HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998-04-20 CRC MINSMINUTES OFA REGULAR MEETING OF THE
CITY OF CHULA VISTA
CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION
April 20, 1998 City Attorney's Conference Room 4:30 p.m.
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MEMBERS PRESENT: John Dorso, Bob Campbell, Harriet Acton,
Barbara McAllister, David Potter and Jack
Blakely
MEMBERS ABSENT: Deric Prescott
STAFF PRESENT: Deputy City Attorney Glen R. Googins
Colleen Kelly, Administrative Analyst II
The meeting was called to order at 4:30 p.m.
1. Roll Call.
The roll was called and all members were present except Member
Prescott who asked to be excused due,to a law school final.
2. APRroval of Minutes.
MSUC (Campbell/Acton) to approve the minutes of March 16, 1998 as
presented.
3. Review of Letter to the City Council - Referral regarding
Fiscal Year Calendar.
The Commission reviewed the letter prepared by the. City Attorney.
Member Campbell questioned the specific reasons why the Mayor
wanted the referral made to the Commission. Barbara McAllister
inquired if it had to do with the City's reserves. John Dorso will
contact City Attorney Kaheny to discuss further and pending any
additional information, the letter will be sent as drafted.
4. Proposed Charter Amendment to Allow "Design -Build" Approach to
Public Works Projects.
The Commission received a memo from Glen R. Googins outlining the
"design -build" approach. As background for this item, Mr. Googins
reported this is an idea which is fairly new for public agencies.
For many years, our City, and by statute, general law cities, had
approached significant public works contracting in a traditional
way by designing , the project, developing specifications,
advertising in trade journals, soliciting bids from general
contractors and receiving bid packages and having the contract
awarded to the "lowest responsible bidder". Problems have arisen
in the implementation of the contract whereby an architect blames
the general contractor and vice -versa. Invariably, additional
costs, redesigning the scope of services, delays and fingerpointing
Charter Review Commission Minutes
April 20, 1998
Page 2
occur. In addition, contractors look at design packages, determine
if there are going to be changes, then bid unreasonably low with
the expectation that they will submit change orders for additional
compensation. Chair Dorso commented he has seen this occur in the
shipbuilding industry.
Commissioner McAllister queried why would we use a contractor a
second time if they do that. Attorney Googins responded it's not
always clear why the cost overruns occur. Mr. Googins commented
the "design -build" approach is not a panacea but it helps shift the
risk to the architect/contractor team.
Member Action questioned how this might effect the minority bidding
requirement. Glen Googins responded the City does not have that
requirement. Jack Blakely asked if it would limit the size of the
company bidding and the attorney did not believe it would.
Deputy Attorney Googins stated the concept would not apply to every
project; it would be intended for major building projects such as
a new Police Headquarters, etc. The State Legislature on 1/1/96
amended the Public Contracts Code to allow "design -build" for
general law cities, but it was limited to certain projects. Some
Charter cities have gone with the "design -build" approach, however,
Mr. Googins believes without amending their Charter, they are
taking an aggressive stance which may not be legally defensible.
After more detailed discussion of the lowest responsible bidder
process versus "design -build", Mr. Googins had a clearer
understanding of the questions raised by the Commissioners, and
suggested having the Engineering staff attend the next meeting to
give the Commission tangible examples of what happens in the
process and also to answer specific questions.
5. Public Comments. - None
6. Members' Comments. - None
7. Adjournment.
MSUC (Potter/Acton) to adjourn the meeting at 5:25 p.m. to the next
meeting scheduled for May 18, 1998 at 4:30 p.m.
. (:e
Lorraine Kraker, Secretary
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