Report to Mayor and City Council
Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Consent
SUBJECT:
Title
CONSIDER APPROVAL OF AMENDMENT NO. 2 TO AN AGREEMENT WITH CSG CONSULTANTS, INC. TO PROVIDE ON-CALL PLANNING SERVICES (CITY COUNCIL)
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I. SUMMARY
This item was continued from the February 5, 2019 meeting at the request of Councilmember Dear. The Councilmember requested to meet with staff to discuss the need for having consultants in the Planning Division and its associated cost. That meeting was held on February 26. One of the main concerns was using consultants when the City could be hiring City staff. The Planning Division has experienced departure of six planners in the past year which was exasperated by an increase in workload. The City has hired three planners in the past few months including the Planning Manager thirty days ago. In addition, the Planning Division will be holding interviews for two additional positions next month. Staff has reduced the size and hours of the CSG staff gradually as new planners have been hired. It should be noted that CSG staff and Planning Division staff that work on development projects charge their time spent on projects to developer paid deposits. Staff is requesting that Council approve the second amendment to the agreement with CSG Consultants, Inc. to maintain the high level of service provided by the Planning Division.
II. RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
TAKE the following actions:
1. APPROVE the Amendment No. 2 to Agreement for Contractual Services for on-call planning services with CSG Consultants, Inc.
2. AUTHORIZE the Mayor to execute the amendment, following approval as to form by the City Attorney.
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III. ALTERNATIVES
TAKE any other action the City Council deems appropriate that is consistent with the requirements of law.
IV. BACKGROUND
On December 6, 2016, the City entered into an agreement with the firm CSG Consultants, Inc. (CSG) to provide on-call planning services (Exhibit No. 1) to respond to a dramatic increase in Planning Department workload at the time of heavy Planning staff turnover. This agreement was amended in November, 2017 (Exhibit No. 2). Due to continued growth in development activity within the City together with loss of staff, the need for the on-call services provided by CSG increased, requiring a second amendment to the agreement with CSG (Exhibit No. 3). Staff is requesting that Council approve this second amendment to the agreement with CSG Consultants, Inc. to maintain the high level of service provided by the Planning Division.
Since the agreement was initiated, the City has experienced an increased demand for planning services, particularly on larger, more complex projects such as MBK Homes’ 300-unit apartment project on Del Amo, the District at South Bay (157 acres) Specific Plan Amendment and Supplemental Environmental Impact Report, and other complex development applications. The use of CSG benefits the Division and its customers by ensuring responsive and timely services, while simultaneously providing the Division with the flexibility it needs to meet fluctuations in workload on an as-needed basis and conducts recruitment to fill vacant positions.
Under the Permit Streamlining Act, project applicants have certain legal rights to receive timely review of projects, which requires planners to work under statutory deadlines for certain types of projects. It is in these instances that short staffing is extremely detrimental to a City, especially as development activity increases at the same time.
As development continued to grow at an unanticipated rate and the on-call services provided by CSG were utilized more than expected, it was necessary to amend the agreement to pay for the increase in services provided, which Amendment No. 1 was approved by Council on November 6, 2017.
During this period the Planning Division experienced a significant loss in full-time staff through transfers, departures, and retirements. The continued growth in development activity within the City coupled with the loss of a number of City staff within the Planning Division through transfers, departures, and retirements increased the need for the on-call services provided by CSG. This has necessitated a second amendment to the agreement with CSG.
The departure of the Planning staff also coincided with the City-wide roll-out of the Tyler Munis accounting software. Some of the challenges that accompanied that software roll-out also affected tracking of some contract services where it was difficult to match up invoices with appropriate contract purchase orders and payment on some invoices was delayed. The contract with CSG was one of the contracts impacted by those challenges and some outstanding invoices have yet to be paid. With better tracking of the expenditures, Staff would have brought a second amendment earlier in the contract period, instead of in early 2019. Staff is requesting that Council approve the second amendment to pay outstanding invoices, allow continuation of services moving forward and maintain the high level of service provided by the Planning Division while recruitments for open Planning positions move forward.
V. FISCAL IMPACT
The not-to-exceed amount requested for the consultant will increase from $200,000 annually for the three-year contract, to $200,000 for the first contract year, $321,000 for the second contract year, and extend the final contract year to June 2020 to synch the contract term with the fiscal year (a total of nineteen months) at a not-to-exceed cost of $600,000 for the nineteen months. The costs of the consultant services are assumed by project applicants through the Planning Application Deposit Program. As a result, there is minimal direct impact to the City’s General Fund (Exhibit No. 4).
VI. EXHIBITS
1. Contract Services Agreement with CSG Consultants, Inc. (pgs. 3-31)
2. Amendment No. 1 to Contract Services Agreement with CSG Consultants, Inc. (pgs. 32-34)
3. Amendment No. 2 to Contract Services Agreement with CSG Consultants, Inc. (pgs. 35-39)
4. CSG Budget Resolution 19-049. (pgs. 40-41)
Prepared by: Brent Gesch, Principal Adminstrative Analyst