City Council
Staff Report
From: City Manager
Report Type: CONSENT CALENDAR
Lead Department: Planning and Development Services
Meeting Date: August 18, 2025
Report #:2505-4689
TITLE
Approval of Six (6) On-Call Consulting Contracts to Provide Specialized Technical Expertise for the Planning and Development Services Department over a Five-Year Term, as needed: 1) David J. Powers & Associates, Inc., 2) Economic and Planning Systems, Inc., 3) Keyser Marston Associates, Inc., 4) Page and Turnbull Inc., 5) Rincon Consultants, Inc., 6) Strategic Economics, in the Amount not to exceed $2,000,000 ; CEQA Status: Not a Project.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council approve and authorize the City Manager or their designee to execute Contract No. C25193458E – C25193458J (Attachments A-F) for consulting services in an amount not to exceed $2,000,000 through June 2030. The firms will provide on- call support associated with specific urban planning topics requiring technical expertise. The use of the contracts must be consistent with the funding available in the adopted budget(s).
The contracts are:
1. C25193458E - David J. Powers & Associates, Inc.
2. C25193458F - Economic and Planning Systems, Inc
3. C25193458G - Keyser Marston Associates, Inc.
4. C25193458H - Page and Turnbull Inc
5. C25193458I - Rincon Consultants, Inc.
6. C25193458J - Strategic Economics
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Planning and Development Services Department engages consultant firms to provide specialized technical expertise in areas, such as environmental compliance, economic analysis, and historic preservation. Through a competitive request for proposal (RFP) process, six firms have been selected to support a range of specific technical planning needs. Staff recommends City Council approve six contracts with a combined not to exceed of $2,000,000 over a five-year term. The use of these contracts will be subject to available funding within the annually adopted budget.
Concurrently, the City Manager is leading an interdepartmental review to improve the City’s practices where needed in the management of consultant contracts. Outcomes from that effort will be incorporated into the management of these consultant services where applicable throughout the term of these contracts.
BACKGROUND
The Planning and Development Services (PDS) Department relies on the use of on-call service providers for project specific expertise and application processing for development activity. In June 2020, the City Council approved eight planning services on-call contracts for a combined not-to-exceed amount of $1.5 million over a four-year period, through June 30, 2024. Although the original anticipated total not-to-exceed amount was for $5.0 million, staff requested a reduced initial amount of $1.5 million given the financial uncertainty at the time and notified Council of the need to return for additional contract authority before the end of the contract term. In April 2023, the City Council approved Amendment No. 1 which increased the not-to- exceed amount to $3.0 million. In April 2024, the City Council approved Amendment No. 2 which increased the not-to-exceed amount to $3.5 million and extended the term through June 2025.
Solicitation Process
City staff issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) on December 27, 2024, for the provision of planning on-call services.
Table 1: Summary of Request for Proposals
Proposal Description RFP 193458 Planning On-Call Services Proposed Length of Project Four years, with the possibility of two additional one-year extensions.
Request for Proposal Issued December 27, 2024
Number of Vendors Notified 3,349
Total Days to Respond to Proposal 45
Number of RFP Packages Downloaded 85
Pre-Proposal Meeting and Date N/A
Number of Company Attendees at Pre-
Proposal Meeting(s) N/A
Proposal Price Range* $175 - $335 hourly rate
Number of Companies Interviewed N/A
Final Negotiated Contract Price (Basic
Services) N/A
Public Link to Solicitation https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/palo- alto-ca/projects/138159
* For standardization purposes, the hourly billing rates for principals are listed.
The proposals were evaluated, and 32 proposals were determined to be responsive to the criteria identified in the RFP. An evaluation committee consisting of PDS managers convened to evaluate the proposals that met the RFP criteria. Six firms were selected as subject matter experts for planning on-call support.
ANALYSIS
Projects requiring specialized technical expertise, such as California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)/National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance, land use economics, historic preservation, and infrastructure cost estimation, necessitate access to on-call subject matter experts. The six selected firms have proven records of producing legally defensible environmental documents required by State law and supported the City’s local programs and Council priorities through preparing market feasibility studies, conducting historic resource evaluations, and advising on economic impacts of development strategies. This bench of consultants enables the PDS Department to respond to technical needs efficiently and in a timely manner without initiating separate procurements for each service type. Their services will be critical to ensuring that policy documents, development applications, and public initiatives are informed by robust, expert analysis. Use of these subject matter expert contracts will enhance the City’s ability to meet regulatory timelines and provide defensible planning outcomes. If these contracts are not approved, the Department will be challenged in delivering on current and future initiatives as well as fulfilling mandated requirements because internal staff do not possess the full range of technical expertise necessary to support this work.
Process for Selecting On-Call Consultant
To ensure equity in distribution of work while ensuring alignment between project needs and consultant qualifications, an internal process is in place for selecting and assigning consultants specific task orders.
1. Develop Scope of Work (SOW): Staff project manager will develop a SOW that reflects the planning project requirements, including any technical needs and community engagement.
2. Solicit Proposals: Staff will contact all relevant firms via email notifying them of the request for proposals.
3. Comparison and Analysis: Staff will compare submitted proposals using the following, but not limited to, criteria to determine the best firm for the proposed task:
a. Technical Expertise
b. Relevant Experience and Past Performance on Similar Projects c. Project Cost
d. Timeline of Service Delivery
4. Selection of Consultant: After a consultant is selected, the firm will be notified, and a task order will be issued finalizing the scope of work, budget, and schedule for delivery.
These task orders will be issued in accordance with the terms of the master agreement.
Task orders will be reviewed and signed off by the Department Director or designee to ensure an additional check and balance. This internal process will allow the Department to be effective in managing concurrent initiatives while leveraging the capabilities and technical expertise of on-call consultants.
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 and advance projects on shorter timelines. Funding for these consultants is generally supported by the General Fund as part of the annual budget development process and are related to policy development as directed by the City Council. For projects related to the Comprehensive Plan, fees collected from permits for Comprehensive Plan Implementation assist with offsetting a portion of these costs.
The budget for these contracts is included in the PDS Department’s adopted budget. The use of consultants 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 not requesting a budget increase. 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); therefore, no environmental review is required.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A: C25193458E - David J. Powers & Associates, Inc.
Attachment B: C25193458F - Economic and Planning Systems, Inc Attachment C: C25193458G - Keyser Marston Associates, Inc.
Attachment D: C25193458H - Page and Turnbull Inc.
Attachment E: C25193458I - Rincon Consultants, Inc.
Attachment F: C25193458J - Strategic Economic Inc.
APPROVED BY:
Jonathan Lait, Planning and Development Services Director