SR-510-002 (11)
EPWM:CP:BJ:DK:CommunityPartners.doc
Council Meeting: June 14, 2005 Santa Monica, California
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: City Staff
SUBJECT: Contract with Community Partners, Fiscal Manager for the
Sustainable Works Residential and Business Sustainability
Programs
Introduction
This report requests that City Council authorize the City Manager to negotiate
and execute a contract with Community Partners to receive City grant funding
and provide fiscal management for the Sustainable Works Residential and
Business Sustainability Programs that raise awareness and increase
participation among residents and businesses in the Sustainable City Program
(SCP). The term of the contract will be for one year from July 1, 2005 through
June 30, 2006, with an option to renew for an additional two years on an annual
basis.
Background
On March 24, 1998, City Council authorized funds for the creation and
implementation of the Santa Monica Green Team Program, a residential
environmental outreach program, on a pilot basis for a period of 19 months. The
City contracted with the Green Team Project, a San Francisco-based non-profit
organization, in May 1998 to develop a Santa Monica-specific guidebook,
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informational binder and supplementary materials and to hire, train and oversee
local staff persons to implement the pilot program.
Based on the success of the pilot program, Council authorized funding for
continuation of the Green Team Program on November 23, 1999, and again on
September 26, 2000. Also on September 26, 2000, Council authorized the
creation of the Santa Monica Business Greening Program to work with local
businesses to help the City meet its Sustainable City goals.
In September 2002, Council authorized the City Manager to enter into an
agreement with Los Angeles-based non-profit organization Community Partners
to take over the fiscal management of the Green Team, which changed its name
to Sustainable Works, for its work with the City.
Community Partners is a non-profit organization that acts as a non-profit
incubator, assisting individuals and organizations (project partners) to develop
the resources and structure necessary to become independent non-profit
organizations. Community Partners provides its project partners, such as
Sustainable Works, with a tax-exempt non-profit designation, financial and
administrative support and technical assistance with budgeting, financing and
grant writing.
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Discussion
Since 1998, Sustainable Works (at that time known as the Green Team) has
been implementing a residential sustainability program for Santa Monica
residents in support of the goals of the Sustainable City Plan. In 2002, that
program expanded to include students at Santa Monica College. In FY 2000-01,
they created and began implementation of the Santa Monica Business Greening
Program to support SCP goals in the business community. In conjunction with
the Business Greening Program, Sustainable Works also began implementing
two water conservation programs for Santa Monica businesses under contract
with the City. Those two programs, the Restaurant Retrofit Program and the
Medical Facility Retrofit Program, began in 2002 and 2004, respectively, and
involve program marketing, water conservation education, indoor water
assessments, fixture retrofit recommendations and installations.
To date, more than 2,600 residents and students have participated in the Green
Team/Sustainable Crew Residential Program and 56 businesses have
participated in the Business Greening Program. These programs have resulted
in significant reductions in energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, solid waste
generation, water use, and toxic chemical use among residential and business
participants, as well as producing significant cost savings for participants
(between $80 - $200 annually for residential participants and from several
hundred to several thousand dollars annually for business participants). The
Restaurant and Medical Facility Retrofit Programs have resulted in an average
water savings of 10% at each of 210 participating businesses. These programs
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help the City move closer to its SCP goal of a 20 percent reduction in water use
by 2010.
The Sustainable Crews and Business Greening Programs and program materials
were developed by Sustainable Works specifically for Santa Monica. These
programs are unique and staff has not been able to identify any other vendor that
can provide similar programs that integrate Santa Monica-specific information
and address the City?s SCP goals. Therefore, staff is requesting that competitive
bidding requirements for this contract be waived.
The activities of the Sustainable Works Residential and Business Sustainability
Programs for FY 2005-06 will receive a City grant of $245,000. As fiscal
manager, Community Partners will oversee the processing and tracking of the
grant and all cash and non-cash revenues, accounts payable and receivable,
negotiation of leases and contracts, and disbursement of program funds
including grants and salaries for staffing and implementation of the Residential
and Business Sustainability Programs. As compensation for serving as fiscal
manager, Community Partners charges an administrative fee equal to 12 percent
of the total program staffing and operating budget which calculates to $29,400 for
FY 2005-06. Sustainable Works will be responsible for continued implementation
of the Sustainable Crews Program, Business Greening Program, and Medical
Facility Retrofit Program, and development and implementation of a new
Commercial Water-Efficiency Outreach Program and Residential Landscaping
Retrofit Program. As with the previous contract, Sustainable Works will be
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required to meet certain performance targets for participation in the various
programs. The City?s Environmental Programs Division staff will continue to
provide oversight of program development and implementation.
Budget/Financial Impact
The total cost for the scope of services described above is not to exceed
$245,000 for FY 2005-06. A cost breakdown is provided below:
Sustainable Crews and Business Greening Programs: $180,400
?
Sustainable Crews ? 450 total participants
(150 residential participants and 300 student
participants for FY 2005-06)
?
Business Greening ? 16 business participants
for FY 2005-06
Commercial Water-Efficiency Outreach Program: 26,400
?
Water assessments and education ? 30
business participants for FY 2005-06
Residential Landscape Retrofit Program: 8,800
?
Landscape water audits; weather-based
irrigation controller installations; rain barrel
pilot program ? 60 participants for FY 2005-
06
Community Partners Administrative Fees: 29,400
TOTAL: $245,000
Funds necessary to cover program costs and Community Partners administrative
fees for both the residential and business programs in the amount of $245,000
have been requested in the Environmental Programs Division FY 2005-06
budget request in account number 31662.555060 (Wastewater Fund).
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Recommendation
Staff recommends that City Council authorize the City Manager to negotiate and
execute an agreement with Community Partners to receive City grant funding
and provide fiscal management of the Sustainable Works Residential and
Business Sustainability Programs. The term of the agreement will be for one
year with an option to renew for an additional two years on an annual basis.
Prepared by: Craig Perkins, Director, Environmental and Public Works Management
Brian Johnson, Manager, Environmental Programs Division
Dean Kubani, Senior Environmental Programs Analyst
Neal Shapiro, Senior Environmental Analyst
Kim O?Cain, Water Resources Specialist
Reference Contract No. 8483 (CCS).
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