City Council Memorandum
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL DATE: March 19, 2024 FROM: COMMUNITY & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT WARD: ward 1 DEPARTMENT SUBJECT: PROFESSIONAL CONSULTANT SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH LAMPLIGHTER ENERGY, INC. FOR MASTER SITE DESIGN SERVICES FOR THE NORTHSIDE AGRICULTURE INNOVATION CENTER IN THE AMOUNT OF $556,275 INCLUDING A 15% CHANGE ORDER AUTHORITY OF $83,441.25 FOR A TOTAL AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $639,716.25.
ISSUE:
Approve a Professional Consultant Services Agreement with Lamplighter Energy, Inc. for architectural and engineering design services for the Northside Agriculture Innovation Center located at 895 and 900 Clark Street, in the amount of $556,275, including a 15% change order authority in the amount of $83,441.25 for a total not-to-exceed amount of $639,716.25.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
That the City Council:
Approve a Professional Consultant Services Agreement with Lamplighter Energy, Inc., in the amount of $556,275 for architectural and engineering design services for the Northside Agriculture Innovation Center located at 895 and 900 Clark Street; Authorize a 15% change order authority in an amount up to $83,441.25 for project changes including, but not limited to, unforeseen conditions, owner-requested changes, and necessary design improvements for a total contract amount of $639,716.25; and Authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to execute the Professional Consultant Services Agreement with Lamplighter Energy, Inc. including making any minor, non-substantive changes, and sign all documents necessary for the completion of architectural and engineering design services for the Northside Agriculture Innovation Center.
BACKGROUND:
The Northside Agriculture Innovation Center is a community-led initiative created to build regional workforce capacity, foster innovation, entrepreneurship and tech-enabled business creation around modern, sustainable agriculture and food production technologies. This multi-phase 8.8 acres project located in the City of Riverside will provide needed infrastructure and state-of-the-art demonstration and training for local schools from K-PhD. The City of Riverside has already secured over $9.8 million in local, state, and private funds for site acquisition and development, and initial funds for workforce training. Once complete, the Northside Agriculture Innovation Center will offer a multitude of experiential education and hands-on training and ag start-up creation opportunities. Nearly two-dozen partners are engaged in the project, including University of California, Riverside, California State University, San Bernadino and Riverside County Workforce Development Boards, Riverside Community College District, Riverside Food Systems Alliance, Riverside Unified School District Food Hub, University of California Cooperative Extension, Riverside-Corona Resource Conservation District, Riverside Garden Council, and Huerta del Valle among others.
The final conceptual site plan is depicted below with four distinct sections.
The Northside Agriculture Innovation Center encompasses several key elements:
Workforce Development (Sections 1, 2, 3, and 4):
State-of-the-art solar photovoltaic greenhouses to facilitate workforce development programs in climate-smart and controlled environment agricultural to prepare a highly skilled workforce and next-generation farmers.
Research and demonstration of agrivoltaics (the integration of solar photovoltaic panels over soil-based agricultural activities) to support applied research and training in emerging dual-use agrivoltaic practices.
Over 1.5 acres open-space for soil-based beginning farmer training.
Additional future opportunities include collaboration with partners to establish an on-stie microgrid to support research and training in solar renewable energy management and multi-sector connectivity.
Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Sections 1, 2, 3 and 4):
Solar greenhouses, coworking spaces, and incubation facilities to:
Train at least 350 individuals annually; and
Incubate 6-10 new farmers and ag tech start-ups annually with an estimated 25 companies launched over 10 years.
Specialized agriculture-based education and training will be delivered by accredited instructors and business mentorship via seasoned entrepreneurs in residence and education partners.
Community Engagement (Sections 1, 2 and 4):
Open-space and amenities for community events including a community garden, indoor/outdoor event spaces, and a co-work learning center to support a variety of urban agriculture programs.
A demonstration greenhouse in climate-smart agriculture and a teaching kitchen.
Approximately ½ mile of trails around the site with interpretive signs.
Carbon Sequestration via Urban Greening (entire site):
Nearly seven acres of open space with planting of 450+ trees and healthy soils farming practices to demonstrate heat island mitigation and carbon-sequestration functions provided by the site’s green infrastructure and working (agricultural) landscape.
Demonstration of how agricultural practices and landscape management can mitigate climate change impacts.
The total project budget is estimated at $31.4 million. To date, over $9.8 million, which represents 32% of the project cost, from public funds and private investments been committed to the Northside Agriculture Innovation Center; the allocation of funding is summarized in the graph below.
On April 25, 2023, the City Council approved a lease/lease-back agreement with Northside Solar Farm, LLC. to construct solar PV facilities generating approximately 750 kilowatts of electricity. These solar facilities include solar PV greenhouses for workforce development programs and incubation of ag-tech startups, solar photovoltaic panels for agrivoltaic activities, and other solar infrastructure at the Northside Agriculture Innovation Center to support research, demonstration, and training programs.
In December 2023, the Northside Agriculture Innovation Center was selected by the Energy Analysis & Environmental Impacts Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab to serve as one of five national test beds to participate in a U.S. Department of Energy funded controlled environment agriculture market accelerator initiative. The Northside Agriculture Innovation Center’s stakeholder partners’ forthcoming work and programs in controlled environment agriculture will help inform Lawrence Berkely National Lab efforts in developing a controlled environment agriculture (CEA) market accelerator toolkit and the technologies contributing to water and energy efficiency in CEA operations.
DISCUSSION:
On April 23, 2023, the City Council directed staff to draft a Professional Services Agreement with Lamplighter Energy, Inc. to complete the Northside Agriculture Innovation Center’s master site designs and return to City Council for its review and approval. City staff received a proposal from Lamplighter Energy, Inc. for master site design services for the Northside Agriculture Innovation Center and negotiated a fee of $556,275. The Northside Agriculture Innovation Center scope of services include the following tasks:
Project Management – for design services with kickoff, progress and coordination meetings; invoice reports; project schedule; and coordination with project team; Schematic Design – including site plan development, planning concepts, site circulation, landscaping, and outdoor landscape and hardscape.
Site Inventory and Analysis – research and analyze the existing data, infrastructure, and facilities. Survey the site to gather remaining data necessary to complete the site design; Bid-Ready Construction Documents – develop and prepare schematic designs landscape, infrastructure (water, electric, septic), trails, and farming areas for Department approval and prepare a complete bid permit-ready document package for the City use in obtaining and awarding a licensed contractor for the construction of the project; and Construction Support – support city staff and contracted construction vendors during the construction phase.
Due to their expertise in agricultural site development, Staff recommends a Single Source Professional Consultant Services Agreement with Lamplighter Energy, Inc. for architectural and engineering design services for the Northside Agriculture Innovation Center in the amount of $556,275, including a 15% change order authority in the amount of $83,441.25 for a total not-to-exceed amount of $639,716.25. The April 23, 2023 staff report specified the Purchasing Manager determined and approved the use of Purchasing Resolution No. 23914 Section 702 (n), which states that “Competitive Procurement through the Informal Procurement and Formal Procurement process shall not be required when it is determined by the Manager to be in the best interest of the City to do so.” Upon City Council’s approval of the proposal for master site design services and the subsequent execution of the agreement by both parties, design services are anticipated to be completed within six months, pending approval from City departments. Master design services will include the production of permit-ready documents for City staff to solicit bids for construction of Phase 1. Phase 1 includes utility and water infrastructure installation, site trail construction, installation of 450+ trees, a 30-plot community garden, and designated spaces for in-ground farmer training programs and new farmer incubation. Construction of Phase 1 is anticipated to begin in the fourth quarter of 2024 and completed by the spring of 2025. These Phase 1 activities will coincide with the construction and installation of solar photovoltaic facilities at the project site.
Phase 2 of the Northside Agriculture Innovation Center includes securing additional capital stack funding for Phase 2 development and its construction. Specifically, Phase 2 includes the build out of the hardscape, a 14,000+ square feet co-work learning center and outdoor pavilion in Section 1 of the project site; and on-site waste water infrastructure, street improvements, and sitewide hardscape.
Purchasing Resolution 23914 Section 702(d) states that “When the Procurement can only be obtained timely from a single source and the Manager is satisfied that the best price, terms and conditions for the Procurement thereof have been negotiated.” The Purchasing Manager concurs that the recommended actions are in compliance with Purchasing Resolution No. 23914 Section 702(d).
The General Services Director also concurs with the recommendation.
The Office of Sustainability also supports the Northside Agriculture Innovation Center for its multiple benefits. Agrivoltaics pairs solar power generation with agriculture, generating renewable energy, and providing space for crops and pollinator and native habitats beneath and between solar panels. Solar panels can offer plants partial shade and protection from extreme heat and drought, while evapotranspiration from plants can cool solar panels and improve their energy generation. Transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable forms of energy can reduce carbon emissions and slow the effects of climate change. Solar-powered greenhouses also lower carbon emissions and aid in preventing climate change by relying on sustainable energy sources while producing food for local communities. By maintaining constant temperatures and lighting, solar-powered greenhouses can prolong the growing season for crops, enabling farmers to cultivate crops all year long. Farmers can optimize crop development circumstances in solar-powered greenhouses' controlled environments, thereby increasing yields on higher-quality crops with fewer pests and diseases. Solar-powered greenhouses help to advance sustainable agriculture.
STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT:
The Northside Agriculture Innovation Center project contributes to the following Strategic Priorities and Goals:
Arts, Culture and Recreation: Provide diverse community experiences and personal enrichment opportunities for people of all ages.
Goal 1.5: Support programs and amenities to further develop literacy, health, and education of children, youth, and seniors throughout the community.
Community Well-Being: Ensure safe and inclusive neighborhoods where everyone can thrive.
Goal 2.6: Strengthen community preparedness for emergencies to ensure effective response and recovery.
Economic Opportunity: Champion a thriving, enduring economy that provides opportunity for all.
Goal 3.1: Facilitate partnerships and programs to develop, attract and retain innovative business sectors.
Goal 3.2: Work with key partners in implementing workforce development programs and initiatives that connect local workers with high quality employment opportunities and provide access to education and training in Riverside.
Goal 3.3: Cultivate a business climate that welcomes innovation, entrepreneurship, and investment.
Goal 3.4: Collaborate with key partners to implement policies and programs that promote local business growth and ensure equitable opportunities for all.
Goal 3.5: Lead public-private partnerships to build resources and grow the capacity of the local food system.
Environmental Stewardship: Champion proactive and equitable climate solutions based in science to ensure clean air, safe water, a vibrant natural world, and a resilient new green economy for current and future generations.
Goal 4.5: Maintain and conserve 30% of Riverside’s natural lands in green space including, but not limited to, agricultural lands and urban forests to protect and restore Riverside’s rich biodiversity and accelerate the natural removal of carbon, furthering our community’s climate resilience.
Infrastructure, Mobility & Connectivity: Ensure safe, reliable infrastructure that benefits the community and facilitates connection between people, place and information.
Goal 6.2: Maintain, protect, and improve assets and infrastructure within the City’s built environment to ensure and enhance reliability, resiliency, sustainability, and facilitate connectivity.
Collaboration with Lamplighter Energy, Inc. at the Northside Agriculture Innovation Center aligns with each of the five Cross-Cutting Threads as follows:
1. Community Trust – The concept of the Northside Agriculture Innovation Center has been developed in collaboration with and is driven by community members and food systems stakeholders. As a community-based project, the Northside Center reflects a sustainable approach to achieving food systems priorities through education, employment and training, environmental stewardship, and increasing food resiliency.
2. Equity – The Northside Agriculture Innovation Center outcomes benefit the entire community as a community-based project. The project’s built environment as provided by the trails, carbon-sequestering green infrastructure, and solar facilities enhances placed-based programs for underrepresented individuals and the project itself is located in an underserved community.
3. Fiscal Responsibility – The Northside Agriculture Innovation Center has wholly been funded by grant funds and private investments, thereby leveraging resources brought to the table by multiple project partners, and further enhanced with private investment from the solar facilities. Multiple elements at the project are expected to generate revenues to help support programming and third-party site management to ensure long term sustainability.
4. Innovation – The Northside Agriculture Innovation Center will be a regional flagship urban center demonstrating climate-smart technologies in agriculture. This project demonstrates how private, public, and non-profit collaboration brings about innovation with outside-the-box approaches to address a multitude of concurrent challenges and opportunities in the region’s food ecosystem resiliency.
5. Sustainability & Resiliency – The project transforms over eight acres of open space into an urban greening project with multiple benefits to achieve a triple bottom line: spurring economic opportunities by providing workforce training and new farmer and ag tech incubation; increasing food access and community resources in an underserved community; and the responsible stewardship of natural resources demonstrating multiple benefits.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The total fiscal impact of this action is $639,716, which includes a contingency of $83,441.25. Sufficient funds are budgeted and available in the funds and programs as outlined in Table 1 below.
Table 1. Funding Sources
Fund
Program
Account
Amount
Development Grants
Urban Greening Grant – Project Management
9339130-440210
$87,575.00
Urban Greening Grant – Match
9339140-440301
$422,273.25
General Fund
Agriculture Innovation Center
9916500-440446
$129,868.00
Total
$639,716.25
Table 2. Master Site Design Services Costs
Design Contract Award
$556,275.00
Design Contingency / Change Order Authority, 15%
$83,441.25
Total
$639,716.25
Prepared by: Joyce Jong, Sr. Project Manager
Approved by: Jennifer Lilley, Community & Economic Development Director Certified as to
availability of funds: Kristie Thomas, Finance Director/Assistant Chief Financial Officer Approved by: Rafael Guzman, Assistant City Manager
Approved as to form: Phaedra A. Norton, City Attorney
Attachments:
Professional Consultant Services Agreement
Presentation
Master Development Agreement for Northside Agriculture Innovation Center