DATE: JANUARY 11, 2022
DEPARTMENT: COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
FROM: MEGAN HUNTER, DIRECTOR
BY: TERESA KISTLER, REVENUE OFFICER
ANGELINE SICKLER, SENIOR PLAN CHECK ENGINEER
THROUGH: LISA BRINTON, PLANNING MANAGER
TITLE: AMENDMENT NO. 1 TO AGREEMENT FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES WITH CSG CONSULTANTS, INC.
RECOMMENDED MOTION:
A motion to approve a resolution 1) authorizing the Mayor to execute Amendment No. 1 to the Agreement for Professional Services (Agreement) with CSG Consultants, Inc. to increase the total not to exceed compensation amount to $950,000 and 2) authorize an increase of $600,000 to the Permit Services Fund and corresponding revenue budget.
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the City Council approve the attached resolution 1) authorizing the Mayor to execute Amendment No. 1 to the Agreement with CSG Consultants, Inc. to increase the total not to exceed compensation amount for plan review, permitting and inspection services from $350,000 to $950,000 and 2) authorize an increase of $600,000 to the Permit Services Fund and corresponding revenue budget.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The Permit Services Division relies on outside technical professionals to assist with plan review, permitting and inspection services. Contracting for these services allows for the scaling up of experienced technical staffing to be able to respond in a timely manner to increases in the number of development applications due to economic growth, particularly for major, more complicated development projects. Since 2020, the City has contracted with CSG Consultants, Inc. to provide plan review, permitting and inspection services. The current Agreement with CSG for FY 2021-2021 sets the total not to exceed compensation amount at $350,000. Subsequently, multiple large and complex development project applications have been received. Due to limited staffing resources and position vacancies, additional outside professional services are needed to review and process these applications in a timely manner. The proposed Amendment No. 1 to the Agreement with CSG increases the not to exceed compensation amount of $350,000 to $950,000 for Fiscal Year 2021-2022, an increase of $600,000. Funding for Amendment No. 1 will be fully covered with the collection of fees through the Permit Services Enterprise Fund. It is recommended that the Council approve a resolution authorizing the Mayor to execute Amendment No. 1 to the Agreement with CSG Consultants, Inc.
BACKGROUND:
Since 2020, the Permit Services Division has contracted with CSG Consultants, Inc. to augment the plan review, permitting and inspection capacity of the Permit Center. CSG has extensive knowledge and experience in providing technical services to building departments in multiple jurisdictions in California. The firm provides services and staff specifically tailored to manage the development process and all levels of plan review, permitting, and inspection services. All contract staff hold the required certifications to conduct the assigned duties. At this time, there are no other vendors within the City of Salinas or County of Monterey that can perform this level of work. The FY 2021-2022 Agreement with CSG for technical staffing and services sets a total not to exceed compensation amount of $350,000.
DISCUSSION:
Since entering into the 2021-2022 Agreement with CSG, multiple large and complex development applications have been submitted. Scalable resources are necessary for the Permit Center to respond to these new applications in a timely manner and are the driver for the proposed amendment. The proposed Amendment No.1 increases the total not to exceed compensation amount to $950,000, which is paid on a time and materials basis, according to the rates of compensation set in Exhibit B to the Agreement and provided as Attachment 4 to this report.
Amendment No. 1 will allow the Permit Center the flexibility to use CSG technical staff and services to address Permit Center staffing shortfalls and the current increase in workload. The Permit Services Division has been able to fill a second Senior Plan Check Engineer position; however, the Building Inspector and Building Official positions remain vacant. Large and complex projects pose the greatest issue of balancing staff time between focusing on those more complex tasks, while still providing the required customer service for the smaller, routine projects.
Permit Services is proposing to amend the Agreement with CSG because of their expertise and demonstrated ability to provide a full complement of cost effective and efficient services. Because they have been providing permitting services in Salinas for years, their contract staff has knowledge of the City and our customer base and therefore, are able to provide more efficient building official, plan review and inspection, and enhanced customer service. The Permit Center has utilized CSG for projects such as the Love’s Travel Center, the Parkside Phase 1 affordable housing project, North Salinas Valley Mosquito Abatement District Facility, Chick-Fil-A at Northridge Mall, and a new storage facility on Westridge Parkway. Contracting with new companies would require additional staff training and would be more expensive. While staff is always searching for local preferred providers, there are currently no vendors within the City of Salinas or the County of Monterey that can perform this level of work.
CEQA CONSIDERATION:
The proposed action of amending the Agreement is not a project as defined by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) (CEQA Guidelines Section 15378).
OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCIES:
The use of contract technical staff and services supports City Council’s goals of Operational Efficiencies and New Revenue by augmenting Permit Center operations to facilitate the plan review, permitting and inspection of multiple large projects, which if constructed, would result in new revenue to the City.
DEPARTMENTAL COORDINATION:
This report and Amendment No. 1 was prepared by the Community Development Department Permit Services Division in collaboration with the City Attorney’s Office, and Finance Department.
FISCAL AND SUSTAINABILITY IMPACT:
There is no direct or indirect cost to the General Fund. The additional cost of $600,000 for increased CSG staff and services will be fully recovered with the collection of fees through the Permit Center Enterprise Fund which was established in July 2017.
ATTACHMENTS:
Resolution authorizing Mayor to execute Amendment No. 1 Amendment No. 1 to CSG Agreement for Professional Services June 2021 CSG Agreement for Professional Services
FY 2021-2022 CSG Contract Rates
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