Agenda Item: 11
CITY OF SANTA CLARITA
AGENDA REPORT
CONSENT CALENDAR
CITY MANAGER APPROVAL:
DATE: December 12, 2023
SUBJECT: STORMWATER PERMIT COMPLIANCE SOFTWARE CONTRACT WITH 2ND NATURE
DEPARTMENT: Neighborhood Services
PRESENTER: Darin Seegmiller
RECOMMENDED ACTION
City Council:
1. Award a three-year contract to 2ND NATURE for a stormwater permit compliance software in the amount of $90,000 and authorize a contingency in the amount of $9,000 for a total amount not to exceed $99,000.
2. Authorize the City Manager or designee to execute up to two additional one-year renewal options beginning in year four, not to exceed the annual contract amount, plus an adjustment in compensation consistent with the appropriate Consumer Price Index, upon request of the contractor, and contingent upon the appropriation of funds by the City Council in the annual budget for such fiscal year.
3. Authorize the City Manager or designee to execute all contracts and associated documents, subject to City Attorney approval.
BACKGROUND
The City of Santa Clarita (City) must comply with the requirements of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) Permit Order No. R4-2021-0105 (Permit), which became effective September 11, 2021. This Permit is the basis of the stormwater program. Additionally, the City must implement an area-specific Watershed Management Plan (WMP) for the Upper Santa Clara River.
Over the years with multiple iterations of the Permit, compliance has become increasingly complex. Record-keeping of essential duties of the stormwater program are required to be tracked, analyzed, and reported to demonstrate the City’s compliance with the Permit.
Additionally, data on other City functions such as development and capital improvement projects throughout the City that affect water-quality are required to be reported.
• City functions that need to be tracked and reported include:
• Catch-basin cleaning
• Trash-excluder maintenance
• Construction site inspections
• Industrial inspections
• Commercial inspections
• Post-construction treatment device inspections
• Illicit-discharges to the storm drain
• Storm drain outfalls with associated drainage areas
• Receiving waters
• Low-impact development construction and maintenance
• Capital improvement treatment device project construction and maintenance
Staff previously relied on using multiple programs to track and report information, including individual Excel data-sheets, internal databases, and geographical information systems (GIS).
However, the increasing requirements make these efforts more difficult.
Due to the unique functions of the stormwater program and details needed to comply with the Permit obligations, reporting requirements, and water quality data need, it was staff's desire to partner with technical firms that have experience with stormwater management software. A Request for Proposal (RFP) for the project was prepared and posted on BidNet on September 6, 2023. On October 6, 2023, four firms submitted proposals. Proposals were evaluated based on set criteria, including firm qualifications, addressing stormwater permit requirements, providing a user-friendly interface, program management, compatibility, and cost. Staff reviewed the proposals and, based on their evaluations, scored the firms on a 100-point scale as follows:
Bidder Location Score (/100)
2ND NATURE Santa Cruz, CA 85.8
NJB Soft, LLC. Phoenix, AZ 75.6
Assetas Inc. Denver, CO 66.8
SwiftComply Pleasanton, CA 66.4
Based in Santa Cruz, California, 2ND NATURE has experience with other municipalities complying with requirements from the California Water Board and Federal Clean Water Act.
The 2ND NATURE team has professional expertise in watershed hydrology, pollution dynamics, water quality monitoring, biogeochemical cycling, and NPDES permit requirements. The 2ND NATURE team also has experience with spatial analytics, numeric and statistical modeling, database construction, data visualization, and development of high-performance web applications. The outcome of using this software will help with overall management of the stormwater program, ease staff time spent on data-collection for reporting, and accelerate the pace in which the stormwater program can move away from paper records and the use of multiple information systems for record-keeping and analytics. Staff recommends awarding a
contract to 2ND NATURE.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION
Other action as determined by the City Council.
FISCAL IMPACT
Adequate funds are available in Fund 356 Stormwater Utility to support the recommended action.
ATTACHMENTS
2ND NATURE Proposal (available in the City Clerk's Reading File) 2ND NATURE Cost (available in the City Clerk's Reading File)