Fremont City Council Meeting: 11/12/24 07:00 PM
3300 Capitol Avenue Div/Dept: Community Development
Fremont, CA 94538 Category: Agreements and Contracts
SCHEDULED
Sponsors:
COUNCIL STAFF REPORT (ID # 5290) DOC ID: 5290
Updated: 11/8/2024 11:33 AM by Dina Lewis Page 1
ACCELA SAAS AGREEMENT AMENDMENT - Authorize the City Manager, or her designee, to amend the Accela SaaS Agreement to include Open Counter services as part of its subscription services, extend the term of the agreement an additional two years through October 2029, and increase the not-to-exceed compensation to $3,928,395.94 for services provided over the new five-year term.
Contact Persons:
Name: Jennifer Craven Dan Schoenholz
Title: Business Manager Community Development Director
Div/Dept: Community Development Community Development
Phone: 510-494-4554 510-494-4438
E-Mail: [email protected] [email protected]
Executive Summary: On September 17, 2024, City Council authorized staff to execute a new five-year technology services agreement with Open Counter Enterprises, Inc. for a not - to-exceed cost of $287,275.46 to continue to provide online zoning and business permitting services. At the time of Council’s action, Open Counter was in the process of being acquired by Accela, Inc. (Accela). Accela is the technology vendor that provides the City’s development permitting software.
Accela, as the new owner of Open Counter, has requested that the Open Counter services be incorporated into the City’s existing agreement with Accela to simplify invoicing and agreement management.
The proposed amendment modifies the 2022 Accela agreement to: incorporate the five-year Open Counter services at a cost of $287,275.46; extends the Accela agreement an additional two years to match the five-year term of the Open Counter services with a new expiration date of October 31, 2029; increases the compensation for the Accela services by $1,155,566.96 for the two additional term years beyond the scope of the original 2022 agreement; and adjusts the overall not-to-exceed compensation for all services provided under the agreement to $3,928,395.94, an increase of $1,442,842.42. Staff recommends that Council authorize the amendment.
BACKGROUND: Accela is the software vendor that provides the City’s development permitting system. The City has been using the Accela permitting system since July 2017.
In October 2022, Council authorized a new five-year term with Accela with an initial Year 1 cost of $458,900.58, allowing up to four additional one-year terms with a 5% increase in cost each additional year. The total not-to-exceed compensation for the five-year term was $2,485,553.52.
Open Counter services have been available for public use since 2016. Open Counter provides an online, self-help service where small businesses and residents can explore zoning and business permitting requirements to inform decisions about where to site new businesses and projects. Since its implementation in 2016, the Open Counter site has been accessed more than 13,000 times to look up zoning and utilize the business permit scoping guide. The Fremont Open Counter site is located at: https://fremont.opencounter.com Council Staff Report (ID # 5290) Meeting of November 12, 2024 Updated: 11/8/2024 11:33 AM by Dina Lewis Page 2
Open Counter works by utilizing simple questions about the business use/operation with a mapping tool to identify where the specific business could operate by right, could operate with a discretionary approval (e.g., Zoning Administrator Permit), or is prohibited. If a person is interested in understanding the permitting requirements, the Business Guide asks for information about the site improvements (e.g., new construction, tenant improvement), if any, which lead to a list of permitting requirements (e.g., permits required, including outside agencies) and an estimate of the permit fees.
Since 2016, Open Counter has expanded its services to include a residential permitting guide. Based on a review of the zoning lookups to Open Counter since 2016, many look-up inquiries seek information about residential zoning and permitting requirements. The residential permitting guide is designed to facilitate queries about residential zoning and permitting requirements.
DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS: The objectives of this amendment are to modify the 2022 Accela agreement to:
• Incorporate Open Counter services for a five-year term at a not-to-exceed cost of $287,275.46 (Table 1, below);
• Extend the term of the Accela agreement an additional two-years through October 2029 to match the term of the Open Counter services;
• Increase the Accela only services compensation an additional $1,155,566.96 to cover the additional two years of subscription costs not previously authorized in 2022; and • Increase the overall not-to-exceed compensation to $3,928,395.94 for all services covered by the agreement.
The Open Counter and Accela costs over the five-year term of the amendment agreement are broken out and summarized, below, in Tables 1, 2, and 3.
Note that the annual adjustments to the Open Counter and Accela services were negotiated separately. Typical annual adjust costs range from 3% to 7%. The Open Counter annual adjustment of 3% was agreed to prior to Accela’s acquisition, but Accela has agreed to honor the costs negotiated prior to their ownership of the Open Counter service.
For the Accela services, the 2022 technology agreement with Accela includes a 5% annual adjustment. Accela has agreed to continue the 5% annual adjustment through the additional two years of the term added by this amendment.
Table 1: Open Counter Costs for Five-Year Term
Open Counter: ZoningCheck, Business Guide, Residential
Guide
Total Cost
One-time implementation fee – Residential Guide only
Year 1 annual fee
Year 2 annual fee (3% increase)
Year 3 annual fee (3% increase)
Year 4 annual fee (3% increase)
Year 5 annual fee (3% increase)
$6,900
$52,810
$54,394.30
$56,026.13
$57,706.91
$59,438.12
Total Open Counter Costs $287,275.46
Council Staff Report (ID # 5290) Meeting of November 12, 2024 Updated: 11/8/2024 11:33 AM by Dina Lewis Page 3
Table 2: Accela Costs for Five-Year Term
Accela Development Permitting Services Total Cost
Year 1 (11/2022-10/2023)
Year 2 (11/2023-10/2024; 5% increase)
Year 3 annual fee (5% increase)
Year 4 annual fee (5% increase)
Year 5 annual fee (5% increase)
Year 6 annual fee (5% increase)
Year 7 annual fee (5% increase)
$458,900.58
$477,256.59
$496,346.86
$516,200.73
$536,848.76
$563,691.20
$591,875.76
Total Accela Costs $3,641,120.48
Table 3: Combined Accela/Open Counter Costs
Subscription Service Total Cost
Open Counter 5-Year Costs
Accela 5-Year Costs
$287,275.46
$3,641,120.48
Total Not-to-Exceed Compensation $3,928,395.94
This amendment only modifies the term and not-to-exceed compensation of the Accela agreement to incorporate Open Counter services and costs as described above. All other provisions of the 2022 Accela agreement will remain as originally executed.
FISCAL IMPACT: Both Accela and Open Counter services are funded by permitting fees by Planning, Building, and Engineering budget groups. These technology costs are incorporated into each budget group’s operating budgets via direct charges from the ITS Operating Fund (Fund 620). Additionally, the Permitting Technology Fee charged to permit applicants, adopted in May and effective in July, recovers a portion of the costs associated with Accela related to plan review and inspection services.
The one-time implementation costs for the Residential Permitting Guide and initial year of Open Counter subscription costs (combined cost of $59,710) are proposed to be paid from PWC8746, Land Use and Permitting System. Subsequent annual subscription fees for Open Counter will be budgeted for and funded by the Planning (Fund 391) and Building (Fund 392) operating budgets.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
The purchase and renewal of computer software licenses is exempt from and not subject to review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because, without limitation, it is not a “project” as defined in CEQA Guidelines Section 15378(b)(2) and/or 15378(b)(5) and as it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity may have a significant effect on the environment per CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3), each as a separate and independent basis for CEQA compliance.
.
ATTACHMENTS: None.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Council Staff Report (ID # 5290) Meeting of November 12, 2024 Updated: 11/8/2024 11:33 AM by Dina Lewis Page 4
1. Authorize the City Manager, or her designee, to amend the Accela SaaS agreement to extend the term through October 2029, with annual renewals occurring each year, and to increase the not-to-exceed compensation for all Accela and Open Counter services through October 2029 to $3,928,395.94.
2. Authorize the use of PWC8746, Land Use and Permitting System, for the one-time and initial year of Open Counter subscription fees totaling $59,710.
3. Authorize the City Manager or her designee to execute any implementing documents and actions, as necessary.