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BACKGROUND <br /> In 2016, the City installed new water meters and automated its meter reading <br /> capabilities. This project enhanced operational efficiencies in meter reading, customer <br /> service, billing, and overall water resource management including through a Customer <br /> Service Web Portal by Smart Energy Systems, Inc., which empowers the City's water <br /> customers to manage their water usage and pay their bills online. The City Council <br /> initially awarded a professional services contract to SEW for a customer service web <br /> portal software implementation and a five-year technical support agreement that started <br /> in April 2017 and expired in 2022. Staff then entered into a new one-year agreement for <br /> technical support, which expires on June 30, 2023. <br /> DISCUSSION <br /> The current version of the Customer Service Web Portal allows the City to continue to <br /> serve its water customers with the tools they have come to rely on including leak <br /> notifications, views of hourly/daily/monthly water consumption, views of utility bills, <br /> payment history and the ability to make payments online. For the past few years, staff <br /> has been working continuously with SEW to customize the software for the City's <br /> customers, such that staff recommends a sole source contract be approved to continue <br /> the use of SEW for the City's Customer Service Web Portal for utility billing. <br /> The proposed agreement includes a free upgrade to the most current version of the <br /> software and offers additional features to enhance the customer experience, valued at <br /> $69,000. The proposed pricing above includes a 15 percent contingency for any <br /> unplanned and needed change requests resulting from state and/or federal legislation, <br /> for example, in 2022 there was a change request to add a baseline year (2020) to a <br /> comparison chart for drought comparison purposes due to the State's drought <br /> emergency proclamation. <br /> S bmitted by: Fiscal Review: Appr by: <br /> Tamara Baptista Susan Hsieh Gerry Beaudin <br /> Interim Director of Finance Director City Manager <br /> Operations and Water Utilities <br /> Attachment: <br /> 1. Professional Services Agreement with SEW <br /> Page 2 of 2 <br />