City Council Meeting: June 11, 2002

Santa Monica, California

TO: Mayor and City Council

FROM: City Staff1

SUBJECT: Award of Contract for Re-roofing Airport Avenue Building and Installing a Photovoltaic Energy System

Introduction

This report recommends that the City Council award a contract to Southern California Roofing Company, the best bidder, in the amount of $517,000 for re-roofing 3200 Airport Avenue and installing a 50kw Photovoltaic (PV) energy system, and approve $43,000 in contingency funds.

Background

The 3200 Airport Avenue building that previously housed Airport Administration staff and currently houses leased office spaces was constructed in the 1950’s. The proposed re-roofing project is necessary because the current roof leaks and adding more layers to the existing roof would exceed weight limitations. During the FY 00-01 budget, the City Council approved funding to replace the existing roof. Re-roofing provides an opportunity to install a photovoltaic system.

Discussion

This project includes removing and disposing of the three existing roofing systems; properly removing and disposing of minor amounts of asbestos; inspecting the wood deck and replacing damaged wood decking; installing a new asphalt shingle roofing system; installing and waterproofing aluminum roof jacks that will support the PV energy system; and installing the PV energy system. Installing a new PV system concurrently with re-roofing ensures that the required roof penetrations will be properly flashed to create a guaranteed watertight condition during the installation of the new roof.

PV energy, also known as solar electricity, is the direct conversion of sunlight to electricity. PV energy is a “clean” and renewable source of energy that offsets the use of non-renewable energy such as fossil fuels used to generate power. Reducing the use of fossil fuels helps prevent emission of air pollution as well as green house gases such as carbon dioxide that cause global warming.

The California Public Utilities Commission’s Alternative Energy Rebate Program, administered by Southern California Edison, will offset the cost of the new PV system. This program will pay for up to one-half of the PV system and installation cost. The City’s remaining investment will be paid back in approximately 16 years through energy cost savings.

On February 14 and 16, 2002, a Notice Inviting Bids for the construction contract was published in the California Section of The Los Angeles Times. Bid packages were requested by fifteen contractors. The City Clerk's office received six sealed bids that were publicly opened and read aloud on March 4, 2002 by the Deputy City Clerk.

The results were:

Letner Roofing Company: $420,000.00 (not valid)

Southern California Roofing Company: $517,000.00

Commonwealth Energy Corp. $612,007.85

Alfa 26 Construction Company $666,800.00

Best Roofing Company: $669,200.00

Sheen R.R. Inc. $720,000.00

City Engineer's Estimate: $600,000 to 680,000

The lowest bidder, Letner Roofing Company, submitted a bid with a condition that Letner receive the Edison rebate for the PV System. Since the plans and specifications did not require that bidders include the rebate in their bid, Letner Roofing Company’s bid is not valid, as specified in Section 7.0 of the bid document, “Rejection of Bids.” The best bidder, Southern California Roofing Company, of Downey, CA, supplied the City with the names of recent similar reroofing and PV projects. The references included the Victorville Federal Prison for the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, Lowes Home Improvement Center in Murrieta, and Albertsons Grocery Store in Brea. Southern California Roofing is currently installing an 80 kW PV system for the Walt Disney facility in Burbank. All contacts reported that the firm’s work was satisfactory. The State Contractors' License Board verified that the Contractor's license is current, active, and in good standing.

Budget/Financial Impact

FUNDS REQUIRED

Construction $ 517,000

Contingency $ 43,000

Total $ 560,000

Funds are available in the following accounts:

C33064701.589000	“Airport Master Plan”	$160,000
C20076302.589000	“Energy Efficiency/Conserv Fund Rebate”	$231,100
C01076302.589000	“Energy Efficiency/Conserv Fund”	$168,900
	Total Available:	$560,000

Upon completion of the project, Southern California Edison will reimburse half of the PV cost, which is $231,000, to the City. A revenue account for this reimbursement should be established at 20631.403120 in the amount of $231,000. A corresponding expenditure account should be established in account C20076302.589000.

Recommendation

Staff recommends that the City Council:

1. Award a contract for the Reroof Airport Ave Building project to Southern California Roofing Company, the best bidder, in the amount of $517,000 and approve $43,000 in contingency funds for this contract;

2. Approve the budget actions described in this report; and

3. Authorize the City Engineer to issue any necessary change orders to complete additional work in conformance with the Administrative Instructions on change orders and within budget authority.

Prepared by: Craig Perkins, Director of Environmental and Public Works Management

Anthony Antich, P.E., City Engineer

Jeff Mathieu, Director of Resource Management

Bob Trimborn, Airport Manager

Lauren Friedman, Principal Architect

Susan Munves, Energy and Green Building Program Coordinator

Sam Aslanian AIA, Architecture Associate