City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: January 27, 2026
Agenda Item: 4.E
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To: Mayor and City Council
From: Jing Yeo, Director, Administration
Subject: Approval of First Modification to Agreement with Cotton, Shires & Associates for Geotechnical Engineering Services
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Adopt a finding of no possibility of signification effect pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) (Common Sense Exemption) of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines; and
2. Authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute a first modification to agreement #11275 (CCS) in the amount of $180,000 with Cotton, Shires and Associates, Inc. for geotechnical engineering services for the Community Development Department. This will result in a five-year amended agreement with a new total amount not to exceed $405,000, with future year funding contingent on Council budget approval.
Summary
The Building and Safety Division contracts Cotton, Shires and Associates, Inc. (CSA) to provide the City of Santa Monica with review of geotechnical investigation reports which are required by both California Building and Residential Codes. The geotechnical investigation reports are prepared by licensed geotechnical engineers, and they need to be reviewed by a licensed geotechnical engineer. The City does not have these engineers on staff and relies on CSA to provide their review service. The volume of work performed by CSA has increased significantly over the past two years, which has depleted the contract authority for this agreement faster than anticipated. Staff recommends increasing the funding for this agreement by $180,000, for a total not to exceed amount of $405,000.
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Discussion
CSA has provided geotechnical engineering services to the Building and Safety division since 2012, when a formal RFP was issued for these services and CSA was selected as the winning proposal. Since 2012, these services have gone through the RFP process every five years: once in 2017, and again in 2022. All three times, CSA was selected as the best qualified firm for these services. The most recent RFP resulted in a five-year professional services agreement, at $45,000 per year, for a total contract amount of $225,000.
This original agreement was budgeted at $45,000 per fiscal year because, historically, that was adequate funding to cover the volume of work performed by CSA. However, several changes have occurred over the past two years which have caused the demand for CSA’s services to exceed expectations, such as an increase in the number of multistory mixed-use projects with multiple of subterranean levels. CSA also performs fault study reviews, which are reviews of reports submitted to the City regarding the potential location of fault lines under construction sites. These reviews have increased in volume over recent years.
In FY 2024-25, the City spent nearly $80,000 for CSA’s services. In the first five months of FY 2025-26, CSA’s invoices totaled nearly $40,000. These costs have depleted almost all of the contract authority for this agreement, even though the agreement expires in June of 2027. The 2025 California Building Codes also went into effect on January 1, 2026, and several large projects were submitted in December 2025, prior to this code change, that will require CSA review. Given this increased volume, staff recommends increasing the agreement by $180,000 over the next 1.5 years. This will increase the not-to-exceed amount of the agreement from $225,000 to $405,000.
All costs associated with CSA reviews are covered by plan check fees. Building and Safety charges specific fees for every geotechnical review performed by CSA staff. As the volume of work performed by CSA increases, the plan check revenues collected by Building and Safety also increases to offset these expenditures. Therefore, there is no net effect to the General Fund for supporting CSA’s services. Additionally, because the agreement expires on June 30, 2027, there is no need for a term extension as part of this proposed modification.
Environmental Review
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Staff have performed a preliminary environmental assessment of this project and, pursuant to CEQA Guidelines, section 15061(b)(3), has determined with certainty that there is no possibility that this project may have a significant effect on the environment.
This is because CSA reviews digital plans assigned to them online, so their work has no physical impact on the environment. Therefore, this project is not subject to CEQA.
Past Council Actions
Meeting Date Description
06/28/22 (attachment A) Original bid and award of agreement with vendor for geotechnical engineering services
Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
Staff seeks authority to approve available funding from the General Fund to increase the amount of agreement #11275 with Cotton, Shires and Associates, Inc. for geotechnical engineering services.
Agreement Modification Request
Agreement #
Current
Authorized
Amount
FY 2025-26
Modified
Request
Amount
Future
Years
Amount Dept Account #
Total
Revised
Contract
Amount
11275 (CCS) $225,000 $80,000 $100,000 01700004.552010 $405,000 Future year funding is contingent on Council budget approval.
Prepared By: Kevin Purcell, Principal Administrative Analyst Approved Forwarded to Council
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Attachments:
A. Web Link - June 28, 2022 Staff Report
(https://santamonicacityca.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_LegiFile.aspx?Frame=&Mee tingID=1316&MediaPosition=&ID=5131&CssClass=)
B. Oaks Disclosure
C. Levine Act