To: Board of Supervisors
From: John Kopchik, Director, Conservation and Development
Report Title: Contract Amendment with First Carbon Solutions.
☒Recommendation of the County Administrator ☐ Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Conservation and Development Director, or designee, to execute a contract amendment with First Carbon Solutions, to increase the payment limit by $100,000 to a new payment limit of $600,000, to continue providing on-call environmental services, countywide.
FISCAL IMPACT:
No impact to the County's General Fund. Project costs are covered by project applicant fees.
BACKGROUND:
In September 2018, the Public Works Development (PWD) entered into contract with First Carbon Solutions ("Contractor") in an amount not to exceed $500,000 for the period September 15, 2018, through September 15, 2023, to provide on-call environmental services (i.e., Environmental Impact Reports (EIRs), development, and peer review of technical analysis’). In March 2022, changes to the project scope required additional contract services which necessitated a budget augmentation of $99,635 for a total contract amount of $600,000.
The Department of Conservation and Development (DCD) assumed responsibility for this contract from Public Works for the remaining EIR services. In September 2023, DCD requested the Board of Supervisors to authorize a contract extension from September 15, 2023, through September 14, 2025, as the project had not been completed due to significant site plan redesign. No budget increase was associated with that request as the Contractor’s proposed budget augmentation was still under staff review and the contract was due to expire. The Contractor has finalized its proposed budget augmentation, which includes an updated fee schedule, with concurrence from the project applicant. Staff has determined it is necessary to increase the budget to $600,000 because the Contractor’s services are still needed to complete the project.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
If the recommended action is not approved, First Carbon Solutions would not be able to continue to provide services, which may result in delayed delivery of environmental documents.