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Consideration of request by Director of Public Works to authorize staff to enter into a construction management services agreement for the renovation of the Library & City Hall facility to CG Schmidt in the amount of $69,200
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Submitted by:
David Simpson, Director of Public Works
Department
Public Works
A. Issue
The City’s Capital Improvements Program (CIP) includes funding to continue with design work for the remodel and expansion of the City’s Library and City Hall Complex. In order to continue onto the design and fundraising phase of this project a Request for Proposals (RFP) was issued to hire a Construction Manager for the project.
B. Background/Options
With the decision made to keep the Civic Center/Library/City Hall facility in its current location, the first step toward an eventual remodel of the facility was the completion of a feasibility study, which was completed and presented to the Committee of the Whole in early 2023. The 5-year CIP was subsequently developed and approved to include $500,000, which is intended for detailed design work through the hiring of a Construction Manager and an Architectural Design Team.
The Common Council recommended that the City hire a Construction Manager as our next step toward evaluating the feasibility of the project and utilizing Construction Management at Risk (CMaR) model is being recommended for the Library & City Hall Renovation Project. A Construction Manager is a construction professional who operates similarly to a general contractor, however, every aspect of the project is publicly bid in smaller bid packages to allow for very competitive bids from subcontractors as well as various other trade professionals. This approach has become very common and helps owners, architects, and the contracting trade to partner on projects to achieve all goals of a project while ensuring budgets are met. The City has elected to utilize a CMaR contracting approach which will ultimately transfer project budget risk to the Construction Management firm instead of the City. This is done by entering into a contract with the CMaR after final design is completed that will establish a guaranteed maximum price for the City so that we can be reassured the project will be built for the City’s established budget for the project.
A RFP was issued on June 12th for Construction Management at Risk services for the Library & City Hall Renovation Project. The City received ten proposals and a Selection Committee of eight members was formed to review the proposals. Of the ten companies who submitted proposals, five were invited to interview after extensive review of their proposals. All five companies accepted the invite and interviews were conducted by the eight-member Selection Committee over the course of two days. The Committee then met to determine which company would be recommended to the Common Council for potential contract award. The Committee utilized many factors to determine which company to recommend for this project including, but not limited to, project approach, timeline, project references, similar work experience, successful past projects, staff availability, occupied space renovation experience, value engineering experience, sustainability initiatives, budgeting experience, team experience, and cost.
After an extensive process and a very detailed and lengthy discussion the Selection Committee has voted unanimously to recommend that the City enter into a contract with CG Schmidt for this incredibly important project. The CG Schmidt team, led by a Wauwatosa resident, has experience building dozens of libraries and community projects that align very well with the goals of this project. Examples of recent library projects include the New Glarus Public Library, Greenfield Library, Concordia Library Addition, Notre Dame School of Milwaukee Addition and Library, Todd Wehr Library Renovation at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Recent notable community projects include ThriveOn King Community & Residential Projects, Urban Ecology Center Riverland Event Hall, PEAK Initiative Program Center, West Allis West Milwaukee Recreation Center. They have experience ranging from smaller projects all the way up to very large projects such as the new Northwestern Mutual New Office Building on Milwaukee’s waterfront. Some local projects you may be familiar with are the Tosa Pool at Hoyt Park & The Landing, Medical College of Wisconsin - Hub for Collaborative Medicine, Irgens - Innovation One, Kathy’s House, and Ronald McDonald House Expansion. The Committee feels strongly that the City will have a very successful project if CG Schmidt is selected as the Construction Manager for this project.
Construction contracts for this project will consist of two phases. Phase One of the project will consist of alternatives analysis work in partnership with the architect, staff, Common Council, and Library Board, which will select a design and budget that would then move the project on to Phase Two after Common Council approval. The value of this work is $62,000, however, CG Schmidt will be discounting this work for a total cost to the City of $14,200. Phase Two of the project will consist of pre-construction work with a value of $100,000, however, the City’s cost will be $55,000 after discounts. Phase Two construction work consists of percentage of construction-based fees for General Conditions and Construction Management Fees, which will vary based on final project budget. The General Conditions staff time will range from 3-3.5% of the project cost and the CMaR fee will range from 1.15-1.25% of the project cost and this will only be authorized by the Common Council if the project moves to construction.
If CG Schmidt is hired, next steps will include hiring design professionals and proceeding with an alternatives analysis, value engineering, community feedback, and ultimately, approval of a final concept by the Library Board and Common Council to move ahead into final design. As a reminder, there is currently no budget allocated for the construction portion of this project so fundraising activities and capital budgeting discussions will be occurring simultaneous to this work.
C. Strategic Plan (Area of Focus)
Priority 3: Infrastructure & Priority 5: Quality of Life
D. Fiscal Impact
Phase One work will be $14,200 and Phase Two work will be $55,000 in pre-construction work plus a percentage based off final budget for the construction phase. The percentage-based cost portion of the project would be authorized at a later date by the Common Council if the project were to move forward to construction. These costs are well within budget.
E. Recommendation
Authorize staff to enter into a contract with CG Schmidt for construction management preconstruction services for the renovation of the Library/City Hall complex in the amount of $69,200.