAL IMPACTS:
Eighty percent of the Contract amount is a pass-through fee included in the development
applications. Funding for the remaining 20 percent of the contract amount is included in the
adopted budget.
CONSEQUENCES OF NOT FOLLOWING RECOMMENDED ACTION:
The existing contract would not be extended.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION:
The Council could direct staff to solicit additional proposals.
FOLLOW UP ACTION:
The contract extension will be executed.
ADVERTISING, NOTICING AND PUBLIC CONTACT:
Pursuant to Government Code 54954.2, this item was properly posted as a City Council agenda
item and was included in the packet made available on the City’s website in advance of the
meeting. A copy of the agenda packet is also made available at the Saratoga Branch Library each
Monday in advance of the Council meeting.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Independent Contractor Agreement.