1 1415 20th Street
Sacramento, CA 95811
(916) 446-0522
FAX (916) 446-7520
[email protected]
www.mintierharnish.com
M E M O R A N D U M
TO: Troy Fujimoto, City Planner | City of Pleasant Hill FROM: Michael Gibbons, Project Manager | Mintier Harnish CC: Haley Croffoot, AICP, Senior Planner | City of Pleasant Hill Jim Harnish, Principal/Owner | Mintier Harnish
Brent Gibbons, AICP, Principal Planner | Mintier Harnish DATE: Friday, February 21, 2025
RE: Request for a Budget Amendment
I am writing to request a budget amendment to address unanticipated costs in excess of our approved budget. Following a detailed review of the time and resources invested in this project to date, these requests are essential to reimburse us for the additional efforts required to bring the project to its current stage and to ensure the successful completion of the remaining work. This memorandum is organized into the following sections:
• Project Issues and Explanation of Cost Overrun. An explanation of project issues, including key factors which have contributed to the costs in excess of budget. • Proposed Budget Resolution. A proposed approach to resolve the budget overrun. • Overview. A summary of the above items.
PROJECT ISSUES AND DESCRIPTION OF COSTS IN EXCESS OF THE BUDGET As of December 2024, the Zoning Ordinance update project (Phase 9 of the General Plan) has a cost overrun of -$17,207. Our team continues to diligently work to meet the City’s goals and timelines for this Phase. However, several factors outside of the original project scope and assumptions have contributed to the current budget overage. After a detailed review of project activities, invoices, and staff hours, we identified three primary drivers for these increased costs:
Condensed Project Schedule
In January 2024, at the request of the Planning Commission, City staff directed our team to significantly accelerate the project timeline. Traditionally, a comprehensive zoning ordinance update of this scale requires approximately 18 to 24 months, including 12 to 16 months dedicated to drafting. However, to meet the City’s revised timeline, our team condensed this preparation period to just eight months, from March through November 2024.
Memorandum to the City of Pleasant Hill
Amendment 7: Request for a Budget Amendment
Friday, February 21, 2025
2 This accelerated schedule required substantial additional resources, particularly in Mintier Harnish staffing. The original budget and scope allocated limited hours for the Project Manager role as this role is typically reserved for project oversight, invoicing, and meeting facilitation. However, to meet the shortened timeline, the Project Manager had to take on additional responsibilities, including drafting tasks, that were not originally included in the budget. Since the Project Manager’s billing rate is higher than that of the Planner billing rate (which was the project role primary responsible for drafting), this adjustment significantly increased our costs. While we successfully met the City’s timeline requirements, the condensed schedule was a major contributing factor to the costs in excess of the budget.
Mapping and GIS Data Issues
A task included in the overall project scope was updating the City’s Zoning Map to align with the recently adopted General Plan and updated Zoning Ordinance. While this process is typically straightforward, involving modifications to the City’s base GIS data, it was significantly complicated by outdated and inconsistent datasets provided by City staff to Mintier Harnish. After submitting an initial draft of the revised Zoning Map, City staff identified parcels incorrectly displayed as rezones. The Mintier Harnish team reviewed the data and revised the maps as requested. However, after submitting a second version, City staff identified additional discrepancies, prompting another round of data review and Map revisions.
During a subsequent meeting with City staff to review the Map and project buildout—prepared at the request of City staff to identify changes in the City's net maximum density based on the proposed rezones—our team discovered the parcel data used to generate the maps and buildout was outdated compared to the dataset City staff was referencing. A follow-up meeting with City staff, Mintier Harnish staff, and the City’s GIS consultants revealed the need to replace the dataset with the most up-to-date parcel data. Using this updated data, Mintier Harnish revised the zoning data and Zoning Map. These challenges, including the need to develop multiple base maps, revise data multiple times, and restart portions of the work, led to unanticipated time and costs in excess of the budget. However, the updated Zoning Map and buildout were successfully completed using the most accurate and current data available and was submitted to City staff in November 2024.
Residential Density Buildouts
During the project, City staff requested a dwelling unit build-out analysis to evaluate changes in the City’s net maximum density resulting from the Zoning Map amendments. This requested task was intended to ensure the proposed changes would not result in a net loss of density or housing production citywide in compliance with State law.
This task was not part of the original project scope or budget and introduced additional challenges to the workflow. Compounding the issue, discrepancies in parcel data—those encountered during the mapping update—required Mintier Harnish to re-perform portions of the analysis using updated datasets provided by City staff, resulting in additional costs in excess of the budget. This process required close collaboration between Mintier Harnish and City staff to resolve data inconsistencies and ensure the analyses were accurate. Despite the unanticipated complexity and time, Mintier Harnish successfully completed the requested analyses. The build-out analysis confirmed the proposed rezones would not result in a net loss of density or housing production citywide, preserving the City’s capacity to meet its housing goals.
Memorandum to the City of Pleasant Hill
Amendment 7: Request for a Budget Amendment
Friday, February 21, 2025
3 PROPOSED BUDGET RESOLUTION
To address the current budget overage and ensure project completion, we are requesting a budget amendment of $34,000 to address the remaining overage and ensure the completion of the project. The requested funds will be allocated as follows:
• $30,000 will cover the remaining -$17,207 overage, reimbursing work already completed. The remaining balance of $12,793 will fund the completion of remaining project tasks, including the final Zoning Ordinance preparation, rezoning work, and incorporating further revisions to the Zoning Map/Ordinance based on feedback from the City and public. • $4,000 will cover the cost of Mintier Harnish’s attendance at two public hearings required for the adoption of the project—one with the Planning Commission and another with the City Council. In November 2024, City staff decided to replace the originally planned adoption hearings with two additional study sessions. At the time, Mintier Harnish informed City staff a budget amendment would be necessary to cover the cost of facilitating the two replaced adoption hearings. The cost for attendance and facilitation of each meeting is $2,000, for a total of $4,000.
OVERVIEW
Category Description Amount Impact/Outcome
Budget Amendment Request Request for additional funds to cover overage and complete the project.
$34,000 Resolves budget shortfall
and funds remaining
project tasks.
Breakdown of Budget Amendment
Reimbursement of Overage Reimburse $17,207 overage and provide $12,793 for completion tasks (rezoning, map
revisions).
$30,000 Completes work, including
rezoning and map
revisions.
Public Hearing Attendance Fund Mintier Harnish’s attendance and facilitation at two adoption hearings
(Planning Commission and City Council).
$4,000 Ensures presence at two
public hearings.
The approval of a budget amendment is critical to addressing the challenges and unforeseen tasks that have arisen during this project. Our team has worked diligently to meet the City’s revised timeline and expectations, and these additional resources will allow us to finalize the project successfully.
I appreciate your consideration of this request and remain available to provide any additional information or clarification needed.