To: Board of Supervisors
From: Marc Shorr, Information Technology Director
Report Title: Contract Extension with EKC Enterprises, Inc.
☒Recommendation of the County Administrator ☐ Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Chief Information Officer, or designee, to execute a contract amendment with EKC Enterprises, Inc. to extend the term through April 30, 2025, with no increase in payment limit, to continue to provide installation and maintenance of telecommunications cabling on an as-needed basis.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The cost of this contract is paid for by the Department of Information Technology and is reimbursed by departments or agencies receiving the services. 100% User Departments.
BACKGROUND:
The Department of Information Technology (DoIT) utilizes EKC Enterprises, Inc. (EKC) to provide installation and maintenance of telecommunications cabling on an as-needed basis. DoIT has used EKC to augment its permanent workforce to complete all requested projects in a timely manner, and adequately staff upcoming projects. The current contract has a total payment limit of $2,600,000. Over the last year DoIT has worked with the Human Resources Department to recruit for the job classification of Telecommunications Infrastructure Specialist and has hired two (2) new full-time employees into the classification. Although the expanded team has reduced the need for temporary contracted services, they have not eliminated it entirely
To comply with County purchasing policies and procedures, DoIT worked with Purchasing to issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) to solicit bids from companies who provide cabling and telecommunication services and are interested in partnering with Contra Costa County. RFP 2411-849 was issued on November 6, 2024. A pre-bid conference was held on November 20, 2024, and the bid closed on December 12, 2024. A Qualifications Evaluation Committee has been convened and is undertaking the task of evaluating each of the four (4) proposals received. Once the Evaluation Committee has a recommendation on a vendor or vendors, DoIT will begin the contract negotiation process and will return to the Board with a recommendation to approve a contract(s). County Labor Relations and Teamsters, Local 856 were notified of the initial contract, the previous extension through December 31, 2024, and the proposed extension through April 30, 2025; there have been no objections. An extension of the current contract with EKC Enterprises is requested to allow the Department and the RFP-selected vendor(s) time to finalize contract negotiations.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
If this request is not approved, DoIT will be unable to meet the current demands and customer services needs in a timely manner and cost-effective basis for telecommunications cabling requests and may be unable to maintain the County wide telecommunications network should an issue emerge requiring maintenance or installation of telecommunications cabling.