June 21, 2022
Community Development
DATE: June 21, 2022
TO: Mayor Butt and Members of the City Council
FROM:
Lina Velasco, Director of Community Development
Charice Duckworth, Development Project Manager
Subject:
Execute an EPA Brownfields Assessment Coalition
Memorandum of Agreement and Amend the Stantec
Consulting Services Contract
FINANCIAL IMPACT: The proposed contract amendment to increase the payment limit by $559,000 will be paid using a $600,000 EPA Brownfields Assessment Coalition grant awarded to
the City in 2021. No impact to the general fund will result from this contract amendment. The grant will also cover City staff time up to $41,000 for administration and
management of the grant.
PREVIOUS COUNCIL
ACTION:
City Council approved a competitively bid contract with Stantec Consulting Services on October 20, 2020.
STATEMENT OF THE
ISSUE:
The City of Richmond applied for and received a
$600,000 EPA Brownfields Assessment and Coalition
Grant to inventory, characterize, and assess residential and commercial sites possibly contaminated by
hazardous substances. Housing Division staff is
requesting City Council authorization to execute a
Memorandum of Agreement between City of Richmond,
Contra Costa County, Community Housing Development
Corporation of North Richmond, and Eden Housing, Inc.
to continue identifying and prioritizing possible brownfield sites to perform environmental and land use
assessments, create cleanup plans, and complete
remediation of sites within the City of Richmond. City staff members are also seeking City Council approval to AGENDA
REPORT
June 21, 2022
amend the current contract with Stantec to perform these services by increasing the payment limit by $559,000 to continue to perform these assessments.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
AUTHORIZE the City Manager to execute a
Memorandum of Agreement between the City of
Richmond, Contra Costa County, Community Housing
Development Corporation of North Richmond, and Eden
Housing, Inc.to identify and prioritize brownfield sites for assessment; and APPROVE a contract amendment with
Stantec Consulting Services to increase the payment
limit by $559,000, for a total amount not to exceed
$630,986, and extending the term to December 31, 2024
– Community Development (Lina Velasco 510-620-
6706).
DISCUSSION:
On October 20, 2020, the City Council approved a contract with Stantec Consulting Services to provide technical expertise, environmental engineering services, and grant application preparation support to pursue a new EPA Brownfields Assessment Coalition Grant.
The EPA Brownfield Assessment Coalition Grant Program provides local municipalities funding to inventory, characterize, and assess residential and commercial sites possibly contaminated by hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants co-mingled with petroleum in communities that cannot afford to perform environmental assessments or cleanup for redevelopment.
On July 27, 2021, the City, serving as the lead agency, received a Cooperative Agreement Award of $600,000 from the EPA Brownfields Assessment Coalition Grant Program. As a grantee, the City will be responsible for contracting with an environmental consultant to perform environmental site assessments, create cleanup plans, remediation of sites, as well as providing statistical data for reports throughout the grant period. As a member of the Coalition, the City will work with staff from Contra Costa County’s Public Works Department (the “County”), Community Housing Development Corporation of North Richmond (CHDC), and Eden Housing, Inc. (Eden Housing) to provide the consultant(s) with an inventory of residential and commercial sites to complete environmental assessments, which will allow the City to initiate brownfields revitalization. The City will be responsible for the completion and submission of all grant narrative and fund disbursement reporting to the EPA.
As a grantee of the EPA Brownfields Assessment Coalition Grant Program, the City is required to execute a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the County, CHDC, and Eden Housing. The MOA outlines the roles and responsibilities of the Coalition members, the use of Cooperative Agreement funds, and the Five-Site minimum. The
June 21, 2022
City in conjunction with the other Coalition members will develop a list of proposed project sites that includes a minimum of five sites being assessed during the grant term, and each Coalition member having an ownership or controlling interest in at least one site on the list. All selected sites will be submitted to the EPA for prior approval to ensure eligibility.
Prior to the City receiving their second EPA Brownfields Assessment Grant in the amount of $600,000, City staff and Stantec Consulting Services were already engaged in a contract agreement for a previous EPA Brownfields Assessment Grant awarded in the amount of $400,000. A total of $1,000,000 has been awarded to the City through EPA Brownsfield Assessment Grants to date.
Stantec Consulting Services was selected via a Request for Proposals process issued in June 2017. The competitive bidding process included an interview process. The City Council approved the original contract with Stantec on December 5, 2017, and the contract was amended twice for an extension of time and to add an additional scope of work related to grant preparation services to try to secure additional funds for this work.
The requested contract amendment would increase the contract limit by $559,000, and extend the term to December 31, 2024, which is within the EPA Brownfields Assessment Coalition Grant period.
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
Attachment 1 – Brownfields Assessment Coalition Memorandum of Agreement Attachment 2 – Stantec Contract Amendment
Attachment 3 – Stantec Contract with Previous Amendments