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DATE: June 15, 2026
TO: Mayor and Members of the City Council
VIA: Stefan Chatwin, City Manager
Marlene Subhashini, Assistant City Manager
FROM: Sofia Mangalam, Deputy City Manager
Thai-Chau Le, Interim Community Development Director
Chuck Venook, Chief Building Official
Becki Hanan, Senior Management Analyst
DEPARTMENT: Community Development
SUBJECT: CONTRACT AMENDMENT NO. 1 WITH WEST COAST
CONSULTANTS (WC3) FOR PROFESSIONAL ON-CALL
BUILDING SERVICES FOR AN ADDITIONAL AMOUNT NOT TO
EXCEED $100,000, AND EXTEND THE TERM TO JUNE 30, 2027
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council adopt the attached Resolution (Attachment 1) authorizing the Mayor to execute Contract Amendment No. 1 to the existing agreement with WC3 for professional on-call building services for an additional amount of $100,000, for a total agreement amount not to exceed $250,000 and extending the term of the agreement to June 30, 2027; and finding approval of the request exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines 15061(b)(3).
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Building Division has a limited staff comprised of six (6) full-time positions and one (1) temporary Principal Building Inspector position providing services related to all construction permit activity in the City. In the last two (2) years, the Building Division has experienced significant challenges filling vacancies. Moreover, permit activity has significantly increased, especially for commercial permits. As a result, staff have
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extensively relied on consulting services from 4Leaf and WC3 for on-call building services.
On July 15, 2024, the City Council approved professional service agreements with 4Leaf, Inc. and WC3 in an amount not to exceed $150,000 each for two (2) years ending June 30, 2026, to provide coverage during staff absences, ensuring continuity of services, increased flexibility, cost-effectiveness, and enhanced customer satisfaction. WC3 has been providing plan check services, and 4Leaf has been providing permit technician and building inspection services. Since then, there have been three (3) amendments to 4Leaf agreement. On November 3, 2025, the City Council approved Contract Amendment No. 3 with 4Leaf, extending the term to June 30, 2027, and increasing the contract amount by $550,000.
No contract amendment has been made for the WC3 contract, which is currently set to expire on June 30, 2026. As of May 21, 2026, the City has used approximately $115,743 of the current $150,000 contract amount with WC3.
To continue utilizing WC3 for on-call building services and to align the schedules of the two (2) on-call consultants, staff is requesting approval of Contract Amendment No. 1 with WC3, increasing the not-to-exceed amount by $100,000.
BACKGROUND/ANALYSIS
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.
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.
Currently, the Building Division is staffed by one (1) Chief Building Official, one (1) Plan Examiner, three (3) Building Inspectors (including a limited-term position), and two (2) permit technicians. All positions are filled, except for Senior Inspector position, which has been vacant for a few months and recruitment is underway. The limited staffing 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.
Therefore, staff have been using current on-call consulting services with 4Leaf and WC3 to augment staffing needs.
The City has adopted a Master Fees & Service Charges Schedule, which specifies the payment for all processing costs associated with the review of applications for building 1 1
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permits. The costs of services related to building permits and associated inspections are covered by the applicable building permit fees charged by the City. However, the City must have the staffing to be able to provide those services and therefore an amendment to the WC3 contract is necessary to ensure that services are not interrupted.
As noted earlier, permit activity has increased in the past two (2) years. This is in addition to numerous additions to homes, modifications to homes, and commercial tenant improvements that occur on a regular basis. Major projects under construction include:
Gilead Lab Building at 331 Lakeside Dr.
Gilead Lab Building at 335 Lakeside Dr.
There are also several Tenant Improvement and construction projects anticipated to commence in the next few months, which are identified below:
Visa - Full interior renovation of two (2) twelve-story buildings, from level 5 through 12, approx. 573,237 square feet.
Lab Building at Chess Hatch (upon entitlement approval). Multi-family ADUs at different locations.
The remaining balance and the term limit in the WC3 contract is insufficient to continue providing uninterrupted services pertaining to plan checks. Although funds remain available in the 4Leaf contract, they are used for inspection and permit technician services while WC3 is used for plan check services.
The breakdown of WC3 and 4Leaf contracts and requested amendments are shown in the table below:
Agreement
Date
Amount Source of Funding Impact on
General Fund
WC3
Agreement July 15, 2024 $150,000 General Fund $150,000
Proposed
Amendment #1
June 15, 2026 $100,000 Unspent Salary from vacant
Senior Inspector and
Director positions
None
4Leaf
Agreement July 15, 2024 $150,000 General Fund $150,000
Amendment #1 April 7, 2025 $75,000 Unspent Salary from vacant CBO position
None
Amendment #2 July 21, 2025 $100,000 General Fund $100,000 Amendment #3 November 3,
2025
$300,000 for
FY 25-26
$250,000 for
FY 26-27
General Fund, to be largely
offset by reimbursement
from Gilead including cost
reimbursement and unspent
personnel budget authority.
None (After
reimbursement
from Gilead
including cost
reimbursement
and unspent
personnel
budget)
It shall be noted that Assembly Bill (AB) 339 requires local public agencies to provide unions with 45 days' advance notice before issuing a Request for Proposals (RFP), 1 1
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Request for Qualifications (RFQ), or contract renewal for services similar to those performed by union members. The tasks under on-call building services include permit technician, plan checks and inspections services, which are performed by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) members. In compliance with the requirement, staff notified AFSCME on April 24, 2026, and initially received questions on the contract. Subsequently, on May 14, 2026, staff was notified that AFSCME had no objections to the City’s intent to renew the contract.
CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT
The approval of Contract Amendment No. 1 to the existing agreement with WC3 for professional on-call building services is not subject to review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3) as it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment, then the activity is not subject to CEQA.
FISCAL IMPACT
The agreement for on-call services includes building inspections, permit support services, and plan reviews, and the cost of these services are covered by the applicable building permit fees charged by the City.
The projected unspent personnel budget, in the amount of $100,000 from the vacant Senior Building Inspector and Director positions for two (2) months (July and August) within the Community Development Department, is forecasted to offset the cost of the contract amendment of $100,000; therefore, no additional appropriation is required at this time.
CITY COUNCIL VISION, MISSION, AND VALUE/PRIORITY AREA
Smart Planning, Development, and the Local Economy
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment 1 – Resolution
Attachment 2 – Contract Amendment No. 1
Attachment 3 – Agreement