CITY OF POMONA
COUNCIL REPORT
September 9, 2024
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Anita D. Gutierrez, City Manager
Submitted By: Sam Wong, Innovation and Technology Director SUBJECT: AWARD OF CONTRACT TO EN ENGINEERING, LLC. FOR LOCAL BROADBAND ASSESSMENT RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the City Council take the following actions:
Approve the award of a Professional Services Agreement (PSA) to EN Engineering, LLC. (“EN”) in an amount not-to-exceed $311,000 to perform local broadband needs assessment; and Authorize the City Manager to execute the agreement and any extensions or amendments thereto on behalf of the City, subject to review by the City Attorney.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Approval of the recommended action will allow the City of Pomona to leverage the expertise demonstrated by EN to assess broadband needs of residents and businesses, focusing on key areas such as accessibility, affordability, and availability of high-speed internet.
SB1439/GOVERNMENT CODE §84308 APPLICABILITY:
☒ When this box is checked, it indicates the agenda item is subject to the Levine Act SB1439 requirements. Councilmembers are reminded to check their campaign contributions and determine whether they have received a campaign contribution of $250 or more that would require disclosure and/or recusal from discussing or acting on this agenda item. Campaign contributions of $250 or more made 1) by any person or entity who is identified in the agenda report as the applicant or proposer or 2) on behalf of the applicant or participant, including a parent, subsidiary or otherwise related business entity, or 3) by any person who has a financial interest in the agenda item requires a councilmember to comply with SB1439.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The proposed contract with EN is for FY 2024-25, commencing upon Council approval, and continuing until the project’s anticipated completion in March 2025. The payment terms of consulting services with EN will be six equal monthly payments of $47,935.83 and travel expenses not to exceed $5,880 and billed as actuals as incurred.
The fiscal impact is neutral due to an increase in the Local Agency Technical Assistance Grant revenues (215-1410-40873-58779) and corresponding appropriations (215-1410-5XXXX-58779) in the amount of $311,000 was included in the FY 2024-25 Proposed Operating Budget.
PREVIOUS RELATED ACTION:
On April 17, 2023, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 2023-59 accepting the California Public Utilities Commission Local Agency Technical Assistance grant award in the amount of $315,000.
DISCUSSION:
The City of Pomona's households surveyed in Census 2022 averaged 71.6% on having access to broadband internet, compared with the national average of 77%. However, there are also census tracts within the City where broadband access surveyed as low as 47%. Various factors contribute to low broadband adoption but the most common are: accessibility, affordability, and availability.
Accessibility is defined by whether a household can acquire wired broadband connection from an Internet Service Provider (ISP). Common reasons why accessibility is an issue stems from whether ISPs have infrastructure, equipment, and/or cable runs to offer such service or to extend existing service. In addition to ISP service offering, accessibility includes whether households have adequate end-user devices, such as computers and tablets, to connect to the internet.
Affordability is defined by the ability for a household to pay for internet. While there is no consensus on defining affordability, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) offers an Affordability Ratio (AR) calculator that takes into account a household's cost of essential services bill, income, and non-discretionary expenses as a guide.
Availability is defined by whether the ISP's infrastructure is capable of consistently delivering the speed and bandwidth as offered to the consumer whenever its use is needed, i.e. not impacted due to network congestion or poor network design. Besides the quality of service offered by the ISP, availability can also be impacted by factors such as outdated infrastructure in older buildings, which may not support optimal use of high-speed internet.
To better understand these challenges in the City of Pomona, the City will leverage the CPUC’s grant to onboard subject matter experts to perform this study. The final product is a findings and plans document for the unserved and underserved areas of the City: what areas are affected; what role(s) accessibility, affordability, and availability play; and how those challenges can be lessened, if not fully remediated, to improve broadband adoption. The plan will also include various solution considerations on improving broadband access that can range from policy revisions to varying degrees of cooperative operating models and different financial feasibility models to build and sustain city-owned fiber.
To pursue the broadband needs assessment, the City conducted a Request for Proposal (RFP) to determine the most qualified vendor for this service. The RPF, 2024-24, was posted on April 30, 2024 with bids due May 30, 2024. The RFP solicitation notified 256 potential bidders, of which 23 prospective bidders downloaded the RFP, resulting in the City receiving five proposals but one deemed nonresponsive.
Based on the evaluation criteria specified in the RFP, proposals were scored and ranked by an evaluation committee comprised of internal staff from IT and Planning Departments, as well as an external panelists from Pomona Unified School District (PUSD) and San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments (SGVCOG). The proposals were evaluated on a 400-point scale based on Project Approach, Qualifications and Experience, Past Performance, and Price Proposal. EN Engineering, LLC, scored the highest based on the evaluation scores submitted by the committee and the projected cost of the proposed services to be rendered. The combined scores for the RFP are detailed as follows:
Combined Scores
Needs Assessment on Broadband Accessibility, Affordability, and Availability RFP No. 2024-24
Rank
Firm/Proposer
Score (400 max)
1 EN Engineering, LLC
355.39
2 HR Green Pacific, Inc.
350.76
3 Televate, LLC
328
4 Bonfire Fiber
326.12
Prepared by: Sam Wong, Innovation and Technology Director Award a Professional Services Agreement to EN Engineering, LLC