9 7
7 DATE: July 21, 2025
TO: Mayor and Members of the City Council
VIA: Stefan Chatwin, City Manager
Marlene Subhashini, Assistant City Manager
FROM: Sofia Mangalam, Community Development Director
Becki Hanan, Senior Management Analyst
DEPARTMENT: Community Development
SUBJECT: CONTRACT AMENDMENT NO. 2 IN THE AMOUNT OF $100,000 WITH 4LEAF, INC. FOR PROFESSIONAL ON-CALL BUILDING
SERVICES; AND APPROVING A SUPPLEMENTAL
APPROPRIATION OF $100,000 FOR BUILDING DIVISION
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES (ACCOUNT NO. 001-0820-424-
4251) FROM THE GENERAL FUND RESERVES
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council adopt the attached Resolution (Attachment 1) authorizing the Mayor to execute Contract Amendment No. 2 to the existing agreement with 4LEAF, Inc. (4Leaf) for professional on-call building services for an additional amount of $100,000, approving the supplemental appropriation of $100,000 for Building Division professional services (account No. 001-0820-424-4251) from the General Fund reserves, and find the request exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines 15061(b)(3).
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Community Development Department (CDD) is committed to planning, maintaining, and improving the quality of life and public safety of Foster City in keeping with the vision of the City Council in the General Plan and other measures that reflect the City’s heritage as a Master Planned community. CDD is comprised of the Planning/Code Enforcement, Housing/Sustainability, and Building Divisions.
9 7
7 The Building Division is responsible for ensuring that all construction projects permitted within the City comply with the California Building Code, the Foster City Municipal Code, and all other applicable codes and regulations. The Building Division provides permit intake, plan check, and building inspection services to ensure compliance with the California Health and Safety Codes.
The Building Division has a limited staff comprising of six (6) personnel providing services related to all construction permit activity in the City. A limited staff poses a significant challenge in providing continuous and uninterrupted building division services. To help address these challenges, on July 15, 2024, the City Council approved professional on- call building service agreements with 4Leaf and West Coast Code Consultants (WC3) in an amount not to exceed $150,000 each for two years ending June 30, 2026, to provide coverage during staff absences, ensuring continuity of services, increased flexibility, cost- effectiveness, and enhanced customer satisfaction.
On April 7, 2025, Contract Amendment No. 1 in the amount of $75,000 was added to the 4Leaf agreement for continuing on-call building services. At the time, the unspent personnel budget from the vacant Chief Building Official (CBO) position was used for funding the agreement.
As of June 30, 2025, the City has utilized approximately $159,625.60 of the combined $225,000 authorized under the original contract and Contract Amendment No. 1 with 4Leaf. Currently, the Plans Examiner position is vacant, and the Senior Building Inspector is on extended leave. While the agreement remains in effect through June 2026, the remaining balance will not be sufficient to continue supporting the City's needs for temporary staffing, specifically for the vacant Plans Examiner and Senior Building Inspector positions.
Staff recommends that the City Council approve Contract Amendment No. 2 with 4Leaf in the amount of $100,000 to continue utilizing their services to provide essential on-call building support.
BACKGROUND/ANALYSIS
Currently, the Building Division is staffed by one (1) Chief Building Official (CBO), one (1) Plans Examiner (vacant), two (2) Inspectors, and two (2) Permit Technicians, which proves challenging during staff absences due to vacation, training, illness, and 9/80 off days, as well as during periods when positions are vacant and recruitment is underway.
Over the last two (2) years, there have been significant challenges in staffing, including vacancies and staff absences:
The CBO position was vacant from March 19, 2024, until March 17, 2025. The Permit Technician position was vacant from July 10, 2024, until December 2, 2024.
The Plans Examiner position is currently vacant from May 29, 2025. 9 7
7 The Senior Building Inspector has been on extended leave since June 2, 2025.
These vacancies and absences pose a significant challenge in providing continuous and uninterrupted services. Therefore, staff have been using current on-call consulting services with 4Leaf and WC3 to augment staffing needs.
4Leaf has been providing services for CBO and Building inspection services, and WC3 has been providing services related to Permit Technician and plan checks. As of June 30, 2025, these are the approximate balances for the two (2) on-call building service agreements (Table 1).
Table 1: On-call building services agreements
Consultant Agreement
Timeline
Agreement
Amount
Remaining
Balance
4Leaf
(with Contract
Amendment #1)
June 30, 2026 $150,000
$75,000
Total $225,000
$61,216.40
WC3 June 30, 2026 $150,000 $108,042.28
As noted earlier, the Plans Examiner position is vacant, and the Senior Building Inspector has been on extended leave for over a month. The recruitment for the vacant Plans Examiner can take anywhere between 2 and 4 months before the position is successfully filled. In recent times, filling vacancies and finding qualified candidates has been a challenge given the current job market, and when competing with other jurisdictions that have similar job openings.
Development activities in the City have ramped up, and there has been an increase in permit applications. In terms of large-scale construction activity, Gilead Sciences has one (1) lab building under construction and another scheduled to start construction in August 2025. These buildings under construction require extensive plan check services and daily building inspections.
The remaining balance in the 4Leaf contract is approximately $61,216.40, which is insufficient to continue providing uninterrupted services to the community. Although funds remain available in the WC3 contract, they are unable to provide building inspections and permit technician services.
Staff recommends that the City Council approve Contract Amendment No. 2 to the existing agreement with 4Leaf for professional on-call building services, in an additional amount not to exceed $100,000. This would bring the total contract amount to $325,000 (original $150,000 + Contract Amendment #1 $75,000 + Contract Amendment #2, $100,000). Staff recommends continuing to use 4LEAF for on-call building services due 9 7
7 to their familiarity with ongoing projects and consistent availability. The additional funds are necessary to ensure staffing coverage during upcoming training or unforeseen extended absences and vacancies.
Although there are unspent funds from the vacant Plans Examiner position, since this is the start of the new fiscal year, the funds are not accumulated to cover the cost of Contract Amendment #2. Thus, staff is requesting a supplemental appropriation in the amount of $100,000 for Building Division professional services (account No. 001-0820- 424-4251) from the General Fund reserves.
California Environmental Quality Act
CEQA General Rule Exempt per Guideline, Section 15061(b)(3)
FISCAL IMPACT
The agreement for on-call services includes building inspections, permit support services, and plan reviews. Therefore, for staff augmentation services, staff is requesting a supplemental appropriation of $100,000 for Building Division professional services (account No. 001-0820-424-4251) from the General Fund reserves.
CITY COUNCIL VISION, MISSION, AND VALUE/PRIORITY AREA
Smart Planning, Development, and the Local Economy
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment 1 – Resolution
Attachment 2 – Contract Amendment No. 2
Attachment 3 – 4Leaf, Inc, Agreement and Contract Amendment No. 1