Memorandum
Date: July 23, 2024
To: The Honorable Lake County Board of Supervisors
From: Mireya G. Turner, Community Development Department Director
William Collins, Chief Building Official
Subject: Approve First Amendment of Agreement between the County of Lake and 4LEAF, Inc, to Extend Term to October 1, 2025, and Increase Compensation by $90,000, for a Total Compensation Not to Exceed $140,000, for Building Permit Processing and Inspection Services, and Authorize the Chair to Sign.
Executive Summary: The original agreement between the County of Lake and 4LEAF, Inc. for Permit Processing Services, was approved by the Board of Supervisors and the Agreement for services commenced on October 1, 2022. Since then, 4LEAF, Inc. has been a valuable partner to staff with building permit review services. The term of the original agreement expired last October, though we have continued to use their services as needed.
The Maha Guenoc Valley Mixed-Use Development Project includes sixteen (16) entitlements, including five (5) subdivisions, a hotel, restaurant, golf course, and a Specific Plan of Development. This project is anticipated to place a significant demand on the Building Division staff to process the building permits in a timely manner. Additionally, in case of any shortage in Building Division staff, we will have access to 4LEAF’s inspection team and expertise.
Due to the vast nature of the Maha Valley Mixed-Use Development Project the experience and expertise of the 4LEAF team is critical to the advancement of the project to ensure the Building Division staff are available for other permit reviewing activities ongoing in the County of Lake and to eliminate undue burdens to the Maha Guenoc Valley Mixed-Use Development Project or any other projects occurring in the County of Lake.
We are requesting exception from standard procurements process for the Quotes and Bids Request process using the established requirements for the exigency exemption that permits the use of noncompetitive procurements as described in Federal regulation (200 C.F.R. part 200 - Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principals, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards) which is described in regulation at 2 C.F.R. §200.320(f)(2) also referred to as “sole-source contracting”, The difficulty in finding other Contractor’s who can meet or exceed 4LEAF’s expertise as well as there being no financial benefit to the County of Lake and would greatly delay and burden the process at no financial gain or greater value.
4LEAF, Inc. has provided consistent and fair pricing throughout their time providing Building Permit Review, Processing, and Inspections Services. It is critical to consider other factors, such as project size and resources when making a decision. Additionally, the risk for materially unbalanced bids could impact services and create unnecessary risk of gaps in services. 4LEAF, Inc. has maintained the same prices per service as they offered from day one of the contract, never passing the burden of inflation onto the county by increasing prices or removing services. This has made it easy for the County of Lake to have clear expectations of the cost of services for current and future project needs. For these reasons we believe there is no financial advantage or benefits to an open bid.
The additional cost of services will be offset by the building permit fees collected.
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Estimated Cost: ________ Amount Budgeted: ________ Additional Requested: ________ Future Annual Cost: ________
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☒ Economic Development ☒ Infrastructure ☒ County Workforce
☐ Community Collaboration ☒ Business Process Efficiency ☐ Clear Lake
Recommended Action: Approve First Amendment of Agreement between the County of Lake and 4LEAF, Inc. to extend term to October 1, 2025, and increase compensation by $90,000; for a total compensation not to exceed $140,000, for building permit processing and inspection Services, and authorize the Chair to sign.