Report to Mayor and City Council
Tuesday, October 17, 2023
Consent
SUBJECT:
Title
CONSIDERATION OF APPROVAL OF CONTRACT FOR CITY WEBSITE UPDATE AND REDESIGN WITH REVIZE, LLC (CITY COUNCIL)
Body
I. SUMMARY
On May 4, 2023, the Purchasing Division released an RFP (No. 23-017) for the City Website Update and Redesign project. The overall goal of this project is to design and implement new websites for the City’s three domains (City of Carson main website, <https://carsonca.gov>, internal staff Intranet, <https://intranet.carsonca.gov>, and Community Center website, <https://www.carsoncenter.com>), that support the City Council’s and executive team’s vision of providing a modern user experience for City websites whereby content is easy to navigate and departments are able to update content on a 24/7 basis. The City Council is being asked to award and approve a contract with Revize LLC for this project.
II. RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
1. APPROVE a contract with Revize LLC for design and update of City websites for an amount not to exceed $207,000 over a period of 6 years (contract term will be 1 year for web development plus 5 years for maintenance and support); and
2. AUTHORIZE the Mayor to execute the contract after approval as to form by the City Attorney.
Body
III. ALTERNATIVES
TAKE another action the City Council deems appropriate.
IV. BACKGROUND
The City of Carson’s current websites increasingly have more site visits each year. With growing use of and reliance upon web-based information in modern society, it is critical for us to keep our website not only technologically advanced but also as a transparency measure to highlight Carson’s progress on new performance metrics and strategic priorities. We think it is also a great opportunity to reorganize the way we connect to and serve our public through this redesign process.
The new sites will offer residents, businesses, and visitors a dramatically improved user experience, state-of-the-art functionality, design and responsiveness, mobile-friendly features, additional ADA features, latest security measures, high availability during emergencies, integrated resident communications and service delivery, and transparent online access to public meeting information - all orchestrated to modernize citizen interactions, drive efficiency and improve community outcomes.
The website project is a multi-department collaboration effort with internal team representatives from the City’s various departments including the City Manager, City Clerk, City Treasury, Finance, Human Resources, Information Technology & Security, Planning & Building Safety, Public Works and Parks & Recreation.
The Purchasing Division released an RFP (No. 23-017) for the City Website Update and Redesign project. The bid opening was held in the Community Center on June 1, 2023. There were eight (8) bid responses. A temporary internal website committee was formed to evaluate, interview, and rank the bidders. Initially CivicPlus was chosen by the City’s Internal Web Committee as the recommended vendor. Unfortunately, after several rounds of negotiations CivicPlus was unable to agree with the City on final terms and conditions. City staff contacted the vendor initially ranked second, Revize, LLC to explore if they would meet the needs of the City. Staff’s due diligence completed over several meetings determined that Revize meets all RFP requirements, City’s contractual terms and conditions, and the selection was made in compliance with Section 2611(c) of the City’s Purchasing Ordinance which permits the City to award professional services contracts based on demonstrated competence, the professional qualifications necessary for satisfactory performance of the required services, and a fair and reasonable price. Revize’s proposed costs were reasonable and within the City’s budget at $137,500 for the first-year web development costs, and $13,900 per year thereafter for 5 years for support and maintenance.
Finally, it should be noted that Revize, LLC is a Michigan limited liability company which, as of the time of writing this report, is not yet authorized to conduct business in California although it is anticipated that Revize, LLC will file with the California Secretary of State imminently and perhaps even by the time of this October 17, 2023, City Council meeting. In any event, staff will ensure the City will not execute the contract until such time that Revise, LLC files with the State.
V. FISCAL IMPACT
The cost associated with the 6-year contract with Revize, LLC is not to exceed the amount of $207,000. The annual maintenance cost is $13,900 with a one-time web development cost of $137,500. The Information Technology & Security Department will include the annual maintenance cost of the contract ($13,900) in the proposed 2024-2025 fiscal year and subsequent years.
VI. EXHIBITS
1. Contract with Revize, LLC.
Prepared by: Bing Jing, Web Developer, IT&S Department