REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL February 9, 2017 FROM: JENNIFER K. CLARK, AICP, Director Development and Resource Management Department THROUGH: SOPHIA PAGOULATOS, Planning Manager Development and Resource Management Department BY: DREW WILSON, Planner Development and Resource Management Department SUBJECT ..Title Approve the fourth amendment to the contract with Placeworks, Inc., a California corporation, to extend the term of the Agreement for consulting services to complete the Southwest Fresno Specific Plan and to authorize the City Manager or his or her designee to execute documents ..Body RECOMMENDATION Approve the fourth amendment to the contract with Placeworks, Inc., a California corporation, to extend the term of the Agreement for consulting services to complete the Southwest Fresno Specific Plan and to authorize the City Manager or his or her designee to execute documents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Placeworks, Inc. is the consulting firm that was retained in March of 2015 by the Development and Resource Management Department to assist staff in the preparation of the Southwest Fresno Specific Plan and Environmental Impact Report (EIR). The term of the original contract extends through February 28, 2017. The term extension is now being requested to accommodate a more lengthy and involved public participation process that occurred during 2016. The requested extension will not affect the currently projected completion date of the specific plan, which is fall of 2017. BACKGROUND Placeworks, Inc. is the consulting firm that was approved by the City Council on February 26, 2015, to work with the community and staff in the preparation of the Southwest Fresno Specific Plan. The original contract term ends on February 28, 2017. An extension to the term of the agreement is now being requested to accommodate a more thorough public participation process. The current amendment will extend the agreement to December 31, 2017 and does not change the amount of compensation being paid to the consultant. This is needed due to the extended public participation process that was approved in the previous amendments. The preceding amendments provided for several additional steering committee meetings that allowed the community and the steering committee to ensure the direction of the plan was vetted and guided by the community input. The extended term will provide Placeworks, Inc. sufficient time to complete the entire process of the Specific Plan and Environmental Impact Report. ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS By the definition provided in the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Section 15378 the amendment of an agreement does not qualify as a "project" for the purposes of CEQA. LOCAL PREFERENCE Local preference was not implemented because this item is an amendment to an existing contract. FISCAL IMPACT No additional General Fund appropriations are required for this contract amendment. Attachment Exhibit A: Contract Amendment