REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
DATE: 12/07/2022
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Planning & Development Department
SUBJECT:
Title
Second Amendment to the Professional Services Agreement with Advanced Applied Engineering, Inc. dba Infrastructure Engineers, to increase the compensation by $250,000 for a total compensation of $550,000 to provide temporary professional staffing services to the Planning and Development Department.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
This staff report asks the Council to consider the approval of a second amendment to an existing Professional Services Agreement with Advanced Applied Engineering, Inc. dba Infrastructure Engineers. Infrastructure Engineers currently provides temporary staffing services to the Planning and Development Department within the Planning Division. The temporary staffing services allows the Department to provide the necessary services to the public that would otherwise be delayed due to the vacancy of full-time planner positions in the Planning Division. The second amendment to the agreement will increase the amount of the compensation from $300,000 to $550,000, which is an increase of $250,000.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommended action
That the City Council:
a. Approve the Second Amendment to Professional Services Agreement Advanced Applied Engineering, Inc. dba Infrastructure Engineers, to increase the total compensation by $250,000 to provide temporary professional staffing services.
b. Authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to execute the Second Amendment to the Professional Services Agreement with Advanced Applied Engineering, Inc. dba Infrastructure Engineers, for a total contract amount of $550,000.
c. Authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to issue Change Order No. 2 to Purchase Order B220671 to Advanced Applied Engineering, Inc. dba Infrastructure Engineers, in the amount of $250,000.
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BACKGROUND & HISTORY:
On January 27, 2022, the City entered into an agreement with Advanced Applied Engineering, Inc. dba Infrastructure Engineers (Infrastructure Engineers) to provide professional staffing services to the Planning & Development Department. The service was needed due to vacancies and absences of full-time City staff. At the time, the absences were related to staff on medical leave and staff on extended family leave. The anticipated timeline for the temporary staffing was four to six months, which was expected to be adequate to fill a vacated full-time position that was being actively recruited. The anticipated budget for the short duration was not expected to exceed $100,000.
Subsequently, the City was unsuccessful in filling the vacated position, which resulted in a need to continue using contracted staff beyond the dates originally anticipated. The additional time also resulted in a cost that was higher than originally projected. Additionally, the City Council’s Fiscal Year 2023 budget included new planner positions in the Planning Division. Due to the extended duration and need for staffing, the City Council authorized an increase in the contract’s not-to-exceed budget to $300,000 and extended the terms of the contract to June 30, 2023. Council’s approval occurred on June 15, 2022.
Since January 2022, the Department has been activity recruiting to fill the vacant planner positions. Unfortunately, the Department has not been successful in securing qualified candidates. The Department has noticed that qualified candidates have not applied for the job, or minimally qualified candidates find better employment opportunities during the interview and on-boarding process. The current labor market continues to be a difficult one to navigate.
Because the volume of work that requires involvement by the Planning Division has not subsided, the Department is requesting an amendment to increase the amount of the compensation in the agreement by $250,000 for a total compensation of $550,000. This will allow the Department to maintain the status-quo on staffing until the vacant full-time positions are successfully filled. The contracted staff from Infrastructure Engineering have been instrumental in responding to an elevated workload and providing quality service to our customers.
ANALYSIS:
The Planning and Development Department currently has two Associate Planner and two Planning Technician positions that are vacant. Infrastructure Engineers currently provides staffing services for one Associate Planner and two Planning Technicians.
The second amendment increases the amount of the compensation, which will allow the Department to maintain the current staffing that is fulfilling the ongoing service requests from the public. The vacant, full-time positions, allows the Department to use the funds from these positions to offset the cost associated with the contract services, so there is no additional budget impact with this request.
The Department will continue with its recruitment process for the Associate Planner and Planning Technician positions until the they are filled. Once the positions are filled by full-time City staff, the use of consultants will be eliminated in the Planning Division.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The temporary staffing will augment the vacant full-time budgeted planning positions. Budget savings from the vacant positions will support the costs of the temporary services.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS:
There are no environmental impacts associated with the temporary staffing of professional planning positions, and the agreement is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because it is not a project, pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15378(b)(5).
PREPARED BY: JAY EASTMAN, PLANNING MANAGER
REVIEWED BY: JOANNE COLETTA, PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
Attachments:
1. Exhibit 1 - Second Amendment to Professional Services Agreement with Advanced Applied Engineering, Inc. dba Infrastructure Engineers