City Council Memorandum
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL DATE: APRIL 8, 2025 FROM: COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT WARD: ALL
DEPARTMENT
SUBJECT: PROFESSIONAL CONSULTANT SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH ECS IMAGING INC. OF RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA, FOR THE ELECTRONIC PLAN AND DOCUMENT ARCHIVING SERVICE NEEDS OF THE BUILDING AND SAFETY DIVISION, FROM REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) NO. 2274, FOR A THREE YEAR TERM WITH TWO OPTIONAL ONE YEAR EXTENSIONS, NOT TO EXCEED $50,000 PER FISCAL YEAR FOR A TOTAL COMPENSATION AMOUNT OF $250,000.
ISSUES:
Approve a Professional Consultant Services Agreement with ECS Imaging Inc. of Riverside, California, for the electronic plan and document archiving service needs of the Building and Safety Division, for Request for Proposal (RFP) No. 2274, for a three year term with two optional one year extensions not to exceed $50,000 per fiscal year, for a total compensation amount of $250,000.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
That the City Council:
Approve a Professional Consultant Services Agreement with ECS Imaging Inc. of Riverside, CA for Request for Proposal (RFP) No. 2274, for the electronic plan and document archiving service needs of the Building & Safety Division, for a three-year term with two optional one-year extensions for an annual amount not to exceed $50,000 per fiscal year, for a total contract amount of $250,000; and Authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to execute the Professional Consultant Services Agreement with ECS Imaging Inc, including making minor and non-substantive changes.
BACKGROUND:
Health and Safety Code Section 19850 requires retention of City approved building plans which must be maintained by the Building & Safety Division. Previous analysis found that outsourcing these services is more cost effective than maintaining the City’s outdated microfilm database or for the procurement of the necessary software, equipment and hiring of City staff to perform the required imaging services.
The services outlined in the Professional Services Agreement are paid for by a fee collected from each applicant during the Building & Safety permitting process. Pursuant to the State of California, Health and Safety Code Section 19850, the fees shall be utilized by, “the building department in maintaining the official copy of the plans of buildings, for which it has issued a building permit.” Since May 2005, the Building & Safety Division of the Community & Economic Development Department has contracted with consultants to provide archiving services for building plans and other related documents.
The Building & Safety Division, along with support from the Innovation & Technology Department, maintains this aspect of the City’s overall Records Management Program, including a Laserfiche EDMS (Electronic Document Management System) imaging system. Electronic documents can be accessed and retrieved through Laserfiche at computers throughout the City network.
Documents range in size from business cards, index cards, photographs, standard letters, calculations, permit records, reports, and legal-size paper to large format building plan documents and may utilize various templates for data entry.
The project focuses on the maintenance of scanning all offsite storage of permanent records (i.e. plans and supporting documents) into electronic format, along with the archival of the Divisions electronic plan review documents currently stored within its e-Plan software solution, Computronix POSSE System. The City’s Laserfiche plans and supporting documents repository has approximately 2,388,830 files and images that equate to 703.21 GB of data. The number is provided only as a reference point and is not a guarantee that the quantity will remain throughout the contract.
DISCUSSION:
In June 2017, the City Council approved a professional services consultant agreement with ECS Imaging Inc., with an initial three-year term and optional one-year extensions which expired June 30, 2023. Due to unforeseen staffing circumstances and the need not to interrupt this important service, an intermittent, temporary contract of $25,000 was executed with ECS Imaging Inc. for these services while also moving forward with a new RFP process to provide these archiving services.
On October 5, 2023, the Purchasing Division of the Finance Department issued RFP No. 2274 through the online bidding system, Planet Bids, seeking consultant services from experienced firms to provide an electronic plan archiving service of plans, permits and supporting documents for the City’s permanent records. A total of 47 City of Riverside vendors and 500 external vendors were notified. A total of 31 prospective bidders downloaded the RFP.
RFP No. 2274 closed on November 10, 2023, and a total of five proposals were submitted.
On November 15, 2023, under the guidance of the Purchasing Division, an Evaluation Committee was formed consisting of three City staff members. The Evaluation Committee independently scored each proposal. The evaluation criteria, total points and rankings for each evaluation round are summarized in the tables below.
Evaluation Criteria
Approach and Methodology
10%
Experience (Projects of similar size and scope)
20%
Professional References
10%
Qualifications
35%
Cost Evaluation
25%
Evaluation Results
VENDOR
LOCATION
TOTAL COST
TOTAL SCORE
RANK
ECS Imaging, Inc.
Riverside, CA
$53.12
965.00
1 United Records Management
Valencia, CA
$177.74
830.00
2 Complete Paperless Solutions
Anaheim, CA
$122.39
778.00
3 TSC, LLC
Diamond Bar, CA
$181.95
773.33
4 Debi McCluskey Co.
Corona, CA
$193.57
758.33
5 Upon review of all proposals, ECS Imaging, Inc. received the highest rating based on the criteria outlined in the RFP. The RFP was initially scheduled to award in the beginning of 2024; however, due to staffing challenges and unforeseen events, the project’s progress has been slower than anticipated. To address the significant delay the Purchasing Department reviewed and discussed with the Departments a revised timeline. The Purchasing staff then reached out to the highest ranked proposer to ensure the vendor was able to provide the services at the previously negotiated cost. As a result, the vendor was able to confirm and still provide the services as requested.
ECS Imaging, Inc. is a well-known company that scans and coordinates the archiving of documents, plan sheets, etc. for many cities, school districts, etc. nationwide. Additionally, ECS Imaging, Inc. is a local company located within City limits.
Purchasing Resolution 24101, Section 508 Awards states, “Contracts procured through Formal Procurement shall be awarded by the Awarding Entity to the Lowest Responsive and Responsible Bidder, except that: (c) Contracts procured through Formal Procurement for Services or Professional Services, where a Request for Proposals or Request for Qualifications was used to solicit Bids, shall be awarded by the Awarding Entity in accordance with the evaluation criteria set forth in the Request for Proposals or Request for Qualifications.” The Purchasing Manager is in concurrence with the recommended actions are in accordance with Purchasing Resolution 24101, Section 508 (c).
The Chief Innovation Officer is in concurrence with this action.
STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT:
The work contributes to the “High Performing Government” priority of the Envision Riverside 2025 Strategic Plan, which aims to provide world class public service that is efficient, accessible and responsive to all.
The work contributes to goal 5.2, to 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 City archiving development related data provides for timely and reliable information for both internal and external needs.
Equity – The archiving of development related data provides for the equitable distribution of services to ensure efficient access to permit records.
Fiscal Responsibility – This item ensures fiscal responsibility by properly expensing fees for their intended use.
Innovation – Riverside is committed to responding to the changing needs and preparing for the future through providing effective, efficient and sustainable access to permit records and related data.
Sustainability & Resiliency – The Community and Economic Development Department is committed to meeting the needs of the present without compromising the needs of the future and ensuring the City’s capacity to persevere, adapt and grow during good and difficult times alike.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The fiscal impact of the Professional Service Agreement with ECS Imaging Inc is $50,000 per year. The agreement has a three-year contract term with two optional one-year extensions for a total five-year amount of up to $250,000. Funding is budgeted and available in current year adopted budget in the General Fund, Community and Economic Development, Building & Safety account number 2825000-425301. Funding for future fiscal years will utilize existing budgets in order to cover the costs for the remainder of the contract.
Prepared by: Oscar Mancillas, Building Official
Approved by: Jennifer A. Lilley, Community & Economic Development Director Certified as to
availability of funds: Kristie Thomas, Finance Director/Assistant Chief Financial Officer Approved by: Mike Futrell, City Manager
Approved as to form: Jack Liu, Interim City Attorney
Attachments:
Professional Consultant Services Agreement
Award Recommendation
RFP 2274- ECS Imaging Inc. ● Page 4