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CONTRACT K-1415-141: A CONTRACT BY AND BETWEEN THE CITY OF NORMAN, OKLAHOMA, AND TETRA TECH, INC. IN AN AMOUNT NOT-TO-EXCEED $500,000 TO PROVIDE DISASTER RECOVERY MANAGEMENT SERVICES RELATED TO INFRASTRUCTURE DAMAGES SUSTAINED IN NORMAN DUE TO SEVERE WEATHER BEGINNING MAY 5, 2015.
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BACKGROUND: Between May 5 and May 24, 2015, the City of Norman experienced an EF-1 tornado and multiple flash flooding events. The attached graph, prepared by staff at the National Weather Center, illustrates the historic level of flooding and rainfall in Norman in May 2015. Over 23 inches of rain fell in Norman in May 2015 or nearly 10 more inches of rain than the previous May, 1957 rainfall record in Norman of 13.43 inches.
At least five of those rainfall events in May 2015 involved flash flood conditions according to the National Weather Center. Flash floods can be very damaging to the City’s infrastructure, particularly roads, bridges and storm water systems. With each flooding event in May 2015, the City encountered more infrastructure damage and road closures. At one point in May, 35 of Norman’s roads were closed to traffic due to damage or high water. Most of these roadways are located in rural east Norman. At present, the Public Works Department has developed an inventory of 52 damaged roads and bridges, as shown on the attached map and spreadsheet. The cost to repair this infrastructure is estimated to be $5-10 million.
City staff worked closely throughout May 2015 with officials from Oklahoma Emergency Management (OEM) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) regarding storm damage assessments and the potential for state and federal disaster relief financing. Mayor Cindy Rosenthal declared a local disaster by proclamation in May 2015. Governor Mary Fallin declared a state disaster by resolution in May 2015. President Obama established a Presidential Disaster Declaration for Cleveland County for damages from severe storms, tornadoes, straight-line winds and flooding, for the period of May 5, 2015 and continuing. This means the City will be eligible for up to 87.5% reimbursement (75%-federal; 12.5% state) for debris removal from the May 6, 2015 tornado and infrastructure repairs caused by the May, 2015 severe weather.
The City currently has a robust street maintenance program including funding from the General Fund, Capital Fund and the 2010 Street Maintenance Bond Program Fund. City staff from the Public Works Department/Street Division administers all of those urban and rural road improvement programs annually. The City’s paving crew performs many miles of asphalt paving of rural roads each year, particularly in east Norman. City crews collaborate closely each year with Cleveland County crews to maximize resources. The City also recently received a grant of $12 million of Community Development Block Grant Disaster Relief (CDBG-DR) funds from the Oklahoma Department of Commerce for road repairs in east Norman due to damage from the 2012 wildfires and the 2013 tornado in that area of Norman. Due to the demands of managing those projects, City staff does not have the additional organizational capacity or expertise to manage the current emergency repairs to 52 roads, bridges and other infrastructure in Norman in compliance with FEMA disaster relief guidelines. Therefore, City staff solicited interest from national-caliber firms who specialize in Disaster Recovery Management Services and the FEMA Public Assistance (PA) Program. It should be noted that the services provided by such firms are generally eligible for 75% FEMA reimbursement and may be eligible for 12.5% state reimbursement as well.
DISCUSSION: The Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC) is a “Government-to-Government” procurement service for States, State Agencies, Local Government Districts, Authorities and qualifying Not-for-Profit Corporations. H-GAC awards contracts for a wide variety of products and services after a nationwide competitive bidding or competitive proposal process. Section 8-204 of the Norman Code allows the City to utilize bid pricing received by other state procurement agencies when it has been competitively bid without the time and expense of an additional bid process. H-GAC specializes in “high ticket, capital intensive products and services that require technical, detailed specifications and extensive processional skills to evaluate bid responses”. Specifically, H-GAC makes available products that are utilized in Public Safety, Public Works, and Communications, in addition to professional consulting, personnel and financing services. The City of Norman has participated in H-GAC in the past, most recently for the purchase of Fire Department apparatus (fire trucks). After a competitive proposal process, H-GAC has pre-qualified a number of independent contractors (consultants) who specialize in providing emergency management planning and disaster management and recovery services. Consultants participating in H-GAC have submitted competitive hourly rates for services. City staff selected two firms from that pre-qualified list of contractors, based upon past experience with each firm, to conduct a consultant selection process. The City of Norman worked closely with staff from each of these two firms during the December 2007 Ice Storm when they worked for Beck Disaster Recovery, Inc. (BDR). BDR provided over $2 million in disaster recovery services to the City of Norman in response to the ice storm. The total cost of the ice storm recovery including debris removal services exceeded $6 million. BDR was successful in acquiring over $5 million in FEMA reimbursements for the City of Norman during that weather disaster. BDR is now a subsidiary of Tetra Tech, Inc. The Project Manager, Mr. John Buri, served as a project manager on Norman’s ice storm recovery in 2007/2008.
The two firms considered for this project are Tetra Tech, Inc. with offices in 42 states including Oklahoma City and Thompson Consulting Services with 13 branch offices throughout five states in the southeastern United States. Each firm submitted Statements of Qualifications. A Selection Committee was assembled including Anthony Francisco, City Finance Director; Kathryn Walker, Assistant City Attorney; Greg Hall, City Street Superintendent; Scott Sturtz, City Engineer; and Shawn O’Leary, City Director of Public Works. On Monday, June 1, 2015, the Selection Committee conducted interviews of each firm by conference call. Using the City’s adopted Consultant Rating System, the Selection Committee unanimously selected Tetra Tech, Inc. as the most qualified firm for this program of services.
A contract was negotiated with Tetra Tech, Inc. The Scope of Work is included on Exhibit A and the fee for services will be based upon an hourly rate as shown on Exhibit B. A more detailed scope of work and fee estimate will be determined after Tetra Tech and city staff complete the damage assessment. Therefore, city staff recommends a “fee not-to-exceed” under the proposed agreement of $500,000 or 10% of the current minimum estimate of the cost of repairs. When more details are determined regarding the specific services needed from Tetra Tech, Inc., City staff will prepare a contract amendment for Council consideration. City staff will request regular reimbursements from FEMA as the program develops in order to minimize the impact to the City’s budget.
If the contract is approved by Council, members of the Tetra Tech team will be on site in Norman within 12-24 hours to begin work. During the first 2-3 weeks of the program, detailed damage assessments and coordination with FEMA officials will take place. Repairs to the infrastructure under FEMA regulations could begin within one month of the award of this contract. Minor repairs to roads by in-house resources might begin sooner if possible. City staff anticipates that all infrastructure repairs will be completed within 6-12 months.
RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends approval of Contract K-1415-141 with Tetra Tech, Inc. in the amount not to exceed $500,000, for Disaster Recovery Management Services related to infrastructure damages sustained in Norman from the May 5-24, 2015 floods. Funds have been made available for this expense from the General Fund Emergency Reserve account, through a transfer to Emergency Engineering Consultant Services (account 010-5010-429.40-09; project SR0013).