Title
Recommendation to Authorize the City Manager to Execute a Sixth Amendment to the Agreement with Cultivate, LLC to Increase Compensation by $60,000, for a Total Aggregate Compensation Not to Exceed $354,000 to Continue Providing Technical Planning Support to the City of Alameda General Plan Update through Housing Element Adoption. (Planning, Building and Transportation 20962710) [Continued from October 19, 2021; public comment closed]
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In accordance with State Law, the City of Alameda (City) must complete the required update of the Housing Element (the final mandatory element of the General Plan to be updated) by January 31, 2023. The Housing Element update will require a major community planning effort that is highly regulated and prescribed by State Housing Law.
Staff is requesting City Council authorization to amend the existing contract with Cultivate, LLC to continue its work assisting staff with the update of the General Plan through adoption of the Housing Element update in 2022. The work requires a $60,000 contract amendment. The funds necessary to complete the work are available and budgeted for this purpose in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2021-22 Planning & Building Department Budget.
BACKGROUND
In 2019, the City Council authorized work to commence on the General Plan update. The Alameda community and Planning Board began working on the update in 2019, with technical support from Cultivate, LLC. On October 11, 2021, after two and a half years of work, the Planning Board is scheduled to complete its work on the General Plan update, and begin work on the next major milestone, the Housing Element update for the 2023-2031 cycle.
DISCUSSION
In accordance with state law, the City must complete the required update of the Housing Element (the final mandatory element of the General Plan to be updated) by January 31, 2023. To be successful, the Housing Element update will require a major community planning effort. Staff would like to retain the team at Cultivate, LLC to assist city staff with the Housing Element update.
Amie MacPhee, Sheffield Hale, and Candice Miller at Cultivate, LLC have been instrumental to the success of the two-year General Plan update process. They have supported City staff in the preparation of each draft of the General Plan update and have served as the City’s community participation consultant, website manager, and document layout and graphics specialists for the General Plan update over the last two years. Ms. MacPhee, Ms. Miller and Mr. Hale have been instrumental in ensuring that the community is able to participate actively in the General Plan update through a variety of venues and on-line forums, and they have done excellent work designing a General Plan document that is user-friendly, easy to read, and informative.
Although work is drawing to a close on the General Plan update, staff would like to retain the team at Cultivate, LLC for the update of the Housing Element. Exhibit 7 describes the work that Ms. MacPhee and her team will perform to assist staff and the Planning Board with the Housing Element update.
To fund the consultant assistance needed to complete the Housing Element Update, staff is recommending a $60,000 increase to the existing contract amount with Cultivate, LLC, for a total aggregate amount not to exceed $354,000.
ALTERNATIVES
The City Council may:
• Approve the contract amendment as recommended;
• Approve the contract amendment with revisions determined necessary by the City Council; or
• Not approve the contract amendment and direct staff to complete the Housing Element with the benefit of a different consultant.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The funds are available in the Planning & Building Department’s Budget (20962710). In 2020, the City received a $310,000 state grant to partially fund several Planning areas including the General Plan update and project EIR. These grant funds are designed to supplement the Community Planning Funds collected over the past ten (10) years to fund General Plan and Zoning Ordinance updates. No additional appropriations are needed.
The tables below provides information related to the original contract and the contract amendments:
|
Cultivate Contract |
Approval Date |
Authorized Amount |
Expended to Date |
|
Original Contract |
11/13/18 |
$10,500 |
$10,500 |
|
1st Amendment |
1/17/19 |
$60,000 |
$60,000 |
|
2nd Amendment |
12/19/19 |
N/A (Term Extension) |
N/A |
|
3rd Amendment |
2/28/20 |
$75,000 |
$75,000 |
|
4th Amendment |
9/16/20 |
$75,000 |
$75,000 |
|
5th Amendment |
2/2/21 |
$73,500 |
$73,500 |
|
6th Amendment |
|
$60,000 |
0 |
|
Total |
|
$354,000 |
$294,000 |
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
The General Plan and Housing Element updates are required by State Law.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) applies only to projects that have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. Amending a contract is not a project pursuant to Public Resources Code section 21065 and CEQA Guidelines section 15378.
CLIMATE IMPACT
The General Plan is the City’s guiding policy document. The Housing Element update embeds recent policy actions, such as the City’s Climate Action and Resiliency Plan, into the broader policy framework related to topics such as land use, transportation, and recreation. Further, the General Plan update is being completed as an almost “paperless” update, with an emphasis on use of electronic media instead of printed copies of the various drafts of the document.
RECOMMENDATION
Authorize the City Manager to execute a Sixth Amendment to the agreement with Cultivate, LLC to increase compensation by $60,000, for a total aggregate compensation not to exceed $354,000 to continue providing technical planning support to the City’s General Plan update through Housing Element adoption.
CITY MANAGER RECOMMENDATION
The City Manager requests authorization to approve an amendment to the contract for a total compensation not to exceed $354,000.
Respectfully submitted,
Andrew Thomas, Planning, Building and Transportation Director
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Annie To, Finance Director
Exhibits:
1. Original Agreement
2. 1st Amendment
3. 2nd Amendment
4. 3rd Amendment
5. 4th Amendment
6. 5th Amendment
7. 6th Amendment Scope and Budget
cc: Eric Levitt, City Manager
Gerry Beaudin, Assistant City Manager