City of San Carlos - RFP Heather Design

Program Orientation and Briefing:

____________________

Room 207, City Hall

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) FOR DESIGN AND PREPARATION OF PLANS, SPECIFICATIONS AND COST ESTIMATE FOR INSTALLATION OF AN ATHLETIC FIELD AT HEATHER SCHOOL SITE IN SAN CARLOS, CALIFORNIA

The City of San Carlos in cooperation with San CarlosSchool District is considering removal of the existing old soil base natural grass field at HeatherSchool site and installation of a new soil base natural grass or an all weather synthetic turf on the entire site. With this RFP landscape architectural and or park planning professional firms are invited to submit a proposal to design and prepare plans, specifications and cost estimates for each alternative.

II. PROJECT SETTING AND DESCRIPTION

HeatherSchool athletic field is approximately a 1.5 acre / 88,204 square foot athletic field on the campus of HeatherElementary School.The field and school are located at 2757 Melendy Drive in San Carlos, California.The City Council is interested in renovating the field but is undecided, at this time, if the renovated field should be natural or synthetic turf.The school principal has agreed to enlarge the field in the southeast corner just enough to allow the dimensions necessary for a full size soccer field.

The field provides a playing surface for a multitude of community sports activities throughout the year including youth baseball, soccer, softball and sports camps.In the past it has been also used for adult softball and summer day camps.The school uses the field for recess and P.E. classes.The field is heavily used and in fact is used more than the recommended amount.

The field is approximately 30 years old and suffers from a combination of problems.The City assumed maintenance and scheduling of the field for community use in 1996 as part of a continuing joint powers agreement (JPA).The field was experiencing problems at that time. Community groups had previously worked diligently to improve the irrigation and turf but their work, while commendable and dedicated was not reflective of best practices in the industry.Current problems affecting the field include drainage, irrigation, grading and turf health with invasive weeds.A line of mature evergreen trees line the southwest section of the field restricting sunshine and thus drying after rains.There is also a significant gopher infestation, with solutions difficult due to adjacent open space land.

In October 2001 a Field Use and Agronomic Specifications Study of all City athletic fields was completed by Mark M. Mahady & Associates, Inc.Information on existing turf, soil and usage levels for HeatherSchool athletic field are described below.A copy of the complete study is available upon request.

The turf at Heather consists primarily of a cool season mixture including annual bluegrass (Poa annua), perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) and Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis). The primary weed types observed included white clover, annual bluegrass, sorrel and broadleaf plantain.

Strengths: Heather is a native soil field and for that reason performs very well during dry conditions.

Limitations: Heather is a poorly drained, native soil field and for that reason performs very poorly during moist to wet conditions. The soil is classified as a true loam consisting of 42.5% sand, 35.6% silt, 22.0% clay and 5.29% organic matter by dry weight (USDA Particle Size Analysis, Turf Diagnostics & Design, February 2, 2001). The infiltration rate of this soil is less than 0.1 inches per hour, which creates ponding problems following minimal rainfall events. Such soils maintain saturated conditions for extended periods during the winter season. When saturated and subject to sports activity these soils will compact severely and the turf layer will tear and divot easily. Saturated soil profiles that do not drain well lead to surface ponding as well as slippery, unsafe conditions during moist to wet conditions.Irrigation uniformity is also a problem. Wet and dry areas are common. Based on industry standards the level of activity represents 28% more activity than recommended for a native soil field planted to cool season grasses.

The proposal must specify the approach and identify separate tasks with adequate detail and schedule for preparation of the following for both synthetic and natural grass alternatives:

Drainage of the natural grass field must be accomplished with proper grading for majority of the field to drain from center to north and south into sub-drain systems.Sub-drainage system for the synthetic turf should be connected to closed system(s) installed underground and day lighted into the existing concrete drainage gutters located downhill of the site.

In order for the City Council to evaluate and select one of the alternatives, the proposal must also include estimated life expectancy of each alternative, probable construction cost of each, amount of water usage for each, demand on ancillary facilities, estimated annual maintenance cost of each turf and amount of usage each turf type can sustain in a safe and playable manner.An analysis of advantages and disadvantages of each type of turf at this specific location is also to be provided.Examples of some maintenance items are listed below.

A fee schedule identifying staff positions, number of hours, hourly rate and the total cost for each and every task must be prepared and submitted in a separate sealed envelope with your proposal.

A pre-proposal field review and question-answer meeting with the City staff has been scheduled for_______________________.Attendance at this meeting is mandatory.

Upon completion of the review period, the City shall notify the Firm whose proposal will be considered for further evaluation and negotiation.

If the City determines, after further evaluation and negotiation, to award the Agreement, a Professional Service Agreement shall be sent to the successful Firm for signature. No proposal shall be binding upon the City until after the Agreement is signed by duly authorized representatives of both the Firm and the City.

The City reserves the right to reject any or all proposals, and to waive any irregularity.

The award of the Agreement, if made by the City, will be based upon a total review and analysis of the proposal and negotiated costs.

1. General Guidelines for Content: The response to the RFP shall be clear, concise, and detailed enough to enable the selection committee to make a thorough evaluation and arrive at a sound determination as to whether the landscape architectural or park planning team meets the requirements of the City.The response to the RFP should demonstrate that the respondent has a thorough understanding of the City�s requirements.

2. Duty to Inquire: Before submitting a response to the RFP, respondents must carefully read all sections of this RFP and fully inform themselves as to all conditions and limitations.Should a respondent find discrepancies in or omissions from the RFP documents, or should the respondent be in doubt as to their meaning, the respondent shall at once notify the City.Such notifications and questions must be in writing, and must be received by the City at least five (5) calendar days before the submittal date.All City responses will be shared with each of the known firms who were sent a RFP.

3. Explanation to Respondents: The City of San Carlos reserves the right to interpret or change any provision of this RFP at any time prior to the submission date.Such interpretations shall be in the form of an addendum, and will be made available to each person or organization that has received the RFP.Oral explanations will not be binding.The City, at its sole discretion, may determine that a time extension is required for submission of the response to the RFP.In such a case an addendum shall include a new response to the RFP submission deadline.

4. Right to Judge Representations: The City shall be the sole judge of the acceptability of a respondent's written or oral representations.

5. Failure to Conform/Proof of Presentation: Any response to the RFP that modifies or fails to conform to the essential requirements or specifications of the RFP will be considered non-responsive and unacceptable.

6. Financial Information: The City may require whatever evidence is necessary relative to the respondents' financial stability.The City also reserves the right to request further information from the authorized representative of a respondent, either orally or in writing.Written requests will be addressed to the authorized representative of the respondent.

7. Truth and Accuracy of Representations: False, incomplete, or non-responsive statements will be cause for rejection of the response to the RFP.The evaluation and determination of the fulfillment of the above requirements will be the City�s responsibility and their judgment will be final.

8. Rights to RFP Information: Information disclosed in the response to the RFQ and attendant submissions will become the property of the City.

10. Disclaimer:This solicitation does not commit the City of San Carlos to award a contract, pay costs incurred in the preparation of a response or to procure a contract for any services. The City, at its sole discretion, may reject any and all submittals.

Your requests for information, questions, and clarifications should be submitted to Barry Weiss via e-mail or U.S. mail. (See information below).

A. Response to the RFP must be received no later than 5:00 p.m. January _______, 2007.Responses to the RFP received after that time will be returned unopened.Postmark is not acceptable.

The City of San Carlos� web site www.cityofsancarlos.org/ will contain a copy of this RFP and any related pertinent information.