HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 09152009 - C.80RECOMMENDATION(S):
APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Director of the Department of Conservation and
Development, or designee, to execute a contract amendment with the San Francisco Estuary
Institute (Contract # C49563), effective September 15, 2009, to: 1) Increase the payment
limit of $220,000 by $90,000 to a new payment limit not to exceed $310,000; 2) Extend the
term of the contract from December 31, 2009 to April 30, 2010, to allow Contractor to
provide additional services associated with an assessment of historical natural resource
conditions in the County; and 3) Release to Contractor the 10% withholding for work
completed and invoiced as of September 1, 2009.
FISCAL IMPACT:
No impact to the general fund. The Conservation and Development and Public Works
Departments have raised $330,000 in grant and mitigation funds to support the proposed
historical ecology project, more than enough to cover the proposed $90,000 increase to the
expenditure limit for the contract. The County has been awarded two grants for the project:
$150,000 from the California Coastal Conservancy and $80,000 from the
APPROVE OTHER
RECOMMENDATION OF CNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE
Action of Board On: 09/15/2009 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER
Clerks Notes:
VOTE OF SUPERVISORS
AYE:John Gioia, District I
Supervisor
Gayle B. Uilkema, District II
Supervisor
Mary N. Piepho, District III
Supervisor
Susan A. Bonilla, District IV
Supervisor
Federal D. Glover, District V
Supervisor
Contact: Abigail Fateman,
335-1272
I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes of the Board
of Supervisors on the date shown.
ATTESTED: September 15, 2009
David J. Twa, County Administrator and Clerk of the Board of Supervisors
By: Celicia Nelson, Deputy
cc: Raymond Wong
C.80
To:Board of Supervisors
From:Catherine Kutsuris, Conservation & Development Director
Date:September 15, 2009
Contra
Costa
County
Subject:CONTRACT AMENDMENT WITH THE SAN FRANCISCO ESTUARY INSTITUTE FOR
ASSESSMENT OF HISTORICAL ECOLOGICAL CONDITIONS IN THE COUNTY
FISCAL IMPACT: (CONT'D)
California Department of Fish and Game. The County Flood Control and Water
Conservation District has contributed $100,000 in mitigation funds to the project. The
Contractor will provide the scientific expertise for the project, perform most of the data
collection and analysis and author all reports. The Department of Conservation and
Development (DCD) will assist with the Geographic Information System (GIS) and
public involvement components. Staff from the DCD will also provide some project
management services in kind as part of the required local match for the grants.
BACKGROUND:
The proposed increase in the contract payment limit is needed because Contractor is
performing a larger portion of project tasks than originally anticipated. The proposed
contract amendment does not change the scope of the actual project, just shifts workload
from the County to Contractor.
The proposed contract extension reflects a grant deadline extension received from the
California Coastal Conservancy. As a result of the state-ordered halt in the expenditure of
bond funds in December, 2009 ("bond freeze"), a "stop-work" order was issued for the
project while the state's cash-flow problem was addressed. The Coastal Conservancy has
now rescinded the stop-work order, allowed work to resume on the project, extended the
grant agreement and pushed back the schedule of the historical ecological project to
reflect the delay caused by the bond freeze.
The original contract with the San Francisco Estuary Project included a clause in the
payment provisions to withhold payment of ten percent of invoiced costs for work
performed until the entire project is complete. Staff recommends that we pay all
withholdings of invoiced costs for work performed and invoiced as of September 1,
2009. The bond freeze resulted in payments being withheld longer than anticipated.
Contractor has performed well and payment of withholdings is a reasonable
accommodation. Ten percent of costs for work performed and invoiced after September
1, 2009 will be withheld until the project is complete.
The Board of Supervisors has approved a number of past actions relating to this project.
On April 10th, 2007 the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors authorized staff to
submit a grant proposal to the California Coastal Conservancy to work with the Contra
Costa Watershed Forum and the San Francisco Estuary Institute to assess historical
ecological conditions in the County. On June 26th, 2007 the Board authorized an initial
contract with Contractor for work associated with this project.
The historical ecology project has been recognized by individuals and organizations
involved in the Contra Costa Watershed Forum as an important initiative providing
information on historical conditions to better inform future restoration and management.
The completed project would provide direct benefits to the County, including:
New GIS data layers such as digital, ortho-rectified versions of the earliest available
aerial photos for the County (ca. 1939) that can be overlain with other layers in the
County’s GIS;
Baseline information and analysis useful for flood protection and integrated water
management (e.g., information useful for locating sites for County projects and for
providing the most cost-effective and sustainable mitigation and infiltration
opportunities; and
Baseline information on landscape trends and trajectories that will help guide
conservation and restoration efforts in which the County is involved (such as the
East Contra Costa County Habitat Conservation Plan / Natural Community
Conservation Plan).
The project is county-wide in scope but has an East County focus. At the County scale,
the project is collecting baseline historical data resources. Data collected on a
county-wide basis include historic aerial photos, Spanish rancho maps and other
geographic information from the Bancroft Library at UC Berkeley, early public land
surveys and an array of other sources that Contractor has found useful and available for
other investigations. The project has produced an initial public outreach document for the
County that was released at the third quadrennial Contra Costa County Creek and
Watershed Symposium in November 2007. For eastern Contra Costa County, the project
will carry out more detailed data collection, mapping, analysis, and reporting. However,
the intention is to extend such analysis to other areas of the County in the future when
additional funding becomes available. The county-wide data collection that is part of this
initial project will support those future phases.
Staff recommends that the Board authorize the Director of the Conservation and
Development Department or her designee the authority to amend the existing contract
with the San Francisco Estuary Institute for funded work associated with the historical
ecology project.
ATTACHMENTS
L-2 form