City Council Agenda Report
May 7, 2024
TO: Honorable City Council
FROM: Jesus M. Gomez, City Manager
BY: John P. Ramirez, Director of Community Development
Sandra Duran, Senior Management Analyst
Rosio Medina, Senior Management Analyst
SUBJECT: AGREEMENT AMENDMENT NO. 5 FOR ON-CALL COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANT AND ADDITIONAL SERVICES
Background:
On November 7, 2023, Michael Baker International, Inc. (MBI) was awarded a contract to continue providing on-call Community Development Consultant and Additional Service to the City. In 2021, the City sent Request for Proposals (RFP) for California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Compliance Services for the California Youth Authority property, City Project No. 7859, to four firms from City’s on-call consultant list: Infrastructure Engineers, LSA Associates, Inc., Moore Iacofano Goltsman, Inc., and Michael Baker International, Inc. The environmental analysis was needed to ensure that the entire CEQA process is conducted in a comprehensive manner and concurrently with the entitlements.
The proposal submitted by MBI provided the most experienced staff with similar projects, offers a “one-stop-shop” – all services associated with this project can be provided by in-house staff, the scope of work is well defined, and allows for additional meetings required for the project. Staff requested a revised proposal from MBI to include additional meetings and deliverables anticipated for the project including a water supply assessment, expansion of the traffic study to include additional intersections. In addition, a 15% contingency was added to cover the expenses of additional studies that may be required. The revised proposal increased the estimated fee to $359,755. The City entered into a professional services agreement with MBI on January 25, 2021 to provide professional on-call planning and building services. The maximum compensation for the services is $150,000 annually and it is a three-year contract term. Therefore an amendment to modify the contract compensation was approved for the services proposed in the scope of work for the project. The contract as amended, increased the compensation to $384,755 and has a term ending of November 30, 2024 for the project.
City Council May 7, 2024
Agreement Amendment No. 5 – Michael Baker International Page No. 2 8 4
3 MBI also currently provides professional services to the Norwalk Housing Authority (NHA) with the preparation of the Public Housing Agency (PHA) Plans and the continued operation and management of the various U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funded Housing Authority Programs. The PHA Administrative plan is a comprehensive guide to the PHA policies, programs, operations, and strategies for meeting the City’s housing needs goals. To ensure tasks associated with operations and reporting are performed in a timely fashion and compliant with all federal regulations, the NHA depends on MBI for guidance and assistance with the following tasks not to exceed $48,950:
PHA Plans:
•Update the Norwalk Housing Authority’s (NHA) Administrative Plan •Prepare the NHA 5 Year Consolidated Plan
•Prepare the NHA Annual Action Plan
Administration:
Renew/Prepare HUD Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) and Project Based Voucher (PBV) Contracts
MBI will be further assisting CDBG staff with the preparation of the City’s 2025-2029 Five Year Consolidated Plan (ConPlan), First Year Annual Action Plan (AAP), and updated Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice (AI), and a Housing Summit. MBI’s experience in preparation of these documents and continued support to City staff with the program administration of the CDBG and HOME programs will ensure successful and timely preparation of the Con Plan, AI, and the first-year AAP, which consist of the following tasks not to exceed $57,420:
•Task 1 - Project Kick-Off and Coordination: meet with City staff to identify key delivery dates and all associated Community Outreach.
•Task 2 - Data Analysis: Collection and analysis of data collected from the US Census/ACS, organizations identified as key stakeholders, the City, and regional groups. •Task 3 - Citizen Participation and Consultation: MBI staff will prepare and conduct outreach and hold public meetings and hearings as required by HUD regulations. MBI will develop promotional and meeting materials and provide guidance on even structure and logistics for the following:
✓Consultation and Public Meetings – in person with City facilitating reasonable accommodations and translation services or virtual public meetings, if requested. ✓Community Meeting/Public Hearings – Two (2) community meetings will be facilitated to collect community input on housing and community needs. One public hearing will be held with an optional additional public hearing if needed.
City Council May 7, 2024
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3 ✓Consultation Interviews and focus Groups – A minimum of Two (2) stakeholder group interviews will be conducted to assist the project team gather qualitative information to validate and expand on the data analysis findings and to gather additional local knowledge that may not be evident through baseline analysis. ✓Housing Summit
✓Community and Stakeholder Survey
✓Community Outreach and Stakeholder Survey/Meeting Responses Report •Task 4 - Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice Report •Task 5 - Consolidated Plan
•Task 6 - First-Year annual action plan
•Task 7 - IDIS input
Furthermore, since its inception in 2023, the contract with MBI has offset staff shortages in the Planning division due to resignations. The continued need for on-call professional services are necessary in order to maintain service levels during staff changes, provide expedited entitlement processing for priority projects, and maintain service levels. Community Development staff have been working diligently to fill vacant positions in the department.
Fiscal Impact:
Funding for the California Youth Authority project for the CEQA Compliance Services will come from the Low and Moderate Income Housing Asset Fund in the amount of $384,755. Due to personnel cost savings from vacant Community Development Department positions there is additional funding available in the current Fiscal Year 2023/24 Adopted Budget for the on-call services. The CDBG and HOME programs are funded solely by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Citizens Advised:
N/A
Strategic Plan 2023 Implementation:
N/A
Recommended Action:
Staff recommends City Council approve Amendment No. 5 to the agreement with Michael Baker International, Inc. dated January 25, 2021, to provide California Environmental Quality Act Compliance Services for the California Youth Authority property, City Project No. 7859, in an amount not to exceed $384,755 through November 30, 2024 and on-call professional Community Development Consultant and Additional Services, in an amount not to exceed City Council May 7, 2024
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3 $200,000 annually through November 30, 2026; and authorize the City Manager to execute Amendment No. 5 and any additional amendments provided there is funding in the budget and it is within the City Manager’s signing authority, on behalf of the City, in a form approved by the City Attorney.
Attachments:
N/A