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Consent-Community Services # 42.
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| Board of Supervisors |
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| Subject |
| Award contracts to 11 consulting firms for as-needed, on-call CEQA and Land Use and Planning services through June 30, 2024. (No general fund impact) (Echiburu/Cormier) |
| Recommended Action |
Approve and authorize the Chair of the Board of Supervisors to sign 11 agreements for CEQA Consulting and Land Use and Planning Consulting services with the following firms:
CEQA Consulting
Ascent Environmental
Aspen Environmental Group
Baseline Environmental Consulting
Raney Planning & Management
RCH Group
Estep Environmental Consulting
Wood Environmental & Infrastructure Solutions
Land Use and Planning Consulting
Tschudin Consulting Group
Moore Iacofano Goltsman
Raney Planning & Management
Helix Environmental |
| Strategic Plan Goal(s) |
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In Support of All Goals (Internal Departments Only) |
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| Reason for Recommended Action/Background |
Awarding contracts to the 11 requested service agreements will create a pre-qualified pool of seven (7) environmental and four (4) land use and planning consulting firms to assist Community Services Planning staff with the processing of development applications, general plan amendments and ordinance updates, and streamline the consultant selection process that would otherwise result in untimely and potentially costly delays. This is especially critical for processing discretionary applications in compliance with state mandates that set specific timeframes for such reviews and updating the General Plan and/or County Code due to required legislative changes. Having a pre-qualified pool of consulting firms will also be advantageous with the pending adoption and implementation of the Cannabis Land Use Ordinance (CLUO). Costs for the consultant services would be borne by the applicant for development projects.
The Planning Division has retained a handful of carefully selected, pre-qualified CEQA consultants since 2016, and those contracts will expire on September 1, 2021. Planning staff regularly use the on-call CEQA consulting services, particularly for discretionary development applications that require an environmental review, and have identified additional needs for project management and contract staffing for complex projects or ordinance updates. The contracts are also used by other Departments/Divisions in collaboration with Planning staff, such as processing mining permits and reclamation plans for the Natural Resources Division, as well as assisting with required CEQA review for projects undertaken at the Landfill, by Public Works, Parks, and others.
In order to create a varied pool of consulting firms, proposals were sought from qualified individuals and firms specializing in CEQA consulting services and land use and planning consulting services. The two separate Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for consultant services were released in January 2021. A review panel comprised of staff from the Department of Community Services and General Services Department reviewed and scored 14 bids for CEQA consulting services and eight (8) bids for land use and planning consulting services. Staff is requesting that the Board of Supervisors award seven service agreements for on-call CEQA consulting firms and four service agreements for on-call land use and planning consulting firms, as listed above.
Each service agreement would include a term of three years, beginning July 1, 2021, and ending June 30, 2024, at which time the agreements could be extended or new contracts sought through the appropriate approval process in compliance with the County's Administrative Policies and Procedures for procuring such agreements. Staff expects to utilize the on-call service agreements on a regular basis for processing discretionary development applications and for occasional complex ordinance updates, as well as on an as-needed basis for soliciting additional land use and planning services to augment staff resources when warranted. Additionally, in anticipation of the Board's adoption of the CLUO, Planning staff expect to use the service contracts to implement the ordinance. |
| Collaborations (including Board advisory groups and external partner agencies) |
| Department of Community Services Planning staff coordinated with staff from Procurement in the Department of Financial Services, and County Counsel has approved the agreements as to form. Staff from the General Services Department assisted Community Services staff with the review and rating of bids. |
| Competitive Bid Process |
Request for Qualifications (RFQ) Service Requested: As-needed, on-call CEQA Consulting Services and Land Use and Planning Consulting Services
Evaluation Criteria Included in RFQ
- Qualifications and Experience (25 percent)
- Responsibility/Demonstrated Competence (20 percent)
- Customer References (20 percent)
- Quality and Completeness of Submitted Proposal (10 percent)
- Understanding of Services Required by the County (20 percent)
- Other Factors (5 percent)
Proposal Evaluation Process and Award of Proposal
The evaluation process is designed to award the procurement to the Proposer with the best combination of attributes based upon the evaluation criteria. Award(s) will be made to the Proposer(s) offering the most advantageous proposal after consideration of all Evaluation Criteria set forth above. The County has established weight factors that were applied to the criteria depending upon the order of importance.
Award Process
The County reserves the right to make an award without further discussion of any proposal submitted, and to add terms and conditions deemed to be in the best interest of the County. Any such terms and conditions shall be within the scope of the RFQ and shall not affect the basis of proposal evaluations. |
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| Fiscal Impact |
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| Source of Funds for this Expenditure |
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Explanation (Expenditure and/or Revenue) |
| Further explanation as needed: |
| The work authorizations for these agreements will be approved at time of issuance. Funding for these agreements have been requested in the 2021-22 Recommended Budget. |
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