City Council Memorandum
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL DATE: January 13, 2026 FROM: COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT WARD: ALL
DEPARTMENT
SUBJECT: TERMINATE THE PROFESSIONAL CONSULTANT SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH ECS IMAGING, INC, OF RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA, TO PROVIDE ELECTRONIC PLAN AND DOCUMENT ARCHIVING SERVICES FOR THE BUILDING AND SAFETY DIVISION, FOR A THREE YEAR TERM WITH TWO OPTIONAL ONE YEAR EXTENSIONS.
ISSUE:
Terminate the Professional Consultant Services Agreement with ECS Imaging Inc. of Riverside, California, to provide electronic plan and document archiving service needs of the Building and Safety Division.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
That the City Council:
Terminate the executed agreement with ECS Imaging, Inc. pursuant to the termination for convenience clause in the agreement, as the vendor is unable to fulfill the pricing and terms originally proposed under RFP No. 2274 due to a material change in ownership and business conditions; and Authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to terminate the Professional Consultant Services Agreement with ECS Imaging Inc, including a notice of termination and making minor and non-substantive changes as necessary.
BACKGROUND:
Health and Safety Code Section 19850 required 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 Previous analysis found that outsourcing these services is more cost effective than maintaining the City’s outdated microfilm database or for the procurement of the necessary software, equipment and hiring of City staff to perform the required imaging services.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 to maintain 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 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 following tables.
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
Proposal Withdrawn*
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 *Vendor withdrew proposal
Upon review of all proposals, ECS Imaging, Inc. received the highest rating based on the evaluation criteria outlined in RFP No. 2274. The RFP was originally scheduled for award in early 2024; however, in 2025 due to staffing challenges and unforeseen events, the project’s progress experienced significant delays. To address the extended timeline, the Purchasing Division worked with the Department to establish a revised schedule. As part of this process, purchasing staff contacted the highest-ranked proposer, ECS Imaging, Inc., to confirm their ability to honor the pricing and terms originally submitted in response to the RFP. The vendor confirmed they could honor the pricing.
After the execution of the agreement, staff were informed that ECS Imaging, Inc., had been acquired by MCCi LLC. Following this acquisition, the vendor indicated they would no longer honor the original pricing submitted under RFP No. 2274. As a result, staff is recommending that the executed agreement with ECS Imaging, Inc. be terminated, as the terms proposed can no longer be fulfilled. Staff is currently preparing an informal bid to cover the interim services and anticipate releasing a new RFP in the near future.
The Chief Innovation Officer and Purchasing Manager concur with this action.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Termination of the agreement will eliminate the contractual obligation of approximately $50,000 annually during the initial term.
City staff is preparing an informal bid to provide interim services and anticipates issuing a new RFP in the near future. Costs associated with interim or replacement services will be addressed through existing appropriations or brought forward for Council consideration as part of a subsequent contract award.
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: Rebecca McKee-Reimbold, Interim City Attorney Attachments:
Professional Consultant Services Agreement
Rescind Recommendation
Draft Termination Letter
RFP 2274- ECS Imaging Inc. ● Page 4