Title
Report regarding a resolution approving the First Amendment to a consulting services agreement with Metropolitan Planning Group for staff augmentation services in an amount not to exceed $60,000, authorizing the City Manager to execute the agreement, and authorizing a corresponding increase in the total budget to $190,000. (Tony Rozzi, Principal Planner).
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RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the City Council of the City of South San Francisco adopt a resolution approving the First Amendment to a consulting services agreement with Metropolitan Planning Group (DBA M-Group) in an amount not to exceed $60,000, authorizing the City Manager to execute the agreement, and authorizing a corresponding increase in the total budget from $130,000 (existing) to $190,000 (proposed).
Approval of the proposed contract amendment will allow the continuation of badly needed support services to allow the Planning Division to handle its current workload of new and existing planning applications. The costs for M-Group’s services will be funded through pass-through contracts with applicants or the Planning Division’s existing professional services budget.
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BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION
The Planning Division continues to receive a large volume of entitlement applications for complex mixed-use and commercial campus developments. These projects, coupled with the typical applications for single family dwelling remodels, commercial tenant improvements, business licenses, signage, special events, parking exceptions, and use permit requests have increased the workload significantly and lengthened the entitlement review duration.
For this reason, staff recommends continuing contractual services with M-Group, as the previously selected firm from the City’s competitive RFP process. With M-Group’s full-time staff planner equivalent successfully on-board and trained with the Planning Division, this contract will provide seamless full-time assistance, as needed, for staff support and general planning services, and will allow the Planning Division to maintain current levels of customer service without adding permanent staff.
In the Fiscal Year 2018-19 Budget, the Planning Division requested an allocation of $130,000 to continue contractual services with the M-Group. The $130,000 allocation was approved by Council as part of the FY 2018-19 Budget. In addition, as part of the proposed FY 2019-20 budget, staff has included a budget request to continue the funding of M-Group’s services for an additional year at the current level of $130,000 per year.
However, during the first few months of 2019, there has been an unanticipated surge in staff-intensive planning applications and initiatives, combined with the unexpected departure of two Associate Planners. As a result, M-Group’s services are at risk of exhausting the existing approved budget. Accordingly, staff is requesting an additional amount of $60,000 to fund the consulting work by M-Group that is currently underway, and to avoid any interruption in services. Importantly, the services in the proposed amendment would be absorbed either through pass-through contracts with applicants or the Planning Division’s existing professional services budget.
FISCAL IMPACT
Funding for this project was approved as part of the Fiscal Year 2018-19 Budget and the additional $60,000 amendment to the contract will be funded through pass-through contracts with applicants or the Planning Division’s existing professional services budget.
CONCLUSION
Staff recommends the City Council adopt a resolution authorizing the City Manager to execute a First Amendment to the consulting services agreement with the M-Group. Approval of the proposed contract amendment will allow the continuation of badly needed support services to allow Planning Division to handle its current workload of new and existing planning applications. In practice, the costs for M-Group’s services will be funded through pass-through contracts with applicants or the Planning Division’s existing professional services budget.
Associated Documents
1. Draft First Amendment (Attached to Resolution)
2. Executed FY 18-19 Contract with M-Group (Attached to Resolution)