City Council
MEETING DATE: 1/11/2017
TITLE:
Title
Agreement with The Ramsay Group for the Five-Year (2017-2021) Consolidated Plan and FY 2017 Annual Action Plan
End
FROM:
John A. Corella, P.E., City Engineer
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Staff recommends the City Council authorize the City Manager (or designee) to enter into a Professional Services Agreement with The Ramsay Group for the proposed amount of $19,950 to prepare the City’s Five Year Consolidated Plan and first year Annual Action Plan for submittal to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD); and approve a ten percent (10%) contingency of $1995 for unforeseeable costs associated with any changes HUD may impose for a total amount of $21,945; and authorize a budget amendment of $21,945.
Body
BACKGROUND:
The Consolidated Plan (Con Plan) is a five-year comprehensive strategic plan developed to assist the City in assessing its affordable housing and community development needs, market conditions and to make data-driven, place-based investment decisions. The consolidated planning process serves as the framework for a community-wide dialogue to identify housing and community development priorities that align and focus funding from the HUD Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program.
The Con Plan is carried out through Annual Action Plans. The Annual Action Plan (AAP) outlines a summary of the actions, activities, and programs that will take place during the fiscal year to address the priority needs and specific objectives identified in the Five-Year Consolidated Plan. The AAP identifies the relationship between federal resources and the specific objectives created to address priority needs identified the strategic plan.
DISCUSSION:
In order to prepare an unbiased assessment of the types of programs, services and projects needed to develop a successful Con Plan, staff elected to solicit proposals from qualified professional consulting firms to solicit information from the community and prepare the comprehensive Con Plan and first year AAP on behalf of the City.
On December 15, 2016, the City received three proposals from professional consulting firms interested in preparing both the Con Plan and AAP for the City. Based on the specific criteria of the request for proposal (RFP), City staff evaluated the proposals and confirmed deliverables. In these discussions, Castaneda and Associates retracted their proposal; therefore, making The Ramsay Group (TRG) the lowest responsive proposal received.
The following table lists the three consultants and their proposed amounts:
|
Consulting Firm |
Location |
Amount |
|
Castaneda and Associates |
Riverside, CA |
$9,300 |
|
The Ramsey Group |
Valencia, CA |
$19,950 |
|
MDG & Associates |
Rancho Cucamonga, CA |
$36,000 |
Based on the deliverables, availability of resources and cost of the proposal, City Staff recommends that the City Council award and enter into a contract with The Ramsey Group based on the following reasons:
• The firm has a strong understanding of the information that needs to be gathered to prepare the FY 2017 - 2021Consolidated Plan and FY 2017 Annual Action Plan;
• The firm cost estimate and hourly rates are economically feasible;
• The schedule of work to prepare the Con Plan and Action Plan meets the criteria specified by HUD and the City; and,
• The firm is located in Southern California and, therefore, can maintain the presence needed to gather information, perform the analysis, perform the field work and prepare the Con Plan and AAP.
Furthermore, the Ramsey Group prepared and submitted the City's recent Assessment of Fair Housing (AFH). Cathedral City was one of sixteen jurisdictions across the United States to be a first submitter of such document. Cathedral City’s Assessment of Fair Housing was also one of few (of the sixteen submitted) to be accepted by HUD and setting the standard for other jurisdiction to follow.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The cost of the Consolidated Plan and Annual Action Plan will follow the cost estimate and hourly rate schedule in the proposal submitted by the Ramsey Group. Approval of the recommended action will execute this agreement for an amount of $19,950.00.
This request will exceed the current Fiscal Year 2016/17 budgeted account for Engineering Professional and Technical Services. Staff is recommending a budget adjustment to complete this HUD required task in order to maintain our status as an Entitlement Grantee that receives funds in excess of $500,000 for implement HUD approved programs. The recommended budget amendment will add funds to the budget as follows:
|
Fund Name/Source |
Full Account Number |
Amount |
Budget Operations/Capital |
Budget Existing/New |
|
Engineering Professional and Technical Services |
100-156-8601 |
$21,945.00 |
Capital |
New |
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Professional Services Agreement (PSA): The Ramsay Group (TRG)
2. TRG Proposal
3. HUD Acceptance Letter