101 Progress, Suite 250, Irvine, CA 92618 p: 949.655.3900 f: 866.785.0180 www.WeAreHarris.com April 3, 2024
Kevin Werner, PE
City of Ripon
City Administrator/City Engineer
259 N. Wilma Avenue
Ripon, CA 95366
AMENDMENT REQUEST: FIRE SUPPRESSION DISTRICT FORMATION
Dear Kevin,
Based on our conversation, concerning the Ripon Fire Suppression District Formation project, we are requesting an amendment to our fees to cover additional work that was required due to the delay in the project requiring a rework of much of the information. A summary of the request and the amount of the request are shown below.
The reason for our request is largely due to project delays that required additional staff time at increased hourly rates, that had not been anticipated in our original budget. The project was originally started in October 2021. At that time, Harris had drafted the methodology and Engineer’s Report, and had applied the methodology to the assessable parcels. There was an 18-month delay following this, during which time extensive public outreach efforts occurred. When the project was restarted, it was necessary to revisit and update the work that had already been completed before we could issue the preliminary Engineer’s Report. These updates included the following:
• Update the parcel database.
• Review parcel discrepancies identified when comparing the existing fire fee data and the data used for the new fire assessment. This included verification of land uses and building sizes. • Review and update the assessment methodology with new data. • Review and update the general vs. special benefit analysis. • Incorporate updated budget figures into the assessment model for multiple revised budgets provided by the fire district.
• Attend additional coordination meetings and calls due to the extension of the project. • Revise Engineer’s Report to incorporate revised information.
In addition to the above, our original agreement with the City of Ripon for this project, dated October 12, 2021, expired on October 12, 2023. Our hourly rate schedule that the original budget was based on have since increased as the result of inflation. We are including a small adjustment of $500 for this increase in our amendment request for finishing phase
4. Although we are requesting an amendment of $16,500, as shown below, our total over-budget amount exceeds $35,000.
As a result, Harris is absorbing the remaining amount.
2 Per the above, we are requesting the following amendment to our fee.
Phase 1 Evaluate Adoption of Fire Suppression Assessment $8,500 Phase 3 Prepare Engineer’s Report $7,500
Phase 4 - Printing and Mailing of Property Owner Notice and Ballot* $500 Total Budget Amendment $16,500
*Does not include postage or out of pocket costs for printing, these are to be paid by City/Fire District directly.
This amendment will bring the total project budget to $162,436, as shown below.
Budget Update Sub-Consultant Fees Harris Fees
Original Budget $74,365 $43,715
Amendment No. 1 $14,000 $13,820
Amendment No. 2 -- $16,500
Subtotal Project Budget $88,365 $74,071
Total Project Budget $162,436
We appreciate and look forward to the opportunity to continue working with the City of Ripon and the Ripon Fire Protection District. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Harris & Associates, Inc.
Rick Clark
Project Manager, Municipal + District Finance
(949) 536-2526 [email protected]
cc: Dennis Bitters, Fire Chief
Ripon Fire Suppression District
Donna Segura
Director, Municipal + District Finance
(949) 536-2512 [email protected]
BUDGET AMENDMENT