REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
DATE: 12/06/2023
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Planning & Development Department
SUBJECT:
Title
FIRST AMENDMENT TO PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH INFRASTRUCTURE ENGINEERS, A BOWMAN COMPANY, FOR TEMPORARY STAFFING IN THE PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
This staff report asks the City Council to approve a first amendment to a Professional Services Agreement with Infrastructure Engineers, a Bowman Company, to provide temporary staffing in the Planning and Development Department. Infrastructure Engineers currently provide temporary planning staff in the Planning Division, filling vacant full-time budgeted positions. The initial contract was entered into on July 11, 2023, in the amount of $100,000. The department expects to exhaust the amount approved in the agreement in December 2023. To maintain compliance with application processing laws during the department’s recruitment of full-time planning positions, the first amendment proposes to increase the amount of the agreement by $100,000, totaling $200,000, and extend the agreement one additional year.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommended action
That the City Council:
a. Authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to execute the First Amendment to the Professional Services Agreement with Infrastructure Engineers, a Bowman Company, for temporary staffing in the amount of $200,000 per fiscal year with an initial term of July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2025.
b. Authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to negotiate and execute any amendments to the agreement which are non-substantive and change orders up to 10% as authorized in Corona Municipal Code Section 3.08.070(I).
c. Authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to issue an annual Purchase Order in the amount of $200,000.
d. Authorize a budgetary transfer in the amount of $100,000 ($25,000 from the General Fund (110) and $75,000 from the Measure X Fund (120) from the personnel category to professional/contractual services, in the Planning and Development Department’s Fiscal Year 2024 Operating budget.
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BACKGROUND & HISTORY:
Since December 2021, the Planning and Development Department has used Infrastructure Engineers to augment planning staff due to vacant, full-time positions not being filled. The department has been actively recruiting various planning positions since 2021 but has not yet succeeded in filling all budgeted positions with full-time employees. Infrastructure Engineers have been able to provide the City with experienced, journey-level staff in the planning profession. The temporary staffing has allowed the department to continue to process discretionary land use applications in compliance with state law and other planning related applications pursuant to city ordinances.
ANALYSIS:
The Planning and Development Department includes the Planning Division, which is responsible for processing discretionary, land use applications in accordance with the City’s Zoning Code and General Plan. Pursuant to state law, the Permit Streamlining Act, requires local agencies to determine the completeness of discretionary applications within 30 days upon submittal. Additionally, the City has other processing deadlines on non-discretionary applications that are regulated by Title 17, Zoning Code, of the Corona Municipal Code.
The department has been actively recruiting full-time, budgeted planning positions but still has vacancies. The vacant positions are related to the lack of qualified candidates who are submitting applications and existing employees leaving the department for positions in other jurisdictions.
Infrastructure Engineers currently provide the department with one, full-time Associate Planner position. This position involves the processing of discretionary land use applications, preparation of staff reports and environmental documents, attendance and presentation at Planning & Housing Commission meetings, and the review of grading permits and building permits.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The additional services will be funded by personnel savings, due to vacancies, in the Planning and Development Department’s General Fund and Measure X Fund FY 2024 budget. A transfer in the amount of $100,000 ($25,000 from General Fund (110) and $75,000 Measure X Fund (120)) will be processed from the personnel category to professional/contractual services, in the Planning and Development Department’s Fiscal Year 2024 Operating Budget.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS:
This action is exempt pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of the Guidelines for the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), which states that a project is exempt from CEQA if the activity is covered by the common sense exemption that CEQA applies only to projects that have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. Where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment, the activity is not subject to CEQA. The agreement between the City and the consultant is an amendment to an existing agreement and there is no possibility that approving this agreement will have a significant effect on the environment. Therefore, no environmental analysis is required.
PREPARED BY: JOANNE COLETTA, PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
Attachments:
1. Exhibit 1 - First Amendment to Professional Services Agreement with Infrastructure Engineers, a Bowman Company.