TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: David Chantarangsu, AICP, Development Services Director
PREPARED BY: Carl Stiehl, City Planner
SUBJECT:
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Approve an Amendment to an Agreement with RICK to Fund Environmental Tasks Pertaining to the City’s Existing Agreement to Update the City’s General Plan
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RECOMMENDATION
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Approve a First Amendment with RICK increasing the amount of the Agreement by $390,443, for a total contract amount not to exceed $803,404, and update Exhibit A to include Work Tasks 4-6 from the General Plan Clean Up Proposal, Exhibit A-1; and
Find that the proposed action is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) under CEQA Guidelines Section 15378 for the reasons specified in this report.
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PRIOR ACTION/VOTE
On July 2, 2024, the City Council approved an Agreement with RICK to Undertake Revisions to the City’s General Plan for $412,961.
CITY COUNCIL GOAL
Plan, program and create infrastructure development.
BACKGROUND
The City began updating its General Plan with the help of a consultant team led by RICK. The City Council approved an agreement with RICK on July 2, 2024 (Agreement) to undertake the project, which includes miscellaneous cleanup items, updates to multiple General Plan Elements to align with new State laws and generally incorporate the Murrieta Hills Specific Plan throughout the document. The project was budgeted in two phases due to the City’s budget situation in early 2024. The current first phase includes Tasks 1-3 of the Agreement’s Scope of Services, and the second phase includes Tasks 4-6. There was a need to spread the overall cost of the project across multiple budgets rather than in a single request to the overall City budget at the time. The first phase of the project’s budget of $412,961 was approved and funded by the City with the initial Agreement with RICK. Staff began work on the project with the consultant team in August 2024.
Although the project is still in its first phase, funding is needed for the second phase, as staff and the consultant team begin working on Tasks (4-6) related to the Climate Action Plan (CAP) and CEQA. Therefore, staff recommends fully funding the remaining $390,443 of the project, which covers the remainder of the tasks from the Scope of Work.
Staff continues to apply for grant funding for the CAP Update portion of the project, which is about $159,000 of the project cost. The City has been unsuccessful in being awarded funding through recent rounds of CAP grants available in the past two years. Staff has submitted an additional grant application seeking CAP funding and is currently waiting to be notified of the outcome. If grant funding is awarded, it is anticipated that grant funding would reimburse the City for the portions of the project related to updating the CAP, as the grant scope was designed to align with the CAP update work proposed in the project.
Regarding the next steps of the project, as noted above, a public workshop is anticipated in the next month. Staff anticipates holding workshops with both the Planning Commission and City Council this summer. The project is planned to be completed this fall, with hearings for a recommendation with the Planning Commission and adoption with the City Council late in the year. The majority of the work on the project should be complete by the end of the calendar year, well before the current planned termination date of the Agreement, which is July 2026.
FISCAL IMPACT
The total fiscal impact for Phase 2 of the General Plan Update is $390,443, for a total cumulative cost of $803,404, for the General Plan Update services. The budget requests for the remaining $390,443 will be included in the Fiscal Year 2024/25 Mid-Year Operating Budget update scheduled for March 4, 2025.
Any unspent funds at the end of the contract cycle will be returned to the General Fund Unassigned Fund Balance to be used to fund future General Plan Updates. Should the City receive a grant for CAP-related work, staff may return with an updated appropriation for the project for the CAP tasks in Phase 2. Once a grant has been awarded and accepted by the City, the grant funds are anticipated to cover the CAP tasks.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
The proposed action is not a "project" as defined in CEQA Guidelines Section 15378 because it only involves the execution of an agreement that, in its own accord, will not cause a significant environmental impact. As such, this activity is not subject to CEQA pursuant to Section 15060(c)(3). This determination is predicated on Section 15004 of the guidelines, which provides direction to lead agencies on the appropriate timing for environmental review.
ATTACHMENTS
1. First Amendment to the Agreement with RICK
2. Agreement with RICK to prepare revisions to the General Plan