REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
October 21, 2025
FROM
NOEL CASTILLO, Director, Department of Public Works - Solid Waste Management
SUBJECT
Title
On-Call Contracts to Provide Construction Management and Construction Quality Assurance Services for Various Landfill Construction Projects
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Approve contracts with the following six contractors to provide on-call construction management and construction quality assurance services for various San Bernardino County landfills and disposal sites, in the total aggregate not-to-exceed amount of $20,000,000, from October 27, 2025 through October 26, 2030:
1. Advanced Earth Sciences, Inc.
2. Fountainhead Consulting Corporation
3. GHD Services, Inc.
4. Southstar Engineering & Consulting Inc.
5. SWT Engineering, Inc.
6. Tetra Tech BAS, Inc.
(Presenter: Noel Castillo, Director, 387-7906)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Operate in a Fiscally-Responsible and Business-Like Manner.
Provide for the Safety, Health and Social Service Needs of County Residents.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Approval of this item will not result in the use of Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost) as the Department of Public Works - Solid Waste Management Division (SWMD) is financed by fee revenue. SWMD establishes fees that are charged to the public and other agencies for utilization of San Bernardino County’s (County) Waste Disposal System. Sufficient appropriation and revenue are included in the 2025-26 budget and will be included in future recommended budgets.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
SWMD operates and manages the County's solid waste disposal system, which consists of five regional active sanitary landfills, nine transfer stations and numerous closed landfills and disposal sites. The five regional active landfills provide refuse disposal for the County's Valley, Mountain, High Desert and Low Desert Regions. Several liner expansion and partial closure projects, along with other solid waste disposal system capital improvements, have been identified in SWMD's 5-Year Capital Improvement Program. SWMD requires construction management and construction quality assurance (CM/CQA) services to support capital improvement projects needed to establish and maintain compliance with regulations from numerous state and local agencies, including the following: three California Regional Water Quality Control Boards (Lahontan, Santa Ana, and Colorado River Basin Regions); CalRecycle, the Local Enforcement Agency; and two Air Quality Management Districts (South Coast and Mojave Desert).
In order for SWMD to maintain a disposal system that meets the disposal capacity needs of the county residents and maintain good standing with the aforementioned regulatory agencies, it is necessary to retain CM/CQA services that are not available within SWMD staff. As a result, SWMD developed a Request for Proposals (RFP) to meet the need to perform necessary CM/CQA services and to fulfill the requirements of the County’s Procurement Policy. The contracts SWMD is recommending the Board approve are similar to the existing contracts with multiple vendors, which are set to expire on October 26, 2025.
The recommended contracts provide on-call CM/CQA services for landfill closures, liner expansion projects, landfill gas systems, groundwater treatment systems, road paving, drainage structures and general civil projects. Primary responsibilities will include construction management, construction inspection, plant inspection, construction surveying, bid support, as well as CQA specifically related to materials testing, monitoring and inspecting the nature and installation of landfill liner, and final closure construction materials to ensure they meet the project's specifications. Under these contracts, the work is assigned through task orders developed by SWMD staff and approved by management. The County does not guarantee any minimum or maximum number of tasks to be assigned through the term of the contracts.
The recommended contracts support the County and Chief Executive Officer’s goals and objectives of operating in a fiscally-responsible and business-like manner by efficiently obtaining the most reasonable cost of services for the County and providing for the safety of county residents by properly operating and maintaining the County’s waste disposal system.
Review for compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) was conducted by the Department of Public Works Environmental Management Division. It was determined that the activities in the contract are not considered a “project” as defined in Section 15378 of CEQA Guidelines and no further environmental analysis is necessary.
PROCUREMENT
On June 3, 2025, Request for Proposal (RFP) No. PWG-125-SOLID-5900 for on-call CM/CQA Services for the SWMD was released via the County’s eProcurement System (ePro). The RFP was sent to 287 firms via ePro. Amendment No. 1 to the RFP was issued on June 25, 2025, addressing proposers’ questions. Amendments Nos. 2 and 3 to the RFP were issued on July 3, 2025, clarifying the proposal timeline and addressing additional proposers’ questions.
On July 9, 2025, six qualified proposals were received from:
|
Consultant |
Location |
|
Advanced Earth Sciences, Inc. |
Irvine, CA |
|
Fountainhead Consulting Corporation |
Fontana, CA |
|
GHD Services, Inc. |
Santa Rosa, CA |
|
Southstar Engineering & Consulting, Inc |
Riverside, CA |
|
SWT Engineering, Inc. |
Ontario, CA |
|
Tetra Tech BAS, Inc. |
Diamond Bar, CA |
A selection committee comprised of five representatives from SWMD was assembled to evaluate the written proposals. The representatives evaluated the proposals for professional qualifications and the technical expertise to perform the on-call CM/CQA Services set forth in the RFP. After reviewing and scoring the proposals, the selection committee found all six firms were qualified to provide the required CM/CQA services. The contracts are written in a manner to allow SWMD the flexibility of selecting the firm that best meets the needs for each project, while providing the most value to the County.
The proposed contracts will commence on October 27, 2025, and continue through October 26, 2030. The County maintains the right to terminate the contract(s) for convenience upon 30 calendar days’ written notice.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Maria Insixiengmay, Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on August 7, 2025; Purchasing (Dylan Newton, Lead Buyer, 387-3377) on September 11, 2025; and County Finance and Administration (Kathleen Gonzalez, Administrative Analyst, 387-5412) on October 2, 2025.