Title
Recommendation to Authorize the City Manager to Execute a Second Amendment in an Amount Not to Exceed $50,000 with ECS Imaging, Inc., for Total Compensation Not to Exceed $220,000, for Scanning and Archiving of Planning and Building Permit Documents. (Planning, Building & Transportation 481001)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Staff is seeking authorization to amend the contract with ECS Imaging, Inc. (ECS) to allow for the continuation of document scanning and digital archiving services for Planning and Building permit documents. Staff recommends the ECS contract amount be increased by an amount not to exceed $50,000 to cover the costs of archiving remaining hardcopy volumes. The proposed amendment will increase the total compensation of the agreement to $220,000.
BACKGROUND
Under state law, the City of Alameda (City) is required to keep Planning entitlements and building permit records permanently. After 100 years of permitting activity, the City’s physical archive of permit records has grown to over 1,000 banker boxes and countless blueprints that have started to deteriorate. The storage locations for these archives once spanned the City Hall attic, Building 2 at Alameda Point, and Carnegie library. ECS has been providing document scanning and archiving for Planning and Building records since 2003. The City has continued to use ECS to provide this service in order to maintain a consistent file index structure. This indexing is critical for public access to historical records through Laserfiche and the Accela permit tracking system that have been in use for more than ten years.
The current agreement with ECS was executed by the City Manager in March 2019 for an amount not to exceed $70,000 for ongoing scanning and archiving of both historical records and current hardcopy records. In May 2019, the City Council authorized a first amendment to the contract to increase the amount by $100,000 (for a total not exceed amount of $170,000) to include vacating the physical file storage in the City Hall attic and the Carnegie library. Staff is seeking authorization to enter into a second amendment to complete the digital archiving process for the remaining records.
DISCUSSION
This amendment provides for continued storage, auditing, inventory and scanning of approximately 160 remaining boxes of records as well as newer hardcopy documents that accumulated from permits processed in calendar years 2019 and early 2020. ECS is currently storing the remaining volume for digital archiving, and it estimates scanning the remaining archive will require two more years, depending on the actual contents. With the onset of COVID-19, all Permit Center applications have migrated to a digital format.
Converting the old permit files to a digital format reduces cost and inconvenience associated with offsite storage and reduces time and labor for archive retrieval. This effort to scan the deteriorating documents will also permanently preserve important documents. In addition, the digital archive that has expanded in recent years has greatly improved customer service and increased public access to the City’s permit records. The City’s efforts to build the digital planning and building permit archive will continue to benefit the public, including homeowners, businesses, architects and real estate professionals, who are the most frequent users of this information.
ALTERNATIVES
• Authorize the City Manager to execute the Second Amendment.
• Pause the Digital Archiving Effort. An alternative to amending the contract includes pausing the digital archiving process at this point in time. This alternative still requires paying for the transport of any remaining archive boxes in ECS’ possession back to the City, as well as the need to find storage space on City property. This option does not address the needs of public access to permit records and further defers the need to archive and digitize information on deteriorating paper documents. For these reasons, staff does not recommend this alternative.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
This Second Amendment will increase the total compensation of the agreement by $50,000 for a total of $220,000 without a change to the term or scope of the agreement. The source of the additional funds is the Planning and Building Fund (Fund 209), which has records management costs built into permit fees collected for development review services. There is sufficient available funding in the Fiscal Year 2020-21 contractual services budget in the Planning and Building Fund for the proposed amendment. No additional appropriations are needed. There is no impact to the General Fund.
|
Contract |
Approval Date |
Authorized Amount |
Expended to Date |
|
Original |
3/11/2019 |
$70,000 |
$70,000 |
|
1st Amendment |
5/22/2019 |
$100,000 |
$100,000 |
|
2nd Amendment |
|
$50.000 |
|
|
Total |
|
$220,000 |
$170,000 |
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
This action is in compliance with City Council Resolution 15354, which establishes the City’s Records Retention Schedule. Per the schedule, which follows records retention requirements under state law, the majority of Planning and Building permit records and building plans are to be kept permanently.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This activity is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to section 15378(b)(4) of the CEQA Guidelines, because governmental fiscal activities that do not have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment are not a project under CEQA.
CLIMATE IMPACT
The scanning and archiving of permit records is consistent with a longstanding goal of the City to have departments move away from paper-intensive processes. Since 2014, all Planning permit plans and drawings have been accepted in electronic format. In 2017, the Permit Center implemented electronic plan review for large-scale development projects, such as Alameda Point, which has saved thousands of dollars in plan set printing costs and paper material. As part of the Permit Center’s response to COVID-19, all permit application materials and plan drawings are now required to be submitted electronically. While not directly quantifiable, the reduction in paper use has saved many trees from being cut for raw materials.
RECOMMENDATION
Authorize the City Manager to execute a Second Amendment in the amount of $50,000 with ECS Imaging, Inc., for total compensation not to exceed $220,000 for scanning and archiving of Planning and Building permit documents.
CITY MANAGER RECOMMENDATION
The City Manager recommends approval.
Respectfully submitted,
Andrew Thomas, Planning, Building & Transportation Director
By,
Allen Tai, City Planner
Erin Garcia, Administrative Services Coordinator
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Annie To, Finance Director
Exhibits:
1. Original Agreement
2. 1st Amendment
3. 2nd Amendment
cc: Eric Levitt, City Manager