Monterey County Leaders Mobilize Quickly With Job Order Contracting
Challenge: Sudden Storm Devastates Community
Severe rainstorms battered California’s Pajaro community in March of 2023. The storms were the product of atmospheric rivers bringing condensed vapor from the tropics to the West Coast, cooling as they make landfall and battering Monterey County. After several days of relentless rain, county leaders issued an evacuation warning to the many farmworkers who make their homes in Pajaro. The first levee breach occurred on March 11, a mere three miles from town. The levee again succumbed to flooding only two days later. A wall of water engulfed the area. Pajaro was submerged.
The County Sheriff’s office issued an evacuation order and worked tirelessly with the California Department of Forestry and Fire and the National Guard to rescue those who stayed behind. 800 homes were flooded. Extensive vehicle damage was done. Most tragically, thousands of residents were displaced by the sudden disaster.
On March 17, before the flooding had fully receded, Gordian joined Monterey County officials, members of the California Office of Emergency Services (OES), representatives of the Sheriff’s department and others to assess the damage. As the team surveyed the devastation, they collaborated on plans for a city-wide clean up. That plan was approved and put into action on March 22.
Solution: Job Order Contracting Fuels Emergency Response
With speed at an absolute premium, Monterey County officials opted for a Gordian Job Order Contracting (JOC) solution to remove debris. An Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity construction procurement solution, JOC enables organizations to complete many projects with one, competitively awarded contract. This unique, single-solicitation approach reduces the procurement cycle by about 25%, according to a report by NIGP and Gordian, significantly accelerating project delivery.
Yet speed was only one reason Gordian JOC was the ideal solution for getting the Pajaro community cleaned up and back on its feet. Job Order Contracting programs are unlike traditional construction procurement methods like Design-Build, Design-Bid-Build and Construction Manager at Risk because instead of bidding on individual jobs, contractors bid on a Construction Task Catalog ®(CTC). Researched and verified by Gordian’s experts, this specialized Unit Price Book contains local construction costs and is used to price a project from soup to nuts. Even when the scope of a project changes, the contractor prices the additional work out of the CTC and issues a supplemental job order. Possessing a shared source of truth for pricing enhances transparency and fosters trust between owners and contractors. It puts everyone on the same team.
Monterey County Interim Chief of Facilities Florence Kabwasa-Green summed up her experience this way. “When Dave Pratt (Capital Improvements Manager) and Thomas Montoya (Project Manager) were tasked to quickly implement the debris removal program, they were able to quickly mobilize qualified JOC contractors. The JOC program was put to the test and confirmed the benefits of having pre-existing competitively bid contractors and the means and methods in place to respond to emergency events such as the one experienced in Pajaro.”
The power to get moving quickly, to control costs with transparent prices and to alter project scope without missing a beat made JOC a natural fit for the Pajaro cleanup project.
Result: Coordination and Passion Lead to Effective Recovery
The Pajaro clean-up project was an object lesson in the power of teamwork. Government officials, local contractor R.F. Koerber, Inc., monitors from the environmental engineering firm Tetra Tech and Gordian representatives worked hand-in-hand to develop daily proposals for each phase of the project. Proposal accuracy was vital, as FEMA used said proposals to reimburse the county for this emergency work.
The work itself required tireless effort and extraordinary collaboration. Project stakeholders, as many as 40 people in total, held twice-daily strategy meetings, one at the beginning of the day and one at the end. These sessions were crucial for planning daily activities, addressing unforeseen hurdles and assessing progress.
The California Office of Emergency Services and Monterey County officials asked residents to place their flood-damaged items in the street for R.F. Koerber’s contractors to categorize and dispose of. At 7,841,080 pounds (3920.5 tons), the sheer volume of debris was staggering. The project team prioritized cleaning out the most densely-populated areas. When this plan hit a snag, the team re-drew collection paths and re-routed crews to tackle other areas. Debris removal was completed in phases; one of the last involved street sweeping conducted by Newton Construction and Management, another area contractor.
Executing an efficient city-wide cleanup in a timely manner was a significant challenge. Yet, the project team overcame it with open communication and a willingness to pivot as the situation warranted. This flexibility is a hallmark of Gordian JOC, and contractors and sub-contractors adapted their operations brilliantly.
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In the face of a disaster such as the Pajaro floods, one can hardly fathom the extent of the devastation. By turning to Job Order Contracting for construction procurement, public officials were able to respond with remarkable speed, initiating the recovery process quickly in hopes of restoring a sense of normalcy for residents. The work was completed by area contractors, who were eager to aid their neighbors in an hour of unthinkable need. A collective determination to deliver exceptional results fueled the project team to accelerate their efforts and finish the recovery project in under two months.
“The genuine desire of everyone involved to help the community made this project successful,” said Gordian Construction Account Manager Sam Attar. “What I saw out in the field and in meetings was a group of people working countless hours to help Pajaro get back on its feet. No matter how exhausted we were, the team pushed through. It was an honor to play my part in this project.”
The Pajaro emergency cleanup project exemplified the efficacy of JOC in disaster recovery scenarios, where swift action and collaboration are paramount. The synergy between local officials, contractors and Gordian was instrumental in overcoming complex logistical challenges, so residents could return quickly to their homes and the lives they lived before the flood. This project was so impactful and inspirational, Gordian honored it with a 2023 Award of Merit in Job Order Contracting.
About Gordian
Gordian is the leading provider of Building Intelligence™ Solutions, delivering unrivaled insights, robust technology and expert services to fuel customers’ success through all phases of the building lifecycle. Gordian created Job Order Contracting (JOC) and the industry-standard RSMeans Data. We empower organizations to optimize capital investments, improve project performance and minimize long-term operating expenses.
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