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Page 1 of 3 <br />Item #5 <br /> CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT <br /> <br />June 4, 2024 <br />Community Development <br /> <br />TITLE: APPROVE AND AUTHORIZE THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE FIRST <br />AMENDMENTS TO THE ON-CALL PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENTS <br />WITH FIRSTCARBON SOLUTIONS AND RINCON CONSULTING, EXTENDING <br />THE TERM OF THE AGREEMENTS FOR ONE YEAR, THROUGH JUNE 30, 2025 <br /> <br />SUMMARY <br />The City’s Community Development Department (CDD) is responsible for citywide land <br />development (residential, commercial, industrial, and other). Development entitlements often <br />require review for compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and its <br />guidelines. In 2021, the City Council authorized on-call agreements with three firms: <br />FirstCarbon Solutions (FCS), Rincon Consulting (Rincon), and PlaceWorks, for as-needed <br />environmental review services. The agreements were approved with an initial term of three <br />years, with the option of two additional one-year extensions. At this time, staff is <br />recommending amending the agreements with FCS and Rincon for an additional year, through <br />June 30, 2025. There will be no change to the original aggregate total compensation across <br />the on-call agreements, which is set at a not-to-exceed amount of $1,500,000. On-call CEQA <br />review services for development projects represent the majority of work completed to date; <br />such costs are fully reimbursed to the City by project applicants. <br /> <br />RECOMMENDATION <br />Approve and authorize the City Manager to execute First Amendments to the on-call <br />Professional Services Agreements with FirstCarbon Solutions and Rincon Consulting, <br />extending the term of the Agreements for one year, through June 30, 2025. <br /> <br />BACKGROUND <br />To establish consistent availability of qualified consultants and expedite the process of <br />securing professional services for CEQA review for individual projects, in September 2020, <br />staff contacted 14 Bay Area environmental consulting firms soliciting Request for Qualifications <br />(RFQ) for on-call services. Staff interviewed five of the nine firms which responded to the RFQ, <br />and in January 2021 the City Council approved agreements with three firms: FirstCarbon <br />Solutions, PlaceWorks, and Rincon Consulting. The on-call agreements were approved for an <br />initial period of three years, through June 30, 2024, with the option of up to two one-year <br />extensions. <br /> <br />DISCUSSION <br />To date, the City has issued 11 separate work authorizations under the three contracts, <br />amounting to approximately $575,000 in total compensation, with most of those authorizations <br />being related to current planning applications for private development projects. In these cases, <br />the work is fully reimbursed by the developer (the reimbursement rate also includes a 25 <br />percent Administrative Fee included under the City’s Master Fee Schedule). <br /> <br />Page 37 of 428