HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 03.a.iiMemorandum
To: Mayor and City Council
Steven C. Mielke, City Administrator
Dennis Feller, Finance Director
From: Christopher J. Petree, Public Works Director
Date: 31 October 2013
Subject: Engineering - City Project Management
ITEM 3.a.ii
City of Lakeville
Public Works
Purpose
Evaluate options for effectively and efficiently managing and constructing Lakeville's public
improvement projects.
Discussion
Since 2011, the City has awarded approximately $15.3 million dollars in contracts for the
reconstruction of City streets and annual roadway repair projects that included large asphalt
patches, trail reconstruction, sidewalk, curb and gutter replacement, and the correction of
drain tile issues.
For all of these projects, the City monitors and inspects the projects on a daily basis to ensure
that they meet timelines and the City's standard specifications for construction. On roadway
repair projects, City staff performs the on -site inspections. For street reconstruction projects,
the City relies on consulting engineers to inspect the projects. The City also deals with calls
concerning a variety of issues that concern residents in the project areas.
Since the City has undertaken its pavement management program and street reconstruction
projects, it has primarily relied upon third party engineering consultants to act as the City's
pavement evaluators and inspectors on street reconstruction projects. Typically, these costs
are included in and paid for through engineering services agreements or project contracts.
Due to the complexity of the projects and the time required for on -site inspection, direct
involvement by City staff is limited to periodic site visits and attendance at regularly
scheduled construction update meetings. The City is not staffed to provide project inspection
services from its resources for street reconstruction projects.
Having City staff on a project is important to evaluating contractor performance, but it is only
one facet of managing City projects. It also allows staff to have better personal knowledge of
the project area, correct problems immediately, understand resident concerns, and interact
directly with residents.
Options
To manage its projects, the City can:
a) Status quo. Continue to contract for engineering services. This meets the basic
project management needs of monitoring contractor performance, verifying
quantities, and handling resident concerns for street reconstruction projects. The
City's internal control of the project is limited and relies entirely on feedback from
contractors and resident calls.
Costs are considered direct costs to the project and paid for by the project. Project
management and oversight are required on the project.
b) Establish a full time Engineering Technician position. This position provides for,
staff presence on -site for observation of projects, performance of field surveys, direct
interaction with residents, pavement condition evaluation, and the gathering and
updating of engineering data.
Costs are considered direct costs to the project and paid for by the project. This
replaces a contractor and reduces costs to the City. Furthermore, it maintains required
levels of project management and oversight.
Conclusion
1. The first option continues City reliance on third party engineering services to manage
and oversee its street reconstruction projects. It provides answers to basic questions
of contractor performance, quantities used, and project scheduling. It provides a
higher level of engineering oversight than is required and at a higher cost to the City.
2. Establishing a full time position would enable the City to continue to manage and
oversee its projects. It puts City staff in the midst of the street reconstruction project
from beginning to end. It facilitates direct interaction with residents over project
concerns. It replaces one contractor at a savings to the City. It provides the City a year
round staff member to coordinate preparations for the following year's projects, rate
pavement condition, review as- builts, and draft /design City -owned projects.
3. In discussing City project management, several factors will remain constant.
• Oversight of the contractor and project will be required.
• Residents will have concerns about a variety of issues related to the project and
responding to these concerns will take time.
• The City will have limited control over costs of third party engineering services.
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• Cost of engineering services contributes to the overall cost of the project.
Recommendation
Staff recommends hiring an engineering technician position as proposed in the 2014 budget
to focus on management of City public improvement projects.
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