City Council
Staff Report
From: City Manager
Report Type: CONSENT CALENDAR
Lead Department: Planning and Development Services
Meeting Date: April 15, 2024
Report #:2402-2584
TITLE
Approval of Contract Amendment Number 2 to Seven On-call Consulting Contracts to Increase in the Amount by $500,000 to a Total Not to Exceed to $3.5 Million and Extend Term by Three Months to Provide Expertise for Long Range Planning Projects, Application Processing, Environmental Review, and Other Planning Analysis in the Planning and Development Services Department.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that Council approve and authorize the City Manager or their designee to execute an amendment for the following seven contracts for long range planning, application processing, historic and environmental review services in an amount not to exceed $500,000 and to extend the contract term for three months. This amendment results in a revised total contract not-to-exceed amount of $3.5 million through September 30, 2024. a. Contract Amendment No. 2 C20178879 with Arnold Mammarella Architecture and Consulting (Attachment A);
b. Contract Amendment No. 2 C20178878 with Metropolitan Planning Group (Attachment B); c. Contract Amendment No. 2 C20178882 with Placeworks, Inc. (Attachment C); d. Contract Amendment No. 2 C20178877A with Lexington Planning (Attachment D); e. Contract Amendment No. 2 C20178891 with Michael Baker International, Inc. (Attachment E); f. Contract Amendment No. 2 C20178881 with Page Southerland Page AE (Attachment F), and; g. Contract Amendment No. 2 C20178884 with Urban Planning Partners, Inc. (Attachment G)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The subject action extends the contract authority and term; no additional budget is requested at this time as budget to support this work has already been included in the approved FY2024 Operating Budget. No work will be assigned to consultants under these contracts unless there is sufficient operating budget to cover the costs.
The Planning and Development Services department relies on the use of on-call service providers for project specific expertise and application processing for development activity.
Additional contract capacity is required at this time to provide continuity of services for work
related the current planning application processing, the parklet prototype study, the retail study, and projects related to the Housing Element implementation across five of the seven providers: Arnold Mammarella, Architecture and Consulting; Metropolitan Planning Group; Lexington Planning; Michael Baker International, Inc.; and Urban Planning Partners, Inc. In addition, staff expect to utilize available on call providers to assist with Council priorities and to initiate anticipated projects until September 2024.
BACKGROUND
In June 2020, the City Council approved1 eight planning services on-call contracts for a combined not-to-exceed amount of $1.5 million through June 30, 2024. Staff had previously completed a competitive solicitation process to identify the firms best suited to provide consultant support as needed. The original anticipated total not-to-exceed amount was for $5.0 million. Given the financial uncertainty at the time, staff requested a reduced initial amount of $1.5 million, including negotiated rate reductions, and notified Council that staff would need to return for additional contract authority before the end of the contract term.
In April 2023, the City Council approved 2 Amendment No. 1 which increased the not-to-exceed amount to $3.0 million, adjusted hourly rates for Lexington Planning, and omitted Rincon Consultants due to proposed rate increases. At that time, $1.4 million of the contract had been spent on long-range planning projects and current planning application processing, covering key City Council priorities identified throughout the year. While long-range planning is not fully fee- supported, fees from current planning projects offset consultant costs. On-call contracts are utilized as needed, contingent on available funding within the annual Adopted Operating Budget.
ANALYSIS
On-call contracts provide expert service that is efficient, responsive, and available as needed. The PDS Department relies on these contracts to provide necessary expertise to meet the fluctuating demand in long range planning, application processing, historic and environmental review.
Generally, staff will develop a scope of work and issue the project to the firm best suited to execute on the work based on the qualifications such as experience, subject area expertise, and cost. Each of the firms offer varying skills and services, so not all firms are considered for all projects.
To allow for continuity of services, staff is returning to the City Council to increase the not-to- exceed amount by $500,000 to allow for the completion of works in progress prior to the release of a new request for proposals (RFP) with an updated scope in March. Although staff anticipates completing the RFP process by July, an extension until September will allow staff to transition 1 City Council, June 22, 2020, Staff Report 11147:
https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/agendasminutes- reports/reports/city-manager-reports-cmrs/year-archive/2020/id-11147.pdf 2 City Council, April 3, 2023, Staff Report 2303-1145:
https://cityofpaloalto.primegov.com/Portal/viewer?id=1892&type=0 any ongoing work and projects to the new set of approved on call consultants Approval of the recommended amendment will allow the department to continue utilizing consultants for specific expertise as the competitive solicitation and award process complete. To date, the City has spent or allocated $2.9 million of the contract to support long range planning, current planning application processing, historic and environmental review on projects such as the North Ventura Coordinated Housing Plan, Housing Element Development, Retail Ordinance Development, Parklet Design Standards, and other state mandated legislative updates. This will build capacity to allow for nimble response to Council priorities, assignments, and needs throughout the year.
FISCAL/RESOURCE IMPACT
Use of consultants for specific assistance is an efficient and effective use of resources, allowing the department to quickly access needed technical skills. The cost of the contracts is offset by fees collected by the department for application processing, consistent with the FY 2024 Adopted Municipal Fee Schedule.
The budget for these contracts is contained in the PDS Department adopted budget. Use of contractors for planning work is contingent on (1) approved contracts with capacity to support the required scope; and (2) availability of funding in the department’s approved budget. Staff is only requesting an increase in contract capacity at this time. Corresponding budget requests to fund the increased contract capacity will be brought forward through the budget cycle. No work will be assigned to consultants under these contracts unless there is sufficient operating budget to cover the costs.
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
Professional planners and managers in the PDS Department participated in the development of this recommendation given departmental workload.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Approval of these contracts is not a project under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and therefore no environmental review is required.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A: Contract No. C20178879 with Arnold Mammarella Architecture and Consulting Attachment B: Contract No. C20178878 with Metropolitan Planning Group Attachment C: Contract No. C20178882 with Placeworks, Inc.
Attachment D: Contract No. C20178877A with Lexington Planning Attachment E: Contract No. C20178891 with Michael Baker International, Inc.
Attachment F: Contract No. C20178881 with Page Southerland Page AE Attachment G: Contract No. C20178884 with Urban Planning Partners, Inc.
APPROVED BY:
Jonathan Lait, Planning and Development Services Director