Salinas Rail Project Packages 2 & 3 - HDR Engineering Contract Amendment #1:

1. APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Executive Director to execute contract amendment #1 with HDR Engineering Inc., subject to approval by Agency Counsel, in an amount not to exceed $467,456, for a total not-to-exceed contract amount of $3,654,672, to complete the design work for Package 2, Salinas layover facility and Package 3, Gilroy track connections;
2. AUTHORIZE the use of reserves or state funds budgeted to this project that may become available;
3. 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; and
4. APPROVE sole source finding.

The Salinas Rail Extension Kick Start Project, package 2 (Salinas layover facility) and package 3 (Gilroy track connections) are at 75% design. HDR Engineering, Inc. was originally hired for this work in April 2020 after a formal Request for Proposals process. The contract now needs to be amended to add funding to the contract for the following unforeseen activities: design overflow parking lot near the layover facility, perform right-of-way investigations in Gilroy, update the Stormwater Control Plan based on revised designs, update hazardous materials analyses, conduct traffic analysis in Gilroy, and update site evaluation for burrowing owls. Staff recommends a sole source finding for this proposed amendment #1 based on the related nature of the tasks and efficiencies involved.

The budget for the contract, as amended, would have a not-to-exceed amount of $3,654,672, funded through Traffic Congestion Relief Program funding allocated to this project and Agency reserves, until new state project funding becomes available.

The Salinas Rail Extension Kick Start Project Packages 2 and 3 are currently at 75% design. HDR Engineering is updating the designs based on feedback from Caltrans, Caltrain, the City of Salinas, the City of Gilroy, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA, who owns the Gilroy train station), and Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR). Kick-off design review meetings have been held over the last several months. Those meetings and the document review have brought to light several issues that were not contemplated in the original contract's scope of work. 

Some of the design changes are the six-track layover facility (the original scope was for two tracks) and an optional task to design a new parking lot. Changing the track design from two to six tracks resulted in the need for a new Stormwater Control Plan (SCP), as the old plan assumed a stormwater retention basin in the location of the new tracks, so the new SCP will determine a new location for that basin and reevaluate the drainage throughout the site. The other revised or new tasks (right-of-way surveys, hazardous materials testing, traffic analysis at East 10th Street in Gilroy, and the burrowing owl surveys) came up through HDR’s document review and the design review meetings.

Staff believes it is most appropriate to do a contract amendment with HDR to add funding to this contract and recommends a sole source finding. This increase represents a 13% increase from the original 2020 contract budget.

Attached are the contract amendment #1, revised scope of work, and the revised budget.