REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL May 19, 2016 FROM: SCOTT L. MOZIER, PE, Director Public Works Department THROUGH: ANDREW J. BENELLI, PE, City Engineer/Assistant Director Public Works Department, Traffic and Engineering Services Division BY: DAVID A. CISNEROS, Projects Administrator Public Works Department, Capital Management Division SUBJECT ..Title Second Amendment to Consultant Service Agreement with Highland Consulting in the amount of $42,000 for ongoing and new railroad related Public Works projects. ..Body RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends that the Council authorize the Public Works Director to execute a Second Amendment in the amount of $42,000 with Highland Consulting ("Consultant") for purposes of providing railroad related consulting services to the City of Fresno ("City"). EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The City entered into a contract with Consultant to provide professional consulting services for ongoing and new railroad related Public Works projects. The present contract will terminate on June 30, 2016. The City desires to continue to utilize the consulting services provided by Consultant for an additional year. Therefore, staff is requesting approval of an amendment to the existing contract, for the period July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2017, with additional compensation in an amount not to exceed $42,000. BACKGROUND On July 1, 2014, the City entered into a professional consulting services contract with Consultant, to provide assistance to staff with the many various new and currently active railroad related projects within the City. The present contract expires on June 30, 2016, and the City remains in need of consulting services provided by Consultant. The City is currently working on several Section 130 (State Funded) at-grade crossing signal upgrading projects and is expecting the addition of two (2) new projects before June. In addition the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is working with staff to include the Blackstone / Santa Fe Railroad crossing as an additional Section 130 project which will modify the pre-emption timing at the railroad crossing and the signal timing at the Blackstone/McKinley intersection. All costs associated with Section 130 projects are paid for by a Federal Grant administered by Caltrans, Rail Division. In addition the Consultant has been instrumental in negotiating and drafting the numerous agreements that the City and the California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) have and will be entering into to facilitate the construction of the high speed train. All costs associated with the high speed train will be paid through the Council approved Reimbursement Agreement with CHSRA. The Second Amendment has been reviewed by the City Attorney and approved to form. ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS By the definition provided in the California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines Section 15378, this item does not qualify as a "project" as defined by the Environmental Quality Act. LOCAL PREFERENCE Local preference was not implemented because this item does not involve competitive bidding; this is an amendment to an existing contract. FISCAL IMPACT There is no fiscal impact to the General Fund as all costs associated with this consultant agreement are covered by the Section 130 Federal Grant and the Council approved CHSRA Reimbursement Agreement. Attachment: Second Amendment