Salinas Rail Project - MNS Engineers Contract Amendment #2:

1. APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Executive Director to execute contract amendment #2 with MNS Engineers, subject to approval by Agency Counsel, to increase the budget for construction management of the Monterey County Rail Extension project by $280,055 for a new total contract budget of $4,697,537;
2. AUTHORIZE the use of state funds budgeted to this project;
3. FIND that this amendment is justified as a sole source due to the efficiencies that support award to the existing consultant as a logical follow-on to work already in progress under a competitively awarded contract; and
4. AUTHORIZE the Executive Director to take such other further actions as may be necessary to fulfill the intent of the contract, including approvals of future modifications or amendments that do not significantly alter the scope of work, or change the approved contract term or amount.

The Monterey County Rail Extension Kick Start Project is in the final design phase and Package 1 (Lincoln Avenue Extension and circulation improvements at the Salinas train station) is under construction now. MNS Engineers was originally hired to conduct construction management for all three Packages of the Kick Start project in December 2017 after a formal Request for Proposals process. The contract amendment is being requested to increase the budget to cover additional working days due to unanticipated time spent on change orders and plant establishment after the completion of the construction contract.

The budget for this construction management contract has a not-to-exceed amount, as amended, of $4,417,482, funded through state Public Transportation Account (PTA) and Proposition 116 Rail Bond funds allocated to the construction phase. This amendment adds $280,055 for a new total contract budget of $4,697,537. There is sufficient funding in the awarded state grant funds for construction to cover this approximately 10% increase in the overall contract budget compared to the original contract. 

The Monterey County Rail Extension Project extends passenger rail service from Santa Clara County south to Salinas. TAMC is pursuing a phased implementation of the Project. Phase 1, known as the Kick Start Project, includes Salinas train station circulation improvements, a train layover facility in Salinas, and track improvements at the Gilroy station and between Salinas and Gilroy. The Kick Start Project is proceeding with construction of Package 1, improvements at the Salinas train station. The layover facility (Package 2) and track improvements (Package 3) are ready for final design, pending comments from Union Pacific Railroad.

TAMC hired MNS Engineers as construction managers for the entire Kick-Start project (three construction packages), Monterey Peninsula Engineering (MPE) for construction of Package 1, and HDR Engineering for final design and design support during construction. 

Package 1, currently under construction, includes circulation improvements along West Market Street/ State Route 183 and via an extension of Lincoln Avenue, which previously terminated at West Market Street from the south. The improvements include changing the intersection at Lincoln Avenue to a four-way intersection with the associated changes to the signals, bike lanes and crosswalks, as well as some lane configuration changes. Package 1 also includes two parking lots with landscaping and stormwater improvements and adding bicycle parking near the train station.

As of October 31, 2020, MPE has completed construction of the Lincoln Avenue Extension and associated parking improvements (stage 1) and initiated work on Railroad Avenue and the transit plaza (stage 2). The team currently anticipates completion of Package 1 in January 2021, an adjustment from the anticipated completion date of November as of the MNS amendment #1. TAMC has approved twenty-two (22) construction change orders to date, eleven more than were approved as of MNS amendment #1. The majority of the change orders was due to design issues, unforeseen buried objects, sidewalk upheaval, and utility conflicts. As a result of these change orders, the number of working days increased from the 344 days assumed in amendment 1, to 403 working days, or a 17% increase. As a result, MNS has had to increase the time spent to oversee the additional construction work, for a total cost of $206,795.

Also included in this amendment is $73,260 for plant establishment oversight, a task generally assumed to be performed by the "owner" agency's maintenance division. As TAMC has no maintenance division, MNS will provide this service through the end of plant establishment, December 2021. Plant establishment work consists of caring for the landscaping via controlling plant growth; fertilizing  controlling rodents, insects, and weeds; replacing damaged plants; watering; operating irrigation system; and repairing new irrigation system. MPE’s subcontractor WABO Landscape & Construction Inc. will be continuing any work required during the plant establishment period through December 2021, and with this amendment, MNS will continue to provide oversight of their work after construction oversight work is complete, through to the end of plant establishment.

This contract amendment #2 with MNS Engineers adds $280,055 to complete Package 1, keeping the budgets for Packages 2 and 3 whole. Attached online are the contract amendment #2 and the revised budget (Exhibit B-2).

• MNS Contract Amendment #2
• Exhibit B Budget, Amendment #2