Rappoport Development Consulting Services LLC (RDCS), was recently approved as a SANDAG A&E Bench Consultant. Who is SANDAG and what is the A&E Bench? If you are a prime consultant, prime contractor or vendor providing design, engineering, construction and procurement services within San Diego County, read on!
Who Is SANDAG and What do They Do?
SANDAG, the San Diego Association of Governments is a public agency comprised of eighteen cities and county government. SANDAG builds consensus and serves as a forum for regional decision making. The agency is responsible for strategic planning, and allocation of resources such as planning and engineering for building public transportation projects.
SANDAG is governed by a Board of Directors including mayors, county supervisors, and council-members representing the region’s nineteen local governments. Additional advisory representatives are from the Imperial County, U.S. Department of Defense, Caltrans, San Diego Unified Port District, Metropolitan Transit System, North County Transit District, San Diego County Water Authority, Southern California Tribal Chairmen’s Association, and Mexico. The Policy Advisory Committees assist the Board of Directors in carrying out the agency’s work program.
In January of 2003, state law consolidated SANDAG’s responsibility with many of the transit functions of the Metropolitan Transit Development Board and the North San Diego County Transit Development Board. This allowed SANDAG to assume full control over transit planning, project development and eventual project construction within the San Diego region.
What is the A&E Bench?
In their role as a planning, design and construction management agency, SANDAG maintains a contracting and procurement website seeking firms to register for a variety of services including:
– Construction, general contractors, and construction management
– Engineering, design, planning and environmental
– Technical services, GIS mapping, software development
– Marketing and public outreach
– Financial, legal, consulting, and training services
– Computer, copy equipment and office supplies
The SANDAG website welcomes registered prime contractors and engineering consultants to visit the A&E Bench section of the website. The Architecture and Engineering (A&E) Bench is comprised of small business firms for On-Call Architecture and Engineering Design and Environmental programs. A&E Bench consultant contracts provide sub-consultant services for transportation and infrastructure projects throughout San Diego County. Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBE) and Small Business (SB) firms are encouraged to join the “Bench” to participate in meeting these efforts.
Bench consultants include A&E firms that are certified as DBE by the California Unified Certification Program (CUCP )or SB by the Department of General Services. (DGS). The Bench is open to DBE and SB firms that provides a variety of professional A&E services. The Bench serves as a pool of certified firms that prime engineering consultants and general contractors may access to work on their SANDAG project.
Rappoport Development Consulting Services Added to the A&E Bench!
Rappoport Development Consulting Services LLC is a registered SANDAG vendor #216240. RDCS LLC is now an approved A&E Bench consultant. RDCS is proud to be the FIRST certified arborist consultant added to the SANDAG A&E Bench. RDCS LLC is certified by the California Department of General Services as a Micro Small Business #1665480 and is so listed as a SANDAG A&E Bench consultant.
Prime engineering consultants and prime contractors providing services to SANDAG can now benefit by using a certified small business sub-consultant for tree, arboriculture science and arborist issues. Transit and infra-structure projects often impact existing tree populations that require data collection, analysis and consideration of best management practices. Typical arborist consulting services may include tree tagging, labeling and tree inventory, tree risk assessment, tree health assessment, tree appraisals and valuation, developing tree construction protection plans and best management practices, tree management programs and field construction supervision, observations and arborist reports.
Since many SANDAG projects are transportation related, existing tree populations may affect the design, development and construction for transportation corridors. By adding RDCS to the A&E Bench, SANDAG recognizes the importance of preserving our existing urban forests and street trees while developing new transportation routes. Providing a certified arborist, landscape and horticulture professional to the A&A Bench allows prime consultants and contractors the opportunity to seek a SANDAG approved professional certified arborist, landscape, tree and plant consultant. Engineering, landscape architect and environmental planning firms can now benefit using an approved small business SANDAG A&E Bench consulting arborist, saving the hassle of having to search for an unapproved consultant and try to qualify them with SANDAG. In certain instances, a prime consultant or contractor may receive favorable consideration and or financial incentive using an certified small business.
Jeremy Rappoport is a certified arborist WE-9083A, a certified tree risk assessor CTRA 1220, a licensed C-27 landscape contractor #436000, professional horticulturist with a B.S. degree from California Polytechnic University Pomona, California and an experienced land development construction professional.