I. RECOMMENDATION:
City Council acceptance of staff’s recommendation to select Blais and Associates to provide grant consulting services and further authorizing the City Manager to enter into a three (3) year professional services agreement with Blais and Associates for said on-call grant consulting research and development service including a citywide needs assessment in year one.
II. BACKGROUND:
The City Council requested City staff to advertise a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) from grant writing firms who would have the ability to provide full-service grant consulting from grant research, development, and post-award management services to local municipal government agencies. Staff advertised the RFQ on July 15, 2019 and proposals were due on August 15th. The RFQ requested information such as qualifications of the firm and personnel, relative experience in providing services in a municipal environment, and a fee schedule.
III. DISCUSSION:
Staff received seven (7) statements of qualifications (SOQ) from different firms in California and Colorado. The seven (7) firms who submitted are the following:
Staff reviewed the SOQ’s from all firms taking into consideration their qualifications, qualifications of the firm’s personnel, relative experience, completeness of the SOQ and the reasonableness of the fee schedule when comparing to the other firms. After careful consideration staff feels that Blais and Associates is the best fit for the City of Coalinga to provide the services needed by the City of Coalinga and at a reasonable cost considering the sensitivity of the City’s budget. Attached is a copy of the statement of qualifications submitted by Blais and Associates.
In addition, staff has provided a detailed scope of services that will be in the 3-year contract with Blais and Associates for research and development grant services. Grant writing will be administered on a task order basis as costs can fluctuate based on the grant’s requirement demands. However, the hourly rate for the grant writers will remain the same.
In addition to the year one contract staff is requesting additional funding in FY2020 for Blais and Associates (B&A) to conduct a citywide needs assessment, which allows B&A staff to gain insight into the programmatic needs of the City. This can be accomplished with an on-site meeting with key staff and leaders. B&A will utilize the needs assessment during grant research, which in turn will enable effective and targeted research for Coalinga.
IV. ALTERNATIVES:
Do not authorize the City Manager to enter into a professional services agreement with Blais and Associates for grant research and development services and direct staff accordingly. – staff does not recommend.
V. FISCAL IMPACT:
The contract for services with Blais and Associates will be a not to exceed contract in the amount of $20,000 per year for research and development services as identified in the scope of services. The following cost allocation shall be as follows:
|
Department
|
Account Number
|
Allocation
|
Annual Cost
|
|
Gas Tax
|
107-422-88130
|
20%
|
$4,000
|
|
Gas Fund
|
502-510-88130
|
5%
|
$1,000
|
|
Water Fund
|
501-503-88130
|
30%
|
$6,000
|
|
Wastewater Fund
|
503-520-88130
|
30%
|
$6,000 |
|
General Fund (Police/Fire/Admin)
|
Various 88100
|
10%
|
$2,000 |
|
Housing Successor
|
820-610-88100
|
5%
|
$1,000
|
In addition to the annual contract staff is requesting a one time expense not to exceed $6,725 for Blais and Associates to conduct a needs assessment. This expense will have the same allocation as above and be included in the year one contract for FY2020. |