A communication transmitted from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to Awaiting Report Item Number 19-80, regarding constructions costs for Inman Square and Awaiting Report Item Number 19-87, regarding the contractor for Inman Square

City of Cambridge Department of Public Works Owen O'Riordan, Commissioner 147 Hampshire Street Cambridge, MA 02139 theworks@cambridgema.gov Voice: [phone removed] TDD: [phone removed] July 19, 2019 To: Louis DePasquale City Manager From: Katherine F Watkins City Engineer Liz Unger Purchasing Agent Re: Awaiting Reports 19-80, dated June 17, 2019 regarding construction costs for Inman Square and 19-87, dated June 24, 2019 regarding contractor for Inman Square In response to the above referenced awaiting reports, please see the information below. UPDATE ON EVERSOURCE GAS WORK The City has been working closely with Eversource Gas throughout the Inman Square design process to ensure they address any infrastructure issues in the project area in a coordinated manner. To that end, Eversource Gas is replacing their leak-prone infrastructure in the project areas. They are approximately 60% complete with their work and anticipate completing their construction by the end of August. SCHEDULE FOR CITY CONTRACTOR Newport Construction has been awarded the Inman Square contract for $7,877,461.21. Based on the bids received on May 21, 2019 for the Inman Square project, Newport was the lowest responsible and eligible bidder. We anticipate them mobilizing in Inman Square in mid-to-late August, which will align with Eversource’s gas main replacement work which is scheduled to be wrapping up at about that time. Once we receive a schedule from the contractor, we will share the details with the community, so everyone can have a better idea of what to expect over the next 18-24 months. BIDDING FOR PUBLIC WORKS CONSTRUCTION Inman Square was bid under Chapter 30, § 39M of the Mass General Laws, which governs contracts for public works construction. Chapter 30, § 39M requires the City to award a public works construction contract estimated to cost more than $50,000 to the lowest responsible and eligible bidder. The law, M.G.L. c. 30, § 39M(c), defines the term “lowest responsible and eligible bidder” in part to mean the bidder “whose bid is the lowest of those bidders possessing the skill, ability and integrity necessary for the faithful performance of the work…”

Bid documents for projects establish minimum qualifications for contractors bidding on that specific project. For the Inman Square contract, the required qualifications included: • Bidder must have a minimum of ten years’ experience performing reconstruction of drains, water mains, sidewalks and roadways for municipalities or public utilities. • Bidder must have evaluated its current project workload and determined that it has the capacity to begin the contract within ten days following the date set forth in the Notice to Proceed. • Bidder must have reviewed the labor, equipment, and capacity requirements for its projected workload in 2019-2020 and determined that it has the resources to perform the work proposed in the project. • Bidder must identify 3 projects involving the construction of water mains and storm drains, within a crowded urban setting with heavy volumes of motor vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian traffic that required coordination and rerouting of traffic and transportation, with the MBTA, and with city police, fire, and traffic departments. The projects must each have a value of $2,000,000 and been completed within the last 10 years. • Bidder must identify 3 projects involving the reconstruction of municipal roadways and Architectural Access Board compliant sidewalks, line striping, surface improvements, traffic and pedestrian signals, and landscaping. The projects must each have a value of $4,000,000 and been completed within the last 10 years. • Contractor must assign an on-site project manager and a full-time on-site superintendent. The Project Superintendent must have a minimum of 10 years construction experience; demonstrate ability to manage a budget, schedule, and crew coordination; demonstrate experience in traffic management in heavily traveled streets, community relations with local businesses and residents, utility coordination, contaminated soil management, and permit compliance. • Contractor must agree to follow the relevant Cambridge Ordinances: o Minority Business Enterprise; Newport Construction identified Jimenez & Son Construction Co, to complete 10% of the contract value; thereby meeting the requirements. o Cambridge Responsible Employer Plan o CORI Compliance Form o Wage Theft Prevention Certification When bids are received, city staff and professional engineering consultants working for the City review the bids for completeness of the bid package; determine if the bidders meet the minimum qualifications, as outlined above; and make a recommendation to

award to the lowest responsible and eligible bidder, as outlined in Chapter 30, § 39M of the Mass General Laws. In this case, the apparent low bid was rejected as the contractor did not meet the minimum qualifications set forth in the contract. The second lowest bidder, Newport Construction, was evaluated for responsiveness, completeness, and compliance with all contract required provisions and was determined to have met all of these requirements. Based on the information provided, Newport was determined to be the lowest responsive and responsible bidder. Concerns have been raised over Newport’s performance on the MassDOT Beacon Street Project in Somerville. Based on discussions with Somerville staff and Newport, in October 2017 Newport removed public shade trees that were shown in the contract documents to be removed and had been approved for removal through a public hearing under Chapter 87 of the Mass General Laws. The issue with the tree removals was related to the timing (October 2017 vs spring 2018) and the lack of community notification. Newport continues to bid projects for MassDOT and has not been disqualified from bidding in any community in the state. Newport is pre-qualified for MassDOT projects of over $40M, has a Single Project Bonding Limit of $75M and an Aggregate Bonding Limit of $200M. Since October 2017, Newport has been awarded $64,000,000 in contracts (not including Inman Square) from MassDOT ($32M) and agencies, such as Cambridge and other municipalities, that require MassDOT prequalifications ($32M). CONSTRUCTION COSTS In October 2018, City Council appropriated $5,000,000 to the DPW Capital Expenditure Account to support the completion of the Inman Square Intersection Improvements Project. The project was at the 75% level of design and the cost estimate was developed by the consultants working for the City; professional engineers specializing in the design and construction of complex infrastructure. This estimate represented the best available information at the time. October 2018 Cost Estimate: Total Project Costs: $7,000,000 Design / Soft Costs: $1,000,000 Appropriated in FY17 Construction: $6,000,000 Estimated Construction Cost $5,000,000 October 2018 Appropriation $1,000,000 Appropriated in FY19 Budget As part of the October appropriation, staff identified that the greatest risk of future cost increases would be associated with the bidding process, unforeseen conditions and expanded scope.

May 2019 Cost Estimate, Based on Bids Total Construction Cost: $8,500,000 Construction: $7,900,000 Construction Contract $ 600,000 Police Details Funding Sources: $5,000,000 October 2018 Appropriation $1,000,000 Appropriated in FY19 Budget $1,000,000 Appropriated in FY20 Budget (Bike / Ped) $1,500,000 Capital Repairs – Utility Work Bids throughout the Boston region are coming in 25% to 30% higher than estimated due to the strong economy, significant amount of work under contract, significant amount of work available for bidding, and the uncertainty of tariffs on Chinese products affecting the price of supplies. Cambridge is also becoming a more challenging place for contractors to work given the high expectations, challenge of working in a dense urban environment, and the high volume of traffic, cyclists and pedestrians. As a result of these factors, only two to three bidders are submitting bids on our projects and the bids are coming in higher than estimated. The Inman Square project is a critical safety project for the City and so we have identified additional funds to allow it to proceed. In FY19, the City Manager committed to spending $1M per year on Bike / Ped Infrastructure. This funding for FY20 was identified for Inman Square in the budget, if needed. Given the increase in the construction cost, the FY20 funds will be dedicated to Inman Square. A portion of the Capital Repairs funding will be committed to the project to fund the utility work. With these funds, the project can be awarded and funded without any additional appropriations. Any additional funding that may be needed for construction contingencies would be addressed during the FY21 capital budget, as needed. PROJECT AND TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT DURING CONSTRUCTION The City has a full-time project manager assigned to the Inman Square Project to ensure the contractor is following the contract documents and providing the city a high-quality project. The project manager reviews submittals, Traffic Management Plans (TMP), and schedule, and works closely with our community relations manager. On a weekly basis, a Supervising Engineer and I will be involved with the overall project management and addressing any issues; particularly as they affect the quality of the construction, cost of the project and community relations. The Traffic Management Plans (TMP) for this construction will be challenging, similar to work the City has managed in Harvard Square and Kendall Square. The TMP must provide safe routing for people walking, biking, driving, and taking the bus through an active work zone, while providing enough space for the contractor to complete the work. If too much space is given to the contractor, people can’t traverse safely through the area to visit the

local businesses, make deliveries, do errands, get to work, or get home. If inadequate space is given to the contractor, the quality of the work is impacted and the amount of time required to complete the project is greatly increased. It is challenging to find the right balance for each phase of the project, but staff will work with the contractor, the business association and the various users throughout the project to make adjustments to the TMP on a regular basis. The TMP for Inman Square includes provisions for pedestrian access through the square and to businesses throughout the duration of the contract. The location and set up of the pedestrian route will vary by phase to accommodate the construction activities, but pedestrian access will be maintained. The TMP for Inman Square will maintain the bike lanes whenever possible. Given the extent of utility work and the limited amount of roadway width, there will be phases when adequate width for dedicated bike lanes does not exist and cyclists will share the lane with vehicles. City staff evaluated the option of providing a detour for cyclists, similar to what MassDOT did during the construction on Beacon Street. However, given the relatively short length of the bike lane which will be impacted by Inman Square construction at any one time, and the lack of parallel routes, we have not been able to identify a viable detour. Bicycles may not be ridden on sidewalks in the dense commercial areas of the City, including Inman Square. The limits of the zone in Inman Square include Cambridge Street (Camelia Ave to Prospect St) and Hampshire St (Somerville line to Prospect St). Given the volume of cyclists, volume of pedestrians and the narrow width of the sidewalks, staff recommends maintaining the limits of no sidewalk biking and will refresh the stencils to ensure the locations are clear. The Police Department continues to do targeted enforcement of the No Left Turn in Inman Square. In 2018 the Police Department issued a total of 1,213 citations in Inman Square. To date in 2019 the Police Department has issued a total of 599 citations in Inman Square. The majority of these are for the improper left turn as well as some crosswalk violations. Traffic Unit officers will continue enforcement activity in Inman Square during construction and have been reminded to look for crosswalk violations in addition to the turn violations. INMAN SQUARE CONSTRUCTION MITIGATION OUTREACH EFFORTS In addition to the City’s construction project management and community relations efforts, the Community Development Department, Department of Public Works, and City Manager’s Office are collaborating with the East Cambridge Business Association, the Inman Square Neighborhood Association, the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce, and Cambridge Local First to provide additional resources and programming that will support local businesses during the Inman Square construction, cambridgema.gov/ShopInman. Below is an overview of the on-going efforts to support local businesses.

Inman Square Loyalty Program: • Started March 2019 • 24 businesses are participating in the program • As of the end of June 2019, over 250 people have participated in the program • Each month two winners are selected to win a $50.00 gift card to the Inman Square business of their choice. Outreach • Since September 2018, DPW and CDD staff have met with East Cambridge Business Association (ECBA), residents, and individual business owners through the following activities to help address construction issues: o Door-to-door flyering o Inman Square “Coffee Talks” o Construction-related business meetings o Special event tabling o One-on-one meetings with business owners • DPW and CDD also attended and coordinated City-sponsorship of “Inman Square Eats and Crafts” Special Event in May 2019 Additional Support • New banners and banner infrastructure will go up Summer 2019 • City provided support for the beautification efforts (e.g. flowers, tree lights) in the Square. • City staff installed additional parking spaces in the Springfield Street parking lot • City staff converted several previously unregulated parking spaces to metered parking at the edges of the square to provide customer parking during construction. • In May 2019, CDD, in partnership with ECBA, has begun a new monthly event - “Second Thursdays in the Square” – encouraging patrons to come into the Square in the during construction. City staff is committed to working with residents and local businesses throughout construction and is looking forward to getting the City’s construction project underway on these critical improvements to Inman Square.