Report to Mayor and City Council
Tuesday, November 17, 2020
Consent
SUBJECT:
Title
CONSIDER CONTRACT AMENDMENT NO. 3 FOR INTERWEST CONSULTING (C20-059) FOR PUBLIC WORKS CONSULTING SERVICES (CITY COUNCIL)
Body
I. SUMMARY
On June 22, 2020 the City entered into a professional services contract with Interwest Consulting Group, Inc. (Exhibit No. 1) to provide interim Public Works and Community Services/Parks & Recreation Departments Oversight and Organizational Review Services. The contract, which was signed under City Manager’s authority for a sum not to exceed $24,999, provided for approximately five (5) weeks of funding for the consulting services. This was done after interviewing other candidates for the position of Interim Public Works Director and finding Jim Ross, an employee of Interwest Consulting Group, Inc. (Interwest), to be the most qualified. In addition to other positions he has held, Mr. Ross had been the Director of Public Works for the City of Santa Ana for 20 years.
The contract with Interwest was executed under the City Manager authority for expediency purposes at the request of Mayor Robles and City Councilmember Cedric Hicks, both of whom serve on the Carson Reclamation Authority (CRA), to immediately free up Assistant City Manager John Raymond from managing the Public Works Department so that he could allocate his time fully to his position with the CRA. The City Manager advised the City Councilmembers that she would return to the City Council to add money to, and extend the term of this contract, which she did at the City Council meeting of July 21, 2020.
On July 21, 2020, the City entered into Amendment No. 1 to the existing contract with Interwest Consulting Group to provide interim Public Works Department Oversight in the amount of $65,000 and Organizational Review Services in the amount of $25,000 taking the total to $114,999 and extending the term to November 13, 2020 (Exhibit No. 2).
On October 6, 2020, the City entered into Amendment No. 2 to the existing contract with Interwest Consulting Group to expand the scope of services for provision of public outreach, grant writing and conceptual design for Foisia Park and Carriage Crest Park (potentially with the adjacent Sanitation District Leased Property) (Grant Services) in the amount of $50,000 taking the total to $164,999
and extended the term as respecting Grant Services only to June 30, 2021 (Exhibit No. 3). At the time the City entered into Amendment No. 2, the deadline for applying for this grant was mid-December (it has since been extended by the State to mid-March). In order to meet that deadline, there was not enough time to bid this work out.
Although the City has been using the services of an executive search firm to identify qualified candidates for the permanent position of Director of Public Works, a candidate with the experience and caliber desired has not yet been identified. It is the City Manager’s intent to fill the permanent Director of Public Works position as soon as possible; however, to ensure no gap in the management of the Public Works Department while recruitment efforts continue, staff is seeking the approval of Amendment No. 3 to the contract extending the Public Works Oversight and Organizational Review and Technical Services through March 31, 2021 and adding $85,000 to the contract sum for a total of $249,999 (Exhibit No. 4). Of the $249,999 contract total, $50,000 is for the work on the Prop 68 grant mentioned earlier.
Should a permanent Public Works Director be identified before March 31, 2021, the services of the Interim Public Works Director will be ended earlier. If the recruitment has still not produced the quality candidate we are seeking, staff will return to the City Council for an extension of these services. We are fortunate in the meantime to have so experienced an Interim Public Works Director as Jim Ross; and to ensure the City Council’s expectations continue to be met, the City Manager will update the City Council on the recruitment efforts.
The term for the Grant Services will remain through June 30, 2021.
II. RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
1. APPROVE Amendment No. 3 to the Interwest Consulting Group, Inc. contract increasing the contract sum by $85,000 for a total sum of $249,999, and extending the contract term with respect to Public Works Department Oversight and Organizational Review and Technical Services to March 31, 2021.
2. AUTHORIZE the Mayor to execute Amendment No. 3 to the Interwest Consulting Group, Inc. contract after approval as to form by the City Attorney.
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III. ALTERNATIVES
TAKE another action the City Council deems appropriate.
IV. BACKGROUND
The Director of Public Works position has been vacant since March 2020. To assist executive leadership while the recruitment was being conducted, interviews were conducted to select an interim Public Works Director. Jim Ross, an employee with Interwest Consulting Group, Inc. (Interwest), was selected as the top candidate. On June 22, 2020, the City entered into a professional services contract with Interwest for Jim Ross to serve as the interim Public Works Director. In addition, Terry Rodrigue, President of Interwest was retained to assist with organizational review and other technical services.
Amendment No. 2 extended the term of the contract to June 30, 2021 for Grant Services only. This Amendment No. 3, would extend the term with respect to Public Works Department Oversight and Organizational Review and Technical Services to March 31, 2021 and increase the contract amount by enough to carry these services through March 31, 2021. If, at that time, there is no Public Works Director candidate ready to assume the role permanently, staff will bring an amendment back to the City Council to fund the contract through the end of the fiscal year. For purposes of comparison, the Interwest contract costs about the same on a per-week basis as the fully loaded cost of a Director, so the overall cost to the City is about the same as having a Director. This excludes the additional scope related to the Grant Services, which is separate.
The initial contract, signed under City Manager contracting authority of up to $25,000, provided funding for approximately five (5) weeks. This was done so that the City could immediately address the request by Mayor Robles and City Councilmember Hicks, who serve on the CRA Board, to free up Assistant City Manager John Raymond so that he could focus his time on CRA matters. Until that point, among his other responsibilities, he was overseeing Public Works. It was anticipated that staff would request additional funding from the City Council, assuming Interwest’s services were satisfactory, which they have been.
Given the number of high priority items affecting the Public Works Department, Amendment #1 and now Amendment #3 provide the resources needed to fill the leadership gap until the Public Works Director position is permanently filled. Not only has the Interim Public Works Director been highly responsive to emerging issues, many of which have been raised by City Councilmembers, but also through Interwest we have been able to quickly address needs that have arisen as part of the coronavirus pandemic. Utilizing the technical services of Interwest, we have been able to, among other things, assess the options for adding state of the art air filtration throughout city buildings and to determine whether as part of this we should replace the HVAC system.
V. FISCAL IMPACT
The fiscal impact of the proposed amendment is $85,000. Funds for this amendment will be absorbed by the Public Works adopted FY 20/21 General Fund Budget.
VI. EXHIBITS
1. City of Carson Interwest Consulting, Inc. Agreement (pgs. 5-63)
2. Interwest Consulting, Inc. Amendment No. 1 (pgs. 64-68)
3. Interwest Consulting, Inc. Amendment No. 2 (pgs. 69-77)
4. Interwest Consulting, Inc. Amendment No. 3 (pgs. 78-86)
Prepared by: Sharon Landers, City Manager