Contractor picked for Kanan interchange

Work finally gets underway thimonth



Security Paving Company in Sun Valley will begin work on the 101 Freeway/Kanan interchange project at the end of February, Agoura Hills Assistant City Manager Jim Thorsen said last week.

“Did you ever think you would get to this day,” Mayor Denis Weber said. “To see this thing finally show up on the agenda is a testament to many things,” he said, including a tremendous amount of patience.

The interchange project, which was initially estimated to cost about $25 million, is now expected to cost $23 million, with about 70 percent paid through grants and funds from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the federal Transportation Equity Funds program, and other grants and designated funds.

According to a city report, $4.2 million in “ancillary project costs” have been added to the interchange budget. Thorsen said the money will pay for construction management, utility relocation and undergrounding, street light installation, final right-of-way costs, attorney and engineering fees, environmental monitoring, public outreach and other miscellaneous costs.

The city already has spent $6 million on design work, relocation and undergrounding work, right-of-way acquisition and consulting fees.

Security Paving was one of two companies to bid on the project. Their bid of $11,751,000 was lower than the city’s engineer estimate of $12,700,000. A second bid came from a Simi Valley firm at $16,984,000, $5,233,000 higher than Security Paving.

Howard Littman, an Agoura Hills resident, submitted a letter to the city that questioned why only two bids were submitted.

“It is extremely unusual for a significant public works project to be let based on only two bids,” Littman stated in his letter. He noted that three bids are customary.

“There is a huge . . . repeat, huge . . . delta between the low and high bid,” Littman said, noting the bids represented a 44.5 percent difference. “This is another ground upon which these bids would customarily be rejected, and the project re-advertised.”

But Thorsen said bidding was open to all companies. The city distributed the bidding package to 11 contractors whom officials felt met the specifications. An additional 34 contractors requested the plans from the city.

“It’s very common (for only two contractors to bid on such a large project),” Thorsen said, adding that at times, contractors will present a high number in case they end up the only bidder.

Thorsen said the Simi Valley company was $500,000 higher on the “mobilization” cost alone. Mobilization, he explained, was what a company charges to get a project started.

“This has been a long time coming,” Councilmember John Edelston said. He asked if there were flaws in the project that might have prevented more contractors from bidding on the project, or if staff hadn’t done enough to attract more bidders.

Thorsen said no and that it’s been difficult to entice contractors from Orange County or San Diego because it is customary for

a city to choose regional contractors.

Thorsen added that many of the contractors who obtained bidding papers from the city may have chosen not to bid because the project was bigger than they expected and they lacked the proper expertise.

Edelston asked city staff to call and ask some of the area’s contractors why they didn’t bid.

“A 45 percent difference between two bidders is substantial and surprising,” said Edelston, who added that perhaps the low bidder might not have fully understood the project’s plans and specifications.

City Attorney Craig Steele said the low bidder’s price was very close to the engineer’s estimate, and many factors could have contributed to the discrepancy between the two bids.

Councilmember William Koehler asked if the city could expect multiple “change orders” (added expenses due to unforeseen circumstances) to the project since the low bid was far less than the second bid.

Thorsen said that on large projects such as these, change orders are customary. “Caltrans has reviewed all this in scrutiny,” Thorsen said. “It’s the nature of the beast in the construction industry.”

Edelston suggested that expensive change orders should be reviewed and approved by the city council.

“Change orders are generally not processed through council but processed through staff,” Thorsen said.

Steele said that only change orders above a certain amount should be allowed to come under review by the city council. Change orders delay the completion of the project, Steele said.

Councilmember Harry Schwarz said he trusted the staff to handle the change orders competently.

Dan Kuperberg said if change orders came back to the city council, they might not have the expertise to make the proper decision.

“I don’t want to be secondguessing Mr. Thorsen and his staff,” Kuperberg said. “Some of these things are routine.”

Thorsen said he will present the board with ongoing reports on the progress of the project, and explain all change orders.

The contractor said the interchange would be completed in 10 months, but city officials believe one year is a more realistic time frame for finishing the work.

Although rainy days will be excused, the contract stipulates that the contractor will be penalized $7,000 per day if the project is not completed on time.

The new Kanan interchange will reduce traffic congestion, improve access along the freeway corridor and increase vehicle, pedestrian and bicycle safety, officials said.


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