Title
Recommendation to Authorize the City Manager to Execute a Second Amendment to Agreement with Douglas Herring & Associates to Increase Compensation by $40,000, for a Total Aggregate Compensation Not to Exceed $220,000, to Complete the Environmental Impact Report for the General Plan 2040 Update. (Planning, Building and Transportation 209)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In 2019, the City Council approved the 2019 Biennial Budget and 2019 Annual Report on the Status of the General Plan, which identified the need for a comprehensive update of the 1991 General Plan. In 2019, staff initiated work on the update and began initial work on the environmental review of the draft General Plan with the assistance of Douglas Herring & Associates. Per the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the environmental impact report (EIR) must be completed and reviewed for adequacy by the City Council, before the Planning Board and City Council can approve a General Plan update.
In early May, the City of Alameda (City) released the Draft EIR. Staff is requesting City Council approval to increase the amount of the contract with Douglas Herring & Associates by $40,000 for a total amount not to exceed $220,000 to provide sufficient funds to complete the Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR).
BACKGROUND
The General Plan must be an "integrated, internally consistent and compatible statement of policies for the adopting agency." (Government Code section 65300.5.) The General Plan establishes the local development and conservation policies necessary to guide physical development and protect the general health, safety and welfare of the community and the environment. The last comprehensive update of the current General Plan occurred almost 30 years ago in 1991.
In August 2020, the staff/consultant team completed a first draft of the General Plan update for public review, launched the project website to allow the p...
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