Fort Ord Regional Trail & Greenway Environmental Review and Engineering Design Contract:

1. APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Executive Director to execute a contract with Alta Planning + Design for an amount not-to-exceed $1,084,008 from budgeted funds, for the period ending December 31, 2020, pending approval from Caltrans Audits and Investigations;
2. APPROVE the use of Senate Bill 1 Local Partnership Program and local Transportation Development Act 2% funds as detailed in the staff report; and 
3. AUTHORIZE the Executive Director to take other such further actions as may be necessary to fulfill the intent of the contract, including approvals of future modifications or amendments that do not signifcantly alter the scope of work, or change the approved contract term or amount.

The contract scope of work includes environmental review, engineering surveys and design, and an infographic report of costs and benefits for the Fort Ord Regional Trail and Greenway project. TAMC released the Request for Proposals in February, and received four proposals. The proposal review team and staff recommend Alta Planning + Design for the contract.

This contract is paid for with $500,000 in SB 1 gas tax Local Partnership Program funds matched with $584,000 of State Transportation Development Act 2% bicycle and pedestrian funds.

FORTAG is included in the Measure X list of regional projects, with $20 million allocated to the project. 

The Fort Ord Regional Trail & Greenway (FORTAG) is proposed as a 24.2-mile continuous 12-ft wide paved bicycle and pedestrian trail with an open-space buffer on both sides. FORTAG will connect to 7.5 miles of existing Monterey Bay Sanctuary Scenic Trail, for a total 31.7 mile long regional trail in the Monterey Peninsula.  The trail will connect with the existing and planned active transportation network, and will provide connections to unpaved trails in the Fort Ord National Monument. FORTAG is designed to accommodate people of all ages and abilities, and will have an open space buffer for the majority of the route.

In the fall of 2017, the cities of Marina, Seaside, Del Rey Oaks, and Monterey and the County of Monterey approved a memorandum of understanding to designate TAMC as the lead agency for environmental review. TAMC is leading the environmental review of FORTAG to make the project ready to compete for state, federal and private matching funds.

The Consultant will perform engineering design and surveys, gather data, engage community and stakeholder groups, and conduct the analysis for project-level environmental review to meet the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. Included as optional tasks are the the preparation an infographic report summarizing the impacts and benefits of FORTAG, visual simulations of the trail segments, grant writing and technical analysis assistance for grant applications are also included as optional tasks in this scope of work. This work will be done under the oversight of TAMC staff and in coordination with the cities of Marina, Seaside, Del Rey Oaks, and Monterey and the County of Monterey. Based on the technical expertise required for this work, consultant assistance is needed.

The request for proposals for this work was released February 28, with proposals due April 12. TAMC received responsive proposals from the following firms, listed in alphabetical order:

• Alta Planning + Design with sub-consultants: Rincon Consulting, Harris & Associates, and Cal Engineering & Geology
• Fall Creek Engineering with sub-consultants: Placeworks, CE&G, Parisi, EcoSystems West and Far Western Anthropological
• HDR with sub-consultants: Armanasco, GPA, Paleo, Polaris

• Kimley-Horn with sub-consultants: Denise Duffy & Associates, Whitson Engineers, CE&G, TrailPeople, Strategic Economics, Regional Government Services, CSG, Basin Research Associates

Firms were ranked based on the published criteria listed in the request for proposals, and those invited for interviews were evaluated based on the same criteria:

1. Staff knowledge and experience with State and Federal environmental review of similar trail and greenway projects, including demonstrated experience in developing concise and succinct technical reports (30 points)
2. Staff experience with innovative engineering design of trail and greenway projects and survey (30 points)
3. Staff knowledge and experience with developing reports and graphics that explain technical information to a non-technical audience (10 points)
4. Proposed work plan approach (20 points)
5. Demonstrated knowledge of environmental issues on the former Fort Ord (10 points)

A review panel comprised of staff from the following project stakeholders reviewed written proposals, and interviewed the top firms: City of Seaside, City of Monterey, County of Monterey, CSU Monterey Bay, FORTAG proponents and TAMC. Following review of the written proposals on April 27, the review committee recommended the following firms for oral interviews that were held on May 16:

• Alta Planning + Design
• HDR
• Kimley-Horn

After consideration of the proposal scores, interview scores, and reference checks the review committee recommended staff begin negotiations with the top-ranked firm. On May 31, staff began negotiations with the top-ranked firm. The top-ranked firm's cost proposal was higher than the budget published in the request for proposals. Staff negotiated with the work plan and personnel hours with the top-ranked firm. However, on June 21 staff ceased negotiations with the top-ranked firm due to a high cost and loss of scope during the negotiations to bring the work closer to the project budget. 

Staff initiated negotiations with Alta Planning + Design, the next highest-ranked firm, on June 21. Reference checks for Alta and their team were positive. Alta Planning + Design is a national leader in large trail and greenway projects like FORTAG. Alta's staff has expertise in innovative trail design. Alta's sub-consultants Rincon Consulting and Harris & Associates have environmental review experience for similar projects, and have demonstrated knowledge of environmental issues on the former Fort Ord. Alta Planning + Design's summary fee and schedule are attached for the Board's review. The full scope of work is available as a web attachment to this report.

Caltrans Audits and Investigations is currently reviewing this contract, as required for architectural and engineering contracts over $1 million. Staff anticipates that the audit process will be complete shortly after the TAMC Board action. The consultant team is anticipated to begin in September, and last approximately one year and half.