Title
AMENDMENT NO. THREE TO CONTRACT K-1617-119: BY AND BETWEEN THE CITY OF NORMAN, OKLAHOMA, AND FREESE AND NICHOLS, INC., INCREASING THE CONTRACT AMOUNT BY $20,000 FOR A REVISED CONTRACT AMOUNT OF $131,600 TO PROVIDE ASSISTANCE WITH UTILITY BILLING IMPLEMENTATION.
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BACKGROUND:
On August 23, 2016, Norman voters rejected the City’s proposal for a Stormwater Utility Fee system by a margin of 70-30 percent. Following the election, Mayor Miller formed a committee made up of Council Members Aleisha Karjala and Breea Clark as well as local volunteer Ms. Amanda Nairn to explore future options for additional stormwater funding. City Manager Steve Lewis, City Chief Communications Officer Claudia Deakins, City Stormwater Engineer Carrie Evenson and City Director of Public Works Shawn O’Leary assisted the Mayor’s committee beginning in September 2016.
The Mayor’s Committee conducted two public meetings and panel discussions in November 2016 and January 2017 on the topics of “The Health of Our Water” and “Stormwater Infrastructure”. On November 29, 2016, City Council met in Study Session to discuss stormwater funding options with Mr. Trey Shanks, Freese & Nichols, Inc. (FNI). FNI is a private company that specializes in municipal planning, architecture and engineering. The company has particular expertise in the development of stormwater funding programs including stormwater utility fee systems for municipalities. In January, City Council met in Study Session to discuss the City’s current and future dam safety policies, practices and funding issues.
On Tuesday, April 4, 2017, Council met in Study Session to discuss the next steps in the development of Stormwater Funding Opportunities. The proposal from the Mayor’s Committee included the formation of a Citizen Steering Committee and a contract for services with FNI. FNI provided expert assistance to the Citizen Steering Committee and the City Council over the next several months on the development of stormwater funding options for Norman.
The scope of work for this project included two phases of services. The work conducted in Phase 1 by the Citizen Steering Committee and City Council determined the need for and scope of Phase 2.
Phase 1 of the contract included:
• Data Collection and Review
• Steering Committee Meeting (1)
• Recommendation Report
Based upon feedback from the Citizen Steering Committee, FNI staff prepared a recommendation report summarizing the findings and recommendations from the Steering Committee meeting and determined the need for and scope of Phase 2 of the contract.
On April 11, 2017, City Council approved Contract K-1617-119 by and between the City of Norman and FNI in the amount of $25,000.00 for Phase I.
Preparation for the Stormwater Citizen Committee meetings began on April 14, 2017, and the first Stormwater Citizen Committee meeting was held on May 15, 2017. FNI submitted the final recommendation report and revised scope of work for Phase 2 on June 1, 2017.
Phase 2 of the contract with FNI included:
• Stormwater Funding Model Development
• Stormwater Funding Model Working Meetings (3)
• Funding Recommendation Report
On June 13, 2017, City Council approved Amendment No. 1 to Contract K-1617-119 by and between the City of Norman and FNI in the amount of $86,800 for Phase 2.
On October 3, 2018, the Interim City Manager approved Amendment No. 2 to Contract K-1617-119 by and between the City of Norman and FNI in the amount of $24,800 to provide assistance with preparing project scopes and fee estimates for the potential 2019 Transportation Bond Projects.
DISCUSSION:
This request is to amend Contract K-1617-119 with FNI for identification and discussion of billing-related actions necessary for implementation of a stormwater utility fee and up to 100 hours of on-call support for implementation of fee. Typical on-call support services include assistance with customer inquiries and appeals, utility billing integration follow-up, development of stormwater utility data maintenance processes, and training of staff in stormwater utility administration activities.
Most of the work needed to integrate the proposed stormwater utility fee in to the City’s current utility billing system will be performed by city staff from the Finance, Information Technology, GIS, and Public Works departments. However, the expertise from FNI is expected to save considerable time and money because they have experience assisting other cities with these types of activities. The City is on a tight timeline to insure that stormwater utility fees can begin to be collected on August 1, 2019, if the April 2, 2019 election is successful.
If approved, funding for Amendment No. 3 to Contract K-1617-119 is available in the Public Works, Stormwater Division, Other Professional Services (Account No. 010-5022-431.40-99) in the amount of $20,000.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends approval of Amendment No. 3 to Contract K-1617-119 with Freese & Nichols, Inc. for identification and discussion of billing-related actions necessary for implementation of a stormwater utility fee and up to 100 hours of on-call support for implementation of fee in an amount not to exceed $20,000.