Title
Staff Report for a City of San Leandro City Council Resolution to Approve and Authorize the City Manager to Execute a Consulting Services Agreement for an Amount Not to Exceed $250,000 with Rincon Consultants, Inc. for Contract Planning Services.
Staffreport
SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The Planning Services Division of San Leandro's Community Development Department recommends that the City Council approve and authorize the City Manager to execute a Consulting Services Agreements with Rincon Consulting, Inc. to provide contract planning staff assistance.
BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS
Due to an ongoing heavy workload, staff vacancies, and upcoming temporary leaves, the Planning Division released a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for contract planning services in September 2018. Staff marketed the RFQ widely to ensure broad outreach to qualified planning firms and received submittals from four (4) qualified firms. An internal selection panel scored Rincon Consultants, Inc. as the highest of the four responses received by the City.
Planning Division staff are required to process and respond to project applications within strict time limits mandated by State and Federal law, regardless of staffing capacity or permit volume. In addition, Planning Division staff provides daily service to the public regarding planning-related questions and issues at the Permit Center. Approval of this agreement is necessary for Planning Division to continue to provide customer service and operate under normal conditions during periods of staffing shortages or increased workload.
Funding for the proposed contract will come from multiple sources, including recoverable and non-recoverable costs. The Planning Division improved its cost recovery functions over the past two years by switching to a deposit-based system for application processing. This process allows direct reimbursement to the City for any time the consultant spends processing applications. Costs which are not recoverable or are partially recoverable, such as providing general customer service at the Permit Center or certain fixed-fee applications, will come from the Planning Division’s established consulting services budget. Allocated wages and salaries are also eligible to support some of the costs incurred during interim vacancies.
The professional services contract with Rincon Consultants, Inc. is limited in scope and cannot substitute for long-term staffing needs, because it limits individual consultants from exceeding 800 hours of service within a 12-month period. The total cost of all work to be performed cannot exceed $250,000 annually. Rincon is familiar with the City of San Leandro as it currently holds a contract to provide contract environmental consulting services and also was subcontracted to prepare the Bay Fair Transit-Oriented Development Plan environmental impact report (Bay Fair TOD EIR). The firm will primarily be relied upon to provide contract staffing services during periods of maternity and medical leaves and to fill interim vacancies caused by staff departures. It is anticipated that at least half of the costs incurred under this contract will be directly supported by deposits and fees paid by applicants.
Legal Analysis
This report and contract was reviewed by the City Attorney and approved as to form.
Fiscal Impacts
The work to be performed by Rincon Consultants will be primarily funded by application fees and direct-cost deposits paid by project applicants. The remainder of the non-recoverable costs will come from the Planning Division’s Professional Services Consulting budget line item (010-41-001-5120), of which there is currently an available balance of $140,962 for FY2018-19. This contract time period will begin on December 1, 2018 and end on June 30, 2021. Because the contract will begin mid-year FY2018-19, approximately $125,000 should be sufficient to fund the remainder of this current fiscal year. Below is a breakdown of the funding and sources for this contract over the contract period:
• FY 2018-19 (12/1/18 - 6/30/18) - $125,000 - from current available balance per FY 2018-19 Council approved budget
• FY 2019-20 - not to exceed $250,000 - to be requested for City Council approval for 2 Year (FY 2019-21) Budget
• FY 2020-21 - not to exceed $250,000 - to be requested for City Council approval for 2 Year (FY 2019-21) Budget
ATTACHMENTS to Resolution
• Draft Consulting Services Agreement for Rincon Consultants
PREPARED BY:
Andrew J. Mogensen, AICP
Planning Manager