Westminster City Council
SUBJECT
Title
Approval of Amendment No. 1 to the Agreement with City Advisors for Continued On-Call Consultant Services in Fiscal Years 2024-2025 and 2025-2026.
End
From: Sheri Vander Dussen, Interim Director of Community Development
Requested by: Administration
Prepared by: Sheri Vander Dussen, Interim Director of Community Development
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RECOMMENDED ACTION
Recommendation
A. Approve Amendment No. 1 to the Agreement with City Advisors for continued On-Call Consultant Services for two years in the amount of $200,000; and
B. Authorize the City Manager or her designee to execute Amendment No. 1 to the Agreement in a form approved by the City Attorney.
BACKGROUND
The Planning Division within the Community Development Department currently has two key vacancies, including the Principal Planner and the Current Planning Senior Planner. In addition, the Advance Planning Senior Planner was just hired in July. There was a need to fill the Principal Planner position on an interim basis while a recruitment was conducted to provide supervision of the Planning Division and oversee more complicated development applications.
In February, Stephanie Tomaino of City Advisors was brought in to fill that role as a contractor. In this capacity, she has managed several important applications through the entitlement process, including the billboard ordinances and the Westminster Reliability Project. She is currently processing the first entitlement application for the Westminster Mall and all billboard applications. She is also providing assistance on some advance planning tasks. Ms. Tomaino supervises Assistant and Associate Planners and has been helping the new Senior Planner and Interim Director identify ways to streamline processes and improve productivity.
The City is currently recruiting for the Principal Planner, as well as the other Senior Planner. Once the positions are filled, the incumbents will provide supervision to city staff. As the hiring process is contingent upon attracting and hiring qualified candidates, the recruitment efforts may take months or longer.
Staff expects to retain Ms. Tomaino’s services until the projects on which she is working have been completed; this approach will provide the best level of service for development applicants.
The original agreement between City Advisors and the City was for a term of two years (from February 2024 to February 2026) in an amount not to exceed $100,000. Due to Ms. Tomaino’s role in many major projects, this amount will be expended soon and needs to be increased. The revised agreement will also allow City Advisors to provide environmental consulting and urban design services, as City Advisors’ subconsultants are able to provide technical assistance to City staff at a reasonable cost.
FISCAL IMPACT
The cost to fund the contract for the remainder of the term is $200,000. A portion of the cost will be offset by payments from developers to process development applications. The remaining costs will be covered by the General Fund. Adequate funds for the current fiscal year are available in Account No. 61050-43090.
LEGAL REVIEW
The City Attorney’s Office has reviewed as to form.
CONCLUSION
The Planning Division has a need for high level technical assistance for an extended period due to management level vacancies. Approval of this contract amendment will allow continuity of services for development applicants and adequate time to transition supervision of planning staff and project management responsibilities to new management staff members as they are hired.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Amendment No. 1 to Professional Services Agreement with City Advisors
2. Professional Services Agreement with City Advisors
REVIEWED BY
Erin Backs, Finance Director
Christian Bettenhausen, City Attorney
Christine Cordon, City Manager