Agenda Item #13.3
For Council Meeting of: August 8, 2023
CITY OF SANTA ROSA
CITY COUNCIL
TO: MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
FROM: CLARE HARTMAN, DIRECTOR
PLANNING & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
SUBJECT: FIRST AMENDMENT TO SOFTWARE SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE AGREEMENT F002367 WITH PERMITROCKET SOFTWARE LLC DBA EPERMITHUB AGENDA ACTION: RESOLUTION
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended by the Planning and Economic Development and Information Technology Departments that the Council, by resolution, approve the First Amendment to Software Subscription Service Agreement F002367 with PermitRocket Software LLC, dba ePermitHub, Miami, Florida, for a two-year extension of electronic plan review software and add an option for additional support and configuration services, for a total amount of $93,250, and a total cumulative contract amount of $192,456.66.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Planning and Economic Development Department (PED) has software services agreement F002367 with ePermitHub to provide a Digital Plan Room to process permit plan reviews online. Online permit plan review is faster and more efficient than the paper review process. PED would like to continue this service by increasing compensation by $93,250 to fund the services for two additional years. This action supports Council Goal 6 “Achieve organizational excellence” by providing staff and the development community with modern, efficient and effective solution to process permit plan reviews.
BACKGROUND
In Spring 2020, the County of Sonoma (“County”) issued a request for proposals for a company to provide electronic plan review software. PED Deputy Director of Engineering Gabe Osburn participated in the County’s proposal review panel. The County panel selected ePermitHub to provide the service. The City had also been considering services like this to provide an online option for the development community. The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent closure of City offices highlighted the importance of online services.
In August 2021, the City used the County’s RFP and procurement process to satisfy applicable solicitation requirements and retained ePermitHub, including use of a non-standard agreement, provided ePermitHub agreed to comply with City insurance requirements, which they did. ePermitHub is compatible with the City’s existing permit software Accela.
PED engaged ePermitHub to set up and configure their software for electronic permit plan review processing. Funding for the original agreement was set at $99,206.66; $49,626.66 for the first year of plans permit processing and $49,580 for initial setup and software configuration. Now, to continue these services for an additional two years and add up to 120 hours of additional support and configuration services, the contract must be extended and compensation increased accordingly. The agreement renews automatically annually on August 10 unless either party requests termination at least 60 days prior to the end of the then-current term.
PRIOR CITY COUNCIL REVIEW
Not applicable.
ANALYSIS
The ePermitHub Digital Plan Room, integrated with the City’s Accela Citizen Access online permitting portal is in live use and has received positive feedback from the community who use it. The City plans to continue expanding the types of permits offered for electronic plan review, as the processes are more efficient and provide streamlined electronic collaboration with internal departments and our customers.
The original contract included a per-permit charge for usage. The Information Technology (IT) Department renegotiated the contract to remove the per-permit charge and replace it with an annual fixed fee. This allows the Departments to budget accurately for the two-year contract extension.
The first year, August 2023 – July 2024, will be $35,000; and the second year, August 2024 – July 2025 will be $36,050. Additionally, ePermitHub will provide additional training, configuration, and support services at a cost of $185/hour. The PED and IT Departments anticipate approximately 120 hours of support needed for a cost not to exceed $22,200. The total cost of the two-year amendment is $93,250.
FISCAL IMPACT
Funds for the annual subscription service are included in the Information Technology department Fiscal Year 2023-24 adopted budget within Enterprise Software Support account 350307 as a regular expenditure and will be included in subsequent years budget requests when presented to Council. The source of funds for the optional professional services hours are included in the Planning & Economic Development CD Technology Projects account, JL Key 08037.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
This action is exempt from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) under CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3) and 15378 in that there is no possibility that the implementation of this action may have significant effects on the environment, and no further environmental review is required.
BOARD/COMMISSION/COMMITTEE REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Not applicable.
NOTIFICATION
Not applicable.
ATTACHMENTS
Resolution/Exhibit A - ePermitHub Renewal Order Form
PRESENTER
Brian Tickner, Director, Information Technology
Gabe Osburn, Deputy Director Engineering, Planning and Economic Development FIRST AMENDMENT TO SOFTWARE SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE AGREEMENT F002367 WITH PERMITROCKET SOFTWARE, LLC (DBA “EPERMITHUB’) PAGE 3 OF 3