TO: Members of the City Council
FROM: Mayor Angela Birney
DEPARTMENT DIRECTOR CONTACT(S):
|
Planning and Community Development |
Carol Helland |
425-556-2107 |
DEPARTMENT STAFF:
|
Planning and Community Development |
Jason Lynch |
Deputy Director |
|
Planning and Community Development |
Todd Rawlings |
Process Improvement Manager |
TITLE:
title
Approval of a Consultant Agreement with Matrix Consulting Group, Ltd., in an Amount Not to Exceed $145,000, for the Development Services Process Improvement Effort
OVERVIEW STATEMENT:
recommendation
With the Development Services Process Improvement Consultant Agreement, the City of Redmond has solicited a consultant to streamline, improve consistency and predictability of our permitting, inspection, and code compliance functions of the City, which are supported by the departments of Planning and Community Development, Public Works, and Fire. This cross-departmental process improvement will contribute to the City’s ability to facilitate development that is consistent with the community vision contained in the Comprehensive Plan.
body
☒ Additional Background Information/Description of Proposal Attached
REQUESTED ACTION:
☐ Receive Information ☐ Provide Direction ☒ Approve
REQUEST RATIONALE:
• Relevant Plans/Policies:
Comprehensive Plan
Economic Vitality-1 Provide a positive, accessible and “user-friendly” atmosphere to those seeking municipal services.
Economic Vitality-2 Foster a culture throughout the City organization that continuously improves the quality, predictability, timeliness and cost of the development process.
Economic Vitality-12 Evaluate development regulations periodically to:
• Ensure that uses not previously contemplated and that are consistent with the intent of the Comprehensive Plan can locate within the city; and
• Review development standards, timelines and fees to promote predictability and consistency.
• Required:
Second Substitute Senate Bill 5290 <https://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/2023-24/Pdf/Bills/Session%20Laws/Senate/5290-S2.SL.pdf?q=20231101133548> was signed by the Governor on May 8, 2023. This bill requires cities to report permit performance to Commerce starting in 2024 and to meet permit timelines starting in 2025. Improvements to the permitting enterprise are necessary to accomplish the requirements contained in this bill.
• Council Request:
N/A
• Other Key Facts:
Council requested continuous process improvement initiatives.
OUTCOMES:
The City’s Request For Proposal (RFP) process took place in September and October of 2023. The sealed bids of eight (8) applicant consulting vendors were received by the City of Redmond and a scoring matrix was used to rank each of the vendors on such criteria as Proposed Fees, Qualifications, Relevant Project Experience, Project Understanding and Project Scope. We narrowed the candidates down to five (5) and then held virtual face-to-face interviews with an additional round of scoring. The Evaluation Scoring and interviews were performed by the Directors involved with this project including, Director of Planning and Community Development: Carol Helland, Director of Public Works: Aaron Bert; Fire Chief Adrian Sheppard; Chief Operating Officer: Malisa Files; and the newly appointed Performance and Improvement Manager, Todd Rawlings. The entire process was under the guidance of our City of Redmond Purchasing Department.
Two consulting vendors rose to the top and we decided to pursue the vendor “Marcum” initially for the contract. However, after many months of negotiations related to changes Marcum wanted with our City of Redmond Standard Contract, we reach a point where they declined and we then moved to awarding the contract to Matrix Consulting Group, Ltd. This memo is the proposal to engage with Matrix for this work.
The Development Services Process Improvement Action Plan will be developed in partnership with all Permit Review teams and with assistance from the Consultant to identify key opportunities for Permit Process improvement. With this Action Plan, the City of Redmond will be well prepared to streamline our processes and create transparent reporting on our Permit throughput and staff utilization.
COMMUNITY/STAKEHOLDER OUTREACH AND INVOLVEMENT:
• Timeline (previous or planned):
We will work with consultant to develop an implementation plan.
• Outreach Methods and Results:
TBD
• Feedback Summary:
TBD
BUDGET IMPACT:
Total Cost:
The contract for consulting services is not to exceed $145,000. The funding to develop the consultant agreement and Development Services Process Improvement Plan comes from fees collected through the Development Services function.
Approved in current biennial budget: ☒ Yes ☐ No ☐ N/A
Budget Offer Number:
0000042 Development Services
Budget Priority:
Vibrant and Connected
Other budget impacts or additional costs: ☐ Yes ☐ No ☒ N/A
If yes, explain:
N/A
Funding source(s):
General Fund
Budget/Funding Constraints:
N/A
☐ Additional budget details attached
COUNCIL REVIEW:
Previous Contact(s)
|
Date |
Meeting |
Requested Action |
|
5/7/2024 |
Committee of the Whole - Planning and Public Works |
Receive Information |
Proposed Upcoming Contact(s)
|
Date |
Meeting |
Requested Action |
|
|
None proposed at this time |
N/A |
Time Constraints:
The selected consultant has been notified and is coordinating with City staff regarding the project schedule. Project work is anticipated to begin in May 2024.
ANTICIPATED RESULT IF NOT APPROVED:
If not approved, the City will not be able to move forward with the consultant contract and Process Improvement initiatives will be slowed; the City will lack a key resource in gathering independent Voice of the Customer input from both internal teams and external customers.
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment A - Matrix Consulting Group, Ltd. Proposal
Attachment B - Consulting Agreement