Fremont City Council Meeting: 09/01/26 07:00 PM
3300 Capitol Avenue Div/Dept: Community Development
Fremont, CA 94538 Category: Agreements and Contracts
SCHEDULED
Sponsors:
COUNCIL STAFF REPORT (ID # 5769) DOC ID: 5769
Updated: 8/27/2026 9:06 AM by Alberto Quintanilla Page 1 Amendment To Velosimo Master Licensing Agreement - Authorize the City Manager, or Designee, to Execute an Amendment to the Master Licensing Agreement with Velosimo, Inc. to Add Middleware Connector Services to Support the Accela-PayPal Integration and Increase the Maximum Compensation an Additional $49,560 to a New, Not-to-Exceed Amount of $225,561.72.
Contact Persons:
Name: Jennifer Craven Joel Pullen
Title: Business Manager Community Development Director
Div/Dept: Community Development Community Development
Phone: 510-494-4554 510-494-4436
E-Mail: [email protected] [email protected]
Executive Summary: Velosimo is a cloud-hosted middleware software service that facilitates integrations between two other software systems.
Currently, Velosimo is contracted to integrate three separate services with the City’s permit system, Accela. These other services include ePlanReview (electronic plan review), DocuSign (legal digital signature), and LaserFiche (City records archive). A fourth integration exists between Accela and PayPal, which has been provided free of charge for the initial five months of operation through September 2026. This request would formally add the PayPal connection to the Velosimo agreement to enable continued online permit payment functionality.
Staff recommends that the City Council authorize the City Manager or a designee to amend the Velosimo agreement to: 1) modify the scope of services to provide middleware services to connect Accela with PayPal; and 2) increase the not-to-exceed compensation an additional $49,560 for a new not to exceed amount of $225,121.72.
Background/Discussion: As described, Velosimo is a middleware software that facilitates integration between two other software systems. Within Velosimo, integration connections are simplified thus allowing non- compatible systems to integrate.
For Fremont, the City’s permitting system, Accela, is connected with ePlanReview, DocuSign, LaserFiche, and PayPal with the Velosimo middleware connector. The current connection with PayPal was provided free of charge in May 2026 through September 2026. This interim period of free connector service is discussed in more detail below.
Council Staff Report (ID # 5769) Meeting of September 1, 2026 Updated: 8/27/2026 9:06 AM by Alberto Quintanilla Page 2
The Velosimo agreement was executed in July 2024 for a five-year term and not-to-exceed compensation amount of $92,830.61. The original agreement facilitated the connector between Accela and DocuSign. DocuSign facilitates legally compliant digital signatures as part of the City’s now paperless permitting process.
In April 2025, the Velosimo agreement was amended to add the Accela- LaserFiche integration for a cost of $82,731.11. LaserFiche is the City’s new document archive. The integration with Accela allows for the direct transfer of digital files to the archive when a construction project record is closed.
The Velosimo connector between Accela and ePlanReview (ePR) is included in the ePlanReview Master Licensing Agreement. Velosimo ePR middleware services cost about $29,000 per term year.
The fourth Velosimo connector, and subject of this report, is between Accela and PayPal. In early 2026, City staff was notified by Accela that its online credit card processing functionality needed to be modified to ensure compliance with an approaching PCI (Payment Card Industry) requirement deadline. This rule requires that PCI compliant software (e.g., PayPal) be used to securely transact credit card data and prevent fraud and data breaches. Accela arranged for Velosimo to provide free middleware services, if needed, for the initial few months of the PCI transition to give its agencies time to figure out how best to proceed with continuing with Velosimo middleware services or switching to a different service.
For Fremont, PayPal, a PCI compliant software, was already used as a gateway to connect Accela to the payment processor. Because the PayPal connection already existed, the connection with Velosimo was simple and quick to facilitate. Further, since Fremont already has three middleware service connections with Accela, use of Velosimo for another connection was logical and easy to integrate into staff’s daily business practices.
This request would formally add the PayPal connector service to the Velosimo agreement with the City for the three remaining years of the five- year term at a cost of $49,560.
Fiscal Impact: Costs associated with the Velosimo middleware connector services to integrate Accela with PayPal (and DocuSign and LaserFiche) will be paid for by Planning (Fund 391), Building (Fund 392), and Engineering Council Staff Report (ID # 5769) Meeting of September 1, 2026 Updated: 8/27/2026 9:06 AM by Alberto Quintanilla Page 3 (Fund 393) annual operating budgets as part of the ITS overhead cost allocation. These funds are primarily supported by permit fees, which will be the source of revenue for the Velosimo services. There is no impact to the General Fund to fund this service.
Environmental Review: The proposed action 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)(5) and/or Section 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.
Recommendation: Authorize the City Manager, or designee, to execute an amendment to the Master Licensing Agreement with Velosimo, Inc. to add middleware connector services to support the Accela-PayPal integration and increase the not-to-exceed compensation an additional $49,560 to $225,121.72.