City Council Memorandum
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL DATE: november 22, 2022 FROM: COMMUNITY & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT WARDS: ALL
DEPARTMENT
SUBJECT: REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL 2171 – PROFESSIONAL CONSULTANT SERVICES AGREEMENTS WITH CSG CONSULTANTS, INC., OF ORANGE, CALIFORNIA, AND THE CODE GROUP, INC. DBA VCA CODE OF ORANGE, CALIFORNIA, FOR TEMPORARY EMPLOYMENT SERVICE NEEDS OF THE BUILDING & SAFETY DIVISION, FOR THREE YEAR TERMS WITH TWO OPTIONAL ONE-YEAR EXTENSIONS, NOT TO EXCEED $100,000 PER FISCAL YEAR PER AGREEMENT, FOR A TOTAL AMOUNT OF $500,000 PER AGREEMENT ISSUES:
Consideration of a Professional Consultant Services Agreements with CSG Consultants, Inc., of Orange, California, and The Code Group, Inc. dba VCA Code, of Orange, California, for temporary employment service needs of the Building & Safety Division.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
That the City Council:
Approve the Professional Consultant Services Agreement with CSG Consultants, Inc., of Orange, California, for three years, with two optional one-year extensions, not to exceed $100,000 per fiscal year; Authorize the City Manager, or designee, to execute the Professional Consultant Services Agreements and the optional contract extensions, with CSG Consultants, Inc., including making minor and non-substantive changes as necessary; Approve the Professional Consultant Services Agreement with The Code Group, Inc. dba VCA Code, of Orange, California, for three years, with two optional one-year extensions, not to exceed $100,000 per fiscal year; and Authorize the City Manager, or designee, to execute the Professional Consultant Services Agreements and the optional contract extensions, with The Code Group, Inc. dba VCA Code, including making minor and non-substantive changes as necessary.
BACKGROUND:
The Community & Economic Development Department maintains temporary professional consultant services agreements to help augment staff in times of need, including the Building & Safety Division. This is necessary to maintain continuity of operations for development services when staff shortages exist for various reasons, including position vacancies, leave for medical or other reasons, retirements, and during recruitment, to name a few. These specialized support services are also necessary when the volume of work exceeds staff resources to help ensure projects stay on schedule as needed. The type of support includes permit counter and virtual customer support, plan check support, and building inspection services. State building standards law requires municipalities to provide these services to ensure health and safety in the built environment and to maintain continuity of operations during emergencies. This was evident throughout the COVID-19 pandemic as these positions are classified as essential services. Additionally, temporary consultant support allows the organization to maintain the highest standard of customer care possible to help ensure timely services are maintained in conformance with the BUILD Riverside and Streamline Riverside initiatives.
In the spring of 2014, the department released Request for Qualifications (RFQ) No. DSM0001 to meet the interim staffing needs of the Building & Safety Division. On August 19, 2014, the department then executed a Professional Consultant Services Agreement with CSG Consultants, Inc., in the amount of $40,000 per fiscal year. The term of the initial agreement was through June 30, 2017.
On June 9, 2015, City Council approved the First Amendment to the Professional Consultant Services Agreement with CSG Consultants, Inc., increasing the contract by $60,000 for a total sum not to exceed $100,000 per fiscal year through June 30, 2017.
On June 27, 2017, the City Council approved the Second Amendment to the Professional Consultant Services Agreement with CSG Consultants Inc., extending the original agreement for one year, with two optional one-year extensions while maintaining the annual contract cost of $100,000 per fiscal year. Thereafter, both one-year extensions (Third and Fourth Amendments) were granted through June 30, 2020. The total contract amount through June 30, 2020, was $540,000.
On April 21,2020, the City Council approved the Fifth Amendment to the Professional Consultant Services Agreement with CSG Consultants Inc. The agreement was extended an additional two years through June 30, 2022, for a sum not to exceed $100,000 annually, and a total contract amount of $740,000.
To help offset staff shortages due to the impacts of the pandemic, on October 6, 2020, City Council approved the Sixth Amendment to the Professional Consultant Services Agreement with CSG Consultants Inc., to increase the annual cost from $100,000 per fiscal year to $300,000 per fiscal year, which expired on June 30, 2022.
During the last amendment, staff confirmed a plan to release a new Request for Proposals (RFP) to solicit bids for these services. This request is also consistent with and addresses a recommended finding of an audit completed for the Community & Economic Development Department, which noted multiple vendors should be selected to best support Department needs and provide greater levels of flexibility.
DISCUSSION:
Staff released RFP 2171 on March 10, 2022 and received six responsive proposals that were taken into consideration. An evaluation committee was selected from various Departments, including Public Works, Public Utilities and the Community & Economic Development who reviewed each of the proposals in accordance with City Purchasing Resolution requirements and selected the two highest scoring vendors, primarily based on experience, available resources, virtual support, cost, and flexibility of terms.
Initially hired in the spring of 2014, CSG Consultants, Inc. received the highest score among the committee and is an industry leader that has a track record of providing high quality building department support services both here and throughout California. The vendor has served the City of Riverside well in the past and has a strong familiarity with our program, the development community, and our business model. This included onsite support through part-time building inspections and both paper and virtual plan check services, as needed.
The Code Group, Inc. DBA VCA Code also scored highest among the proposals and provides a great deal of experience, flexibility, and technical expertise, both in person and virtually as needed for all the services noted within the RFP.
Several key positions were listed in the RFP: Building Inspector I and II, Permit Technician, Plans Examiner and Senior Plan Check Engineer. These positions are mission critical and listing them ensures the consultant commits to providing the desired technical skills on an as-needed basis. It should be noted that the Division has one pending vacancy at this time for a Plans Examiner that will begin recruitment in November.
Building & Safety continues to experience a high volume of activity which is evident based on the number of permits issued over the past year. The Division issued 5,992 permits which was our highest count since 2006 and accounted for approximately $300,000,000 in permit valuation. The two on-call consultants would immediately help when vacancies occur with processing permit applications, any overflow electronic plan check and field inspection services needed to maintain the highest level of customer service possible.
Lastly, the two proposals collectively represent a $100,000 annual decrease in maximum expenditures for these support services, in comparison with the last agreement authorized by the City Council.
The proposal results for RFP 2171 Interim Staffing Needs for the Building & Safety Division in the Community & Economic Development Department are summarized in the table below:
Proposer
City Location
Proposed Cost
(based on RFP Scope)
Evaluation Scores
CSG Consultants, Inc.
Orange, CA
$530,000
764
The Code Group, Inc.
dba VCA Consultants, Inc.
Orange, CA
$506,000
724
Interwest Consulting Group, Inc.
Huntington Beach, CA
$510,000
710.5
Transtech Engineers, Inc.
Chino, CA
$671,000
695.5
4LEAF, Inc.
Pleasanton, CA
$550,000
671
Sign-IN Solutions, Inc.
Oak Brook, IL
$264,510
295
The Purchasing Manager concurs that the recommended actions are in compliance with Purchasing Resolution No. 23914.
STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT:
This item contributes to Strategic Priority 5 – High Performing Government and Goal 5.2 – Utilize technology, data, and process improvement strategies to increase efficiencies, guide decision making, and ensure services are accessible and distributed equitably throughout all geographic areas of the City.
This item aligns with each of the five Cross-Cutting Threads as follows:
Community Trust – The Professional Consultant Services Agreements will allow Building & Safety to continue to efficiently process permits, plan checks and inspections in a timely manner to ensure community trust in the development process.
Equity – The Professional Consultant Services Agreements will allow Building & Safety to continue providing these specialized services to all permit applicants.
Fiscal Responsibility – The Professional Consultant Services Agreements will allow Building & Safety to continue providing timely in person and virtual services in a cost-effective manner, saving customers time and money.
Innovation – The Professional Consultant Services Agreements will allow Building & Safety to continue working with consultants capable of providing a full range of virtual development services including web-based building permitting and plan check services that serve our community.
Sustainability & Resiliency – The Professional Consultant Services Agreements will allow Building & Safety to maintain continuity of operations in times of need and during emergencies providing a full range of virtual development services.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The fiscal impact of the Professional Consultant Services Agreement with CSG Consultants, Inc. and The Code Group, Inc. DBA VCA Code is $100,000 per fiscal year per agreement for a term of three years, with two optional one-year extensions. The maximum contract value of each agreement would be $500,000, should all extensions be granted. Sufficient funding is budgeted and available in the General Fund, Building & Safety Division, Professional Services account 2825000-421000. Consultant expenditures will not exceed the Council approved budget and appropriations for future fiscal years will be included in the Department’s Budget submissions for those fiscal years to be presented to the City Council for approval.
Prepared by: Chris Christopoulos, Acting Community & Economic Development Director Certified as to
availability of funds: Edward Enriquez, Interim Assistant City Manager/Chief Financial Officer/City Treasurer Approved by: Rafael Guzman, Assistant City Manager
Approved as to form: Phaedra A. Norton, City Attorney
Attachments:
Professional Consultant Services Agreement with CSG Consultants, Inc.
Professional Consultant Services Agreement with The Code Group, Inc. DBA VCA Code RFP Award Recommendation
Professional Consultant Services Agreements – CSG Consultants, Inc. and The Code Group, Inc. DBA VCA Code, Inc. Page 3