August 26, 2025
Agenda Item No. 29
TO:
HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM:
Sean Levin, Recreation and Senior Services Director - 949-644-3151, [email protected] PREPARED BY:
Brian Cordeiro, Recreation Manager - 949-644-3156, [email protected] TITLE:
Approval and Award of Printing Services Agreement for Newport Navigator Magazine with Advantage Mailing LLC ABSTRACT:
Staff is requesting City Council approval to award the printing services contract for the City of Newport Beach’s Newport Navigator and digital summer camp guide to Advantage Mailing LLC.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Determine this action is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Sections 15060(c)(2) and 15060(c)(3) of the CEQA Guidelines because this action will not result in a physical change to the environment, directly or indirectly; and Award a five-year printing services contract for the Newport Navigator brochure and digital summer camp guide to Advantage Mailing LLC for the total not-to-exceed price of $521,544.91, and authorize the Mayor and City Clerk to execute the contract agreement.
DISCUSSION:
The Recreation & Senior Services Department produces four seasonal “Newport Navigator” activity publications annually (fall, winter, spring and summer), and one digital summer camp guide. The Newport Navigators and summer camp guides are the primary marketing and branding pieces used by the department to promote recreation and senior programs, facility rental opportunities, community events, and to provide information on City parks and the community’s natural resources. In addition, City departments use the Newport Navigator to highlight library programs, cultural arts, community emergency response team (CERT) information, and items of general public interest.
Newport Beach residents and visitors rely on these print publications for information on the wide variety of special interest classes, annual summer camps, aquatics classes, educational and lifelong learning programs, and senior community events and services.
The Newport Navigator is mailed using the United States Postal Services Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) service which calls for approximately 42,000 copies to be printed per quarter to provide one copy per home.
Staff developed a Request for Proposals (RFP) solicitation that was publicly posted to the City’s online bidding platform (PlanetBids) and distributed directly to known printing vendors. The City received five proposals from the following companies:
Advantage Mailing LLC
Mittera
The Dot Corp
The Monaco Group
World Trade Printing Company
The RFP called for the printing of the Newport Navigator brochure on paper certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) as well as the ability to produce a digital and interactive version of the document enabling users to click once to register. The RFP advised bidders that the evaluation and selection process would encompass two phases. In the first phase (Technical Evaluation), an evaluation panel consisting of staff from the Recreation & Senior Services Department assessed each proposer on factors such as experience, qualifications, resources and technical ability, relative to the production of the Newport Navigator. A minimum score of 1200 (70% of total score) was required in phase one for the bidder to be moved to the next phase. The second phase (Cost Review) involved the City’s Purchasing Agent performing an evaluation and comparison of each bidder’s proposed production costs for the first year of the contract covering four editions of the Newport Navigator and the digital summer camp guide.
After the completion of the Technical Evaluation in phase one, two bidders scored below 70% and were eliminated from the remainder of the process. The table below summarizes the scores of the remaining qualified bidders:
PROPOSER
TECHNICAL EVALUATION – MAX 1800
COST REVIEW (ANNUAL COST) – MAX 1200
TOTAL SCORE
OVERALL RANK
Advantage Mailing LLC
1525
1200.00
2725.00
1 Mittera
1440
748.95
2188.95
2 The Dot Corp
1295
435.21
1730.21
3 Staff recommends awarding the contract to Advantage Mailing LLC, the top-ranked proposer in the RFP process. Its proposal of $89,304.88 annually, offers significant cost savings compared to other submissions and the City’s current annual expenditure of $133,287.03. The proposed five-year contract totals $521,544.91 and includes an annual 3% CPI adjustment, along with a 10% contingency to accommodate potential changes in the City’s quantity, page count or specification needs.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The adopted budget includes sufficient funding for this purchase. It will be expensed to the RSS Administration, City Printing account in the Recreation & Senior Services Department, 01070005-841006.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
Staff recommends the City Council find this action is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Sections 15060(c)(2) (the activity will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment) and 15060(c)(3) (the activity is not a project as defined in Section 15378) of the CEQA Guidelines, California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Chapter 3, because it has no potential for resulting in physical change to the environment, directly or indirectly.
NOTICING:
The agenda item has been noticed according to the Brown Act (72 hours in advance of the meeting at which the City Council considers the item).
ATTACHMENT:
Attachment A – Contract Agreement for Printing Services 29-3
29-1
Approval and Award of Printing Services Agreement for
Newport Navigator Magazine with Advantage Mailing LLC
August 26, 2025
CITY OF CITY OF
CITY OF
CITY OF
City Council Staff Report COUNCIL STAFF REPORT City Council Staff Report COUNCIL STAFF REPORT NEWPORT BEACH NEWPORT BEACH City Council Staff Report COUNCIL STAFF REPORT
City Council Staff Report COUNCIL STAFF REPORT
NEWPORT BEACH
NEWPORT BEACH