Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Hospital Rebuild topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee approves forwarding San Francisco General rebuild contracts; Webcor identified as sole qualified bidder and contracts contingent on November bond
Summary
The committee reviewed construction and design contracts for the San Francisco General Hospital rebuild, heard that Webcor was the only prequalified, bondable bidder, and was told both contracts include cancellation clauses tied to an upcoming November bond measure; the committee forwarded the items to the full Board with recommendation.
The Board committee reviewed proposed construction and architectural contracts for the San Francisco General Hospital rebuild and agreed to forward both items to the full Board with a recommendation, while hearing that the awards are contingent on a November bond measure.
Ron Alameda, project manager with the Department of Public Works, said the project uses an integrated design delivery method and that prequalification yielded very low response from large contractors able to provide the bonding required for the megaproject. "It was Webcor who stood alone in that position of being qualified as well as bondable at high level," Alameda said, explaining the shortage of bidders capable of meeting a near‑100% bond requirement.
Budget analyst Deborah Newman told the committee both the architectural and construction contracts include cancellation clauses tied to the outcome of the November bond measure, which is the primary funding source for the work. "The funding there ... are clauses in both of these contracts ... subject to the outcome of the November bond measure," Newman said.
Supervisor Maxwell pressed whether the rebuild would include formal workforce development commitments, including CityBuild or the Office of Economic and Workforce Development; Alameda said CityBuild and the Office of Economic and Workforce Development have been part of initial meetings and that Webcor is "fully on board with developing those avenues," but the workforce provisions remain under discussion and have not been finalized.
Public commenter Douglas Yep thanked the committee for scheduling the item and urged a formal fiscal audit of the Department of Public Health before the city commits to spending "realistically over $1,000,000,000," saying such an audit could better protect taxpayers and avoid earlier mistakes seen with Laguna Honda Hospital.
The committee closed public comment and, without objection, voted to forward Items 4 and 5 to the full Board with a recommendation.
