SLED Opportunity · CALIFORNIA · WATSONVILLE
AI Summary
The City of Watsonville seeks qualified firms for on-call landfill engineering services including environmental monitoring, regulatory compliance, landfill operations, gas collection management, and closure planning. SOQs due April 17, 2026.
The City is requesting Statements of Qualifications (SOQs) from qualified firms experienced in landfill engineering services to provide ongoing landfill and other related environmental engineering design, inspection, and monitoring services in support of the City's existing landfill. The primary work consists of conducting required environmental monitoring and testing, reporting to regulatory agencies, advising landfill staff regarding operational and design considerations, and providing on-call landfill environmental engineering services including but not limited to air quality regulatory compliance efforts, methane gas collection system management and required regulatory reporting, stormwater, surface, and groundwater water quality and quality assurance monitoring and testing, landfill operations engineering and technical design services, and annual landfill capacity analysis.
The City, at its sole discretion, reserves the following rights:
The City of Watsonville is soliciting proposals from qualified consulting engineering firms to provide on-call (as needed) landfill and other environmental engineering design, inspection, and monitoring services.
The primary work consists of conducting required environmental monitoring and testing, reporting to regulatory agencies, advising landfill staff regarding operational and design considerations, and providing on-call landfill and/or environmental engineering services.
Landfill engineering services may include air quality regulatory compliance efforts; methane gas collection system management and all required reporting; stormwater, surface, and groundwater water quality and quality assurance monitoring and testing; landfill operations engineering and technical design services, including performing the annual landfill capacity analysis.
SOQwill be evaluated using the criteria stated in this document. SOQ from firms meeting the mandatory criteria described below will be evaluated for the other selection criteria.
Compensation shall be determined as part of the formal contracting process.
Below provides a more detailed description of the on-call landfill engineering services that may be requested from the list of on-call contractors selected. Other related as-needed services may also be requested from the qualified firm(s), as applicable.
1. Landfill Operational Inspections, Testing, Monitoring and Reporting
Services requested include:
2. Landfill Gas Collection System
Provide ongoing comprehensive system operation, maintenance, reporting, and recommendations for potential upgrades in technology including any necessary oversight and direction for optimal system performance. Provide support for continued well extension projects for the landfill, construction of new wells, and oversight for existing and future or existing horizontal wells for enhanced gas capture in the landfill.
3. Annual Landfill Volume Capacity Estimate
Performs an aerial topographical survey of the landfill each year and/or that information is provided to the consultant to calculate the annual landfill capacity used. Consultant shall provide city with an estimate for permitted volume available and offer recommendations and guidance on use of remaining capacity.
4. Landfill Closure and Post-Closure Planning
Assist with the development of a landfill closure and post-closure plan, with projected closure needs, remaining capacity, necessary phases, options for passive recreation post-closure, and potential remediation projects, including cost estimates. Post-closure should address required permitting, monitoring, maintenance, and reporting requirements and needs.
5. Management of Waste
Manage the application, review, and approval processes for specialty wastes to be accepted in the landfill. The landfill gets approximately 36,500 tons of waste per year with a permit maximum of 275 tons per day and 71,500 tons per year.
6. Leachate Condensate Program Management
Provide oversight and management support for landfill leachate condensate collection in on site tank, pump out removal and disposal in a timely manner. Manage contract with Eurofins Laboratories for groundwater and leachate lab analytical testing.
7. Additional On-Call Engineering Services (as needed)
Examples of possible on-call (as needed) services include:
The respondent understands that issuance of this solicitation does not commit the City of Watsonville to award a contract, to pay any costs incurred in the preparation of a response to this solicitation, or to procure a contract for services. The respondent should note that the execution of any contract pursuant to this solicitation is dependent upon the approval of the Watsonville City Council, as required.
1 General
Submissions will be evaluated based on the general completeness of the response and the City's evaluation of the firm's approach, experience, knowledge, and references related to the specific scope of work requested. Some key areas considered in the selection process are highlighted below, but not an exhaustive list of what may be considered in the selection process.
2 Mandatory Elements
The firm has no conflict of interest with regard to any other work performed by the firm for the City.
The firm adheres to the instructions in this document and has provided a clear, well-formatted, professional and concise SOQ.
4.3 Qualifications
The firm’s reputation and past experience in the performance of other similar services for similar agencies.
The quality of the firm’s professional personnel to be assigned to the scope of work and the quality of the firm’s management support personnel to be available for technical consultation.
The quality of the planned approach and demonstration of the experience and qualifications needed to complete the requested scope of services.
Demonstrated results performing the requested services for agencies with similar goals and challenges, including client references which the City may contact.
4.4 Team Readiness and Availability
Demonstration that the current workload of the firm's listed team members will not impact their ability to fulfill the services required for this contract.
4.5 Submittal Selection Process
A Selection Committee will review and evaluate the submittals, with a focus on the Selection Criteria highlighted above. Based on the evaluations of the Selection Committee, the qualified respondents will be ranked both in general and for specific landfill engineering support tasks. Qualified respondents will be placed on the City's qualified on-call landfill engineering services list. As specific support needs arise over the five year RFQ period, the most qualified firm from the on-call list will be selected to meet with the City to develop a Scope of Work and cost proposal for the particular need. If agreement cannot be reached, negotiations will be terminated with the firm and opened with the respondent ranked next in order for the particular support need.
Placement on the City's on-call list by the selection committee is not a guarantee that the firm will be awarded a contract within the five-year term of this RFQ.
If a contract is awarded, the City will contract with the selected consultant utilizing the City’s standard consultant services agreement. The agreement requires the consultant to secure auto and general commercial liability insurance naming the City and its employees additional insured, professional errors and omissions insurance and workers compensation insurance. The negotiated contract will require approval by the City of Watsonville City Council for services exceeding $100,000.
The respondent agrees, if selected, that they shall perform the services as independent contractor(s) and not employee(s) of the City.
Questions regarding this solicitation shall be directed through the City's OpenGov Procurement portal located at: https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/watsonville-ca.
All questions are due before 4:00 pm on Monday, April 6, 2026.
The City will make every effort to adhere to the schedule provided below:
| Issue Document: | March 17, 2026 |
| Deadline for Submitting Questions: | April 6, 2026, 4:00pm |
| Response Due: | April 17, 2026, 4:00pm |
The respondent understands that as a general rule all documents received by the City are considered public records. Therefore all submittals shall be made available for public inspection according to applicable disclosure rules and regulations.
The City will not share the details of individual responses to this solicitation with competing respondents during the selection process. After the selection process ends and a contract is awarded, all solicitations become public information.
The respondent agrees, if selected, that the City will review and approve all news releases pertaining to this solicitation and/or subsequent agreement(s). All news releases will be submitted in writing to the City’s project manager. The project manager will review and submit the news release to the appropriate City personnel for final review and approval in a timely manner.
The respondent agrees, if selected, to comply with the City’s duly adopted Conflict of Interest Code. Key personnel who will be performing services under this Agreement are required to make disclosures with respect to the City of Watsonville.
The respondent agrees, if selected, to accept the City of Watsonville standard consultant agreement, including specifically listing City’s Hold Harmless Indemnity requirements and insurance coverage requirements, without modification.
The respondent understands that the information provided herein is intended solely to assist the respondent in submittal preparation. To the best of the City’s knowledge, the information provided is accurate. However, the City does not warrant such accuracy, and any errors or omissions subsequently determined will not be construed as a basis for invalidating this solicitation. Further, by submitting a response to this solicitation, the respondent represents that it has thoroughly examined and become familiar with work required in the solicitation and is capable of performing quality work and to achieve the objectives of the City.
The City of Watsonville is strongly committed to equal opportunity in solicitation of services. All eligible service providers including individuals, contractors, vendors, consultants, grantees, lessees, and banks, must comply with applicable Equal Opportunity Guidelines.
The respondent shall not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, religion, national origin, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, or disability in the solicitation, selection, hiring or treatment of its employees, the City staff, other City consultants or other members of the public.
Provide evidence of insurance coverage in the following amounts:
This section contains instructions on how to prepare and submit a response to this solicitation.
a) Submittal Cover
The submittal cover shall include the title, submittal due date, name, address, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail address of the principal contact.
b) Table of Contents
The table of contents shall be complete and clear, listing headings and pages to enable easy reference.
c) Cover Letter
The cover letter shall be brief. Any changes to the submittal format or deletions of requested material should be explained in the cover letter. Additional cover letter inclusions are the respondent’s primary contact (include address, e-mail address and telephone number), responsible for all queries made during the intake and processing of the response and the location of the office(s) housing individuals assigned to provide services.
d) Statement of Understanding and Methodology
The statement of understanding shall contain a written narrative that demonstrates the respondent’s understanding of the services required by the City.
e) Experience with Providing the Requested Services
This section shall include examples of the respondent’s experience related to the Scope of Work. Provide a list of references from other similar Cities or Agencies for which you have successfully provided a similar Scope of Work.
References shall include the name(s), email(s) and telephone number(s) of the respondent’s main contact related to the services provided.
f) Project Personnel
This section shall identify the contact person that will serve as the primary contact to the City for all requests, along with any other firm staff that may round out the team to provide the full list of services requested. The primary contact person listed will be considered committed to the City to provide the requested services with no substitutions permitted without prior agreement from the City of Watsonville. A résumé for each professional person listed on the team shall be submitted.
g) Organization Chart
This section shall include an organization chart containing the names of all key personnel with titles and their specific task assignment for this contract. If any subconsultants are planned, they should be included in the org chart with their role.
h) Hourly Rate Sheet
This consultant agreement in intended to be on an as-requested basis with services provided on a time and materials basis. The consultant shall provide their standard hourly rate sheet for all key staff that may be assigned to the City in the delivery of the scope of services. As this is intended to be a five-year term, the proposing firm shall indicate if they intend to submit a new hourly rate sheet on an annual basis.
Please upload one PDF of the SOQ response which contains all items listed above except the cost related information which will be uploaded separately.
Please upload a separate PDF that only contains the hourly rate sheet with proposed annual increases. Note that the cost proposal should not be submitted with the overall SOQ PDF above.
For any additional information requested or required by any of your provided answers please upload that additional documentation here. Scoring will be based on the official proposal submitted above, but the City may take any additional information submitted here into consideration when reviewing the submitted proposal. This section is optional.
Does your firm accept the City of Watsonville standard consultant agreement, including specifically the City's Hold Harmless Indemnity requirements and insurance coverage requirements, without modification? A copy of the current Consultant Agreement is included as Attachment A.
By confirming here and submitting, Respondent confirms their authority (and has uploaded necessary documentation proving such) to submit this Response in its entirety as submitted and enter into a contract on behalf of the Company Name stated in said Response. Such confirmation will be understood as the Respondent stating that they have completely read and understand this Request For Qualifications in its entirety including any and all Addenda released prior to the time of submittal.
Will there be a need for the electronic pricing table in this RFQ?
Enter if this is a Proposal or an SOQ
Q (Anticipated Contract Value and Notice to Proceed Date): What is the anticipated contract value, and the anticipated contract start date?
A: As noted in the RFQ, selected consultants will be placed on the on-call list for three years. Contracts may be issued on an as-needed basis to the firm determined to be most qualified for the particular scope of work as engineering support needs arise. Therefore, there is no set contract value or anticipated start date.
SLED stands for State, Local, and Education. These are solicitations issued by state governments, counties, cities, school districts, utilities, and higher education institutions — as opposed to federal agencies.
SamSearch Platform
AI-powered intelligence for the right opportunities, the right leads, and the right time.