Memorandum
Date: July 6, 2023
To: The Honorable Lake County Board of Supervisors, Sitting as the Board of
Directors, Lake County Watershed Protection District
From: Scott De Leon, Director and Angela De Palma-Dow, Invasive Species Program
Coordinator, Water Resources Department
Subject: Sitting as the Board of Directors of the Lake County Watershed Protection District (a) Waive the formal bidding process, pursuant to Lake County Code Section 2-38.2 (2) & (3). (b) Approve the Agreement between the Lake County Watershed Protection District and and Dr. Jeanine Pfeiffer to conduct specialized services to meet grant deliverables, and Authorize the Water Resources Director to sign and execute the Agreement.
Executive Summary:
Attached for your approval, is the Agreement between the Lake County Watershed Protection District (“District”) and Dr. Jeanine Pfeiffer, LLC (“The Contractor”) to assist the District in meeting deliverables as part of a California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) Alliance Grant Program and Integrated Regional Water Management Sac Westside Small Grants Program.
The major task of the contractor is to coordinate the implementation of a Natural Shoreline Restoration Program in Clear Lake and to assist in the development and coordination of an Inaugural Clear Lake Science Symposium / Summit event, open to the public, to share information about current scientific topics such as water quality and Clear Lake Hitch. This item is not anticipated to be controversial and therefore is being placed as a consent item.
The total amount for the contract is $47,000 with $29,000 for the DPR grant and approximately $10-18,000 for Science Summit coordination and related activities. This contract will allow Water Resources to complete grant deliverables that were originally intended to be fulfilled by an AmeriCorps Fellow but due to poor recruitment and labor shortages, we were not able to solidify a Fellow to conduct the work. To complete these grant tasks the District needs a skilled and experienced contractor who is already familiar with issues surrounding Clear Lake and is familiar with the project’s relevant stakeholders (i.e. Dr. Pfeiffer is a lead partner on the Cobb Water Education and Restoration Project and is a principal investigator on recently awarded Big Valley Rancheria’s Tule Nursery and propagation grant). Approving this contract will allow the contractor to “hit the ground running” with these projects as she satisfies these needed requirements.
It is improbable that there are other firms or consultants who can provide a competing quote, as the services that will be provided by the contractor are highly specialized and include a local familiarity with Lake County residents, tribes, NGO’s, agencies and universities that are currently conducting research in the County. Staff is not aware of any firms or consultants that can perform the required tasks and the additional expense to prepare a request for proposal is not only cost prohibitive it is not likely those costs could be included in the scope of work within the grant.
The specialized skills include: designing and distributing restoration education, outreach, website creation and design, and university, agency, NGO, and tribal collaboration and communication. Therefore, it is in the best interest of the County to waive the formal bidding process to the tight timeline of the grant and the unique nature of the services provided. The Contractor, Dr. Jeanine Pfeiffer, has been approved by the grant administrators at DPR as an acceptable replacement to perform the tasks originally intended for a CivicSpark Fellow.
If not budgeted, fill in the blanks below only:
Estimated Cost: ________ Amount Budgeted: ________ Additional Requested: ________ Future Annual Cost: ________
Purchasing Considerations (check all that apply): ☐ Not applicable
☐ Fully Article X. <https://library.municode.com/ca/lake_county/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=COOR_CH2AD_ARTXPU_S2-38EXCOBI>- and/or Consultant Selection Policy <http://lcnet.co.lake.ca.us/Assets/Intranet/Policy/Policies+$!26+Procedures+Manual/Ch4_2021v2.pdf>-Compliant (describe process undertaken in “Executive Summary”)
☒ Section 2-38 <https://library.municode.com/ca/lake_county/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=COOR_CH2AD_ARTXPU_S2-38EXCOBI> Exemption from Competitive Bidding (rationale in “Executive Summary,” attach documentation, as needed)
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☐ Other (Please describe in Executive Summary)
Consistency with Vision 2028 <http://www.lakecountyca.gov/Government/Directory/Administration/Visioning/Vision2028.htm> (check all that apply): ☐ Not applicable
☐ Well-being of Residents ☒ Public Safety ☐ Disaster Prevention, Preparedness, Recovery
☒ Economic Development ☐ Infrastructure ☒ County Workforce
☒ Community Collaboration ☐ Business Process Efficiency ☒ Clear Lake
Recommended Action:
Sitting as the Board of Directors of the Lake County Watershed Protection District (a) Waive the formal bidding process, pursuant to Lake County Code Section 2-38.2 (2) & (3). (b) Approve the Agreement between the Lake County Watershed Protection District and Dr. Jeanine Pfeiffer to conduct specialized services to meet grant deliverables, and Authorize the Water Resources Director to sign and execute the Agreement