AgdaPkt 2009-07-13 clsd and jnt - Laserfiche WebLink

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6.1C Page 1 RE,PORT: To the Honorable Mayor and City Council and The Redevelopment Agency Board Fro" toe Cit ' M ,n~, er "nd E~ecuti:ve Director July 13, 2009 SUBJECT Agreement with Wagstaff and Associates for Environmental Consulting Services for the Downtown Precise Plan RECOMMENDATION 1. By motion, approve an agreement in the amount of $178,826 for environmental consulting services with Wagstaff and Associates for preparation of a new Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Downtown Precise Plan. Authorize the City Manager to increase the agreement amount by up to 10% ($17,883) as a contingency in the event that additional funds are required. 2. By motion, contingent upon approval of the FY 2009-2010 Redevelopment Agency budget approve a budget amendment to the FY 2009-2010 Redevelopment Agency budget, by transferring $150,000 from the Critical Pioneering Development fund to the Downtown Precise Plan project. BACKGROUND In late 2008, the City received a Final Statement of Decision (FSOD) related to a legal challenge of the Downtown Precise Plan EIR. Final judgment was entered on February 11,2009. Based on the FSOD, the staff of the City Attorney's office and Planning Division had anticipated in 2008 that a Supplemental Environmental Impact Report (SEIR) would be required to respond to the lawsuit and a professional services agreement for $71 ,235 was entered into with Wagstaff and Associates for this work in October of 2008. However, in February, the writ of mandate required that the EIR be decertified and that a new EIR be created. Therefore, staff recommends terminating the original agreement and entering into a new agreement based on the new understanding of what is required of the City by the courts. Wagstaff and Associates prepared the original EIR for the Downtown Precise Plan and are considered to be the most suitable consulting firm to proceed with this project in a comprehensive and timely fashion. The entire EIR will have to be rewritten, but the major areas of work will be the lawsuit-related subjects of shadows, historic resources and project alternatives. Also, a new traffic analysis is required due to the new EIR's Notice of Preparation (NOP), which will require all baseline data to be reset. Finally, a greenhouse gas analysis per AS 32 is now required and will be included. The total work effort is expected to take up to ten months and cost up to $200,000. ALTERNATIVE Council may choose not to authorize execution of an agreement with Wagstaff and Associates and direct staff to seek additional consultant proposals.