Tacoma Bid Watch: Youth Building Tacoma, Tacoma Power archaeologist update, and landfill diversion

The Tacoma Daily Index often publishes the City of Tacoma’s calls for bids asking contractors to meet the City’s needs on a range of supplies, services, and projects. Here is a short-list of some recent and notable calls for bids issued from Tacoma City Hall.

First, the City is accepting proposals from qualified organizations that can provide training an education opportunities for Tacoma youth as part of the Youth Building Tacoma program, according to a legal notice recently published in the Tacoma Daily Index.

Now in its 16th year, Youth Building Tacoma serves Tacoma residents between the ages of 18 and 24 by providing employment readiness training; barrier-reduction case management to support program completion, employment placement, and employment retention; participating support services that include math classes to achieve ninth-grade levels of proficiency prior to graduation, work-related clothing, tools, and transportation; participation in pre-apprenticeship training program that includes a construction-related math component; and job placement assistance with Tacoma Public Utilities, the City of Tacoma, LEAP employers, those employers that must comply with Local Section 3 Hiring Policy, and private construction firms, according to a Request For Proposals prepared by City staff.

The program emphasizes the recruitment of participants from the Empowerment Zone, women, minorities, people of color, those transitioning from welfare, and those with limited English-speaking abilities. The program’s pre-apprenticeship model emphasizes a workplace-based training, “earn while you learn” system that offers young people a career pathway in the trades and related occupations, as well as a combination of on-the-job training and related supplemental instruction under the supervision of a journey-level craft person or trade professional in which workers learn the practical and theoretical aspects of a skilled occupation.

The bid deadline expires at 11 a.m. on Tues., Oct. 6. The project budget for 2016 is $300,000. More information is available online here and here.

To read the Tacoma Daily Index‘s complete and comprehensive coverage of the Youth Building Tacoma program, click on the following links:

City of Tacoma Neighborhood and Community Services Department REQUEST FOR (Tacoma Daily Index, July 30, 2015)
Resolution would help support youth job and pre-apprenticeship program (Tacoma Daily Index, May 5, 2008)
Resolutions would fund youth resource center, job training and apprenticeship program (Tacoma Daily Index, April 16, 2007)
City approves funding for Youth Building Tacoma job training (Tacoma Daily Index, April 14, 2005)
City of Tacoma News (Tacoma Daily Index, April 11, 2005)
City of Tacoma News: Tacoma City Council (Tacoma Daily Index, Sept. 27, 2004)
City of Tacoma News: Tacoma City Council (Tacoma Daily Index, March 18, 2002)

Second, following up on an item first reported last month in the Tacoma Daily Index (see “Tacoma Bid Watch: Tacoma Power archaeologist, Hydrant Annex Building restoration, and surplus land sale,” Tacoma Daily Index, July 23, 2015), seven contractors responded to an RFP seeking archaeologists and historic preservation consultants interested in assessing prehistoric and historic cultural resources at three sites providing hydroelectric power.

Bid documents prepared by Tacoma Power staff show two aspects—archaeological services and historic preservation services—comprise the scope of work.

Architectural services include prehistoric archaeological field investigation; research; archaeological monitoring; curation of artifacts; laboratory analysis; collaboration with other cultural resource consultants; consultation with outside agencies; preparation of plans; preparation of information for the public; and report preparation.

Historic preservation services include planning and reviewing modifications and improvements to Tacoma Power’s historic hydroelectric project structures and their associated transmission corridors, as well as other historic structures associated with power production or distribution; inventorying and evaluating National Register of Historic Places eligibility; reviewing and assisting with maintenance determinations associated with properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places; aiding Tacoma Power staff in revising the Historic Properties Management Plan; providing Section 106 correspondence with the Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation / Historic Preservation Office when necessary; research and report preparation; and preparing Historic American Building Survey / Historic American Engineering Reports documentation.

The facilities are the Cowlitz River Project (located in Lewis County), which includes Mayfield Dam (completed in 1963) and Mossyrock Dam (completed in 1968); the Nisqually River Project (located in Lewis, Thurston, and Pierce Counties), which includes Alder Dam (built in 1945), LaGrande Dam (built in 1945), and the original LaGrande powerhouse (built in 1912); and the Cushman Project (located in Mason County on the north fork of the Skokomish River), which includes Cushman Dam No. 1 (built in 1925) and Cushman Dam No. 2 (built in 1930).

The bid deadline expired at 11 a.m. on Tues., Aug. 4. The project budget is estimated at $250,000, with $100,000 for archaeological services, and $150,000 for historic preservation services. The contract would initially last for two years, with an option to extend the agreement for up to three additional years.

According to information posted on the City’s Web site, the following contractors bid on the project: Amec Foster Wheeler (Bothell, Wash.); Willamette Cultural Resources (Portland, Ore.); SWCA Environmental Consultants (Portland, Ore.); ESA (Seattle, Wash.); Bola Architecture & Planning (Seattle, Wash.); Historical Research Associates (Seattle, Wash.); and Cultural Resource Consultants, Inc. (Bainbridge Island, Wash.).

Finally, the City is seeking proposals from organizations or businesses interested in accepting reusable/recyclable items found in the waste stream received at the Tacoma Recovery and Transfer Center, according to a legal notice recently published in the Tacoma Daily Index. The primary goal of this project is to recover reusable and/or recyclable items that were previously destined for the landfill so that they may be re-used and/or recycled in a responsible and legal manner. The bid deadline expires at 11 a.m. on Tues., Sept. 1. More information is available online here and here.