SR-903-001 (10)~_ . .
City Council Report
~ City of
Santa Monica
City Council Meeting: Apri! 25, 2006
Agenda Item:~
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Craig Perkins, Director - Environmenta! and Public Works Management
SUBJECT: Award of Contract for Woodlawn Cemetery Data Conversion
Recommended Action
It is recommended that the City Council authorize the City Manager to negotiate and
execute a contract with Ramaker & Associates, Inc. for professional Cemetery Data
Conversion services in the amount of $153,425 plus a 10% contingency of $15,343.
Executive Summary
The City currently maintains most Woodlawn Cemetery information manually. Cards
are used to store interment information while paper and cloth maps record geographic
information of spaces and lots in the cemetery. The physical quality of these records
has deteriorated over time and they are increasingly difficult to read. In June 2005, staff
had the maps scanned, put on a disc and stored offsite. This disc was not intended for
daily use but for backup purposes only. In case of a disaster, the cemetery could lose
some of these information sources for which no backup exists. In addition, cemetery
services to the public are hampered by the cumbersome nature of the information
storage and retrieval process.
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Water Resources, Information Systems, and Finance staff have collaborated in
determining the requirements for converting the cemetery records and maps into a
digital format. The cost of this project is expected to be $153,425 plus a 10%
contingency of $15,343.
Discussion
The Woodlawn Cemetery and Mausoleum is operated by the Water Resources Division
of the Environmental and Public Works Management Department. More than 60,000
former Santa Monica residents rest on the 26.6-acre site. Services provided by the
Cemetery include: selling grave sites, niches and crypt spaces; selling vases and urns;
interring and disinterring human remains; and setting markers on graves. These
transactions, as well as available inventory, are currently tracked manually.
Records are accessed daily by cemetery staff for the purposes of making burial
arrangements, selling property, researching records for family members, setting
markers, recording burials, and other cemetery related business. Paper cards are used
to store interment information while paper and cloth maps record geographic
information of spaces and lots in the cemetery and mausoleum. The conversion of the
data into electronic format will facilitate the subsequent development of an automated
computerized information management system to provide a more efficient and accurate
accounting of cemetery business transactions.
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Contractor/Consultant Selection
An RFP that identified requirements for cemetery data conversion was posted to the
City's web site on January 12, 2006. Public notice of the RFP was published in the Los
Angeles Times on January 14 and 19, 2006. A pre-bid conference was held on March
2, 2006, to further explain the City's requirements for the project.
Five companies submitted proposals, ranging from $109,509 to $196,320. A review
committee including staff from the Water Resources, Finance, and Information Systems
divisions reviewed vendor proposals. The committee considered the ability of the
vendor to meet the project specifications as stated in the RFP, the technical
environment in which the system would operate, and bidder's references. The
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committee selected Ramaker & Associates, Inc. as best choice to convert the existing
hard copy data into electronic format for the City.
The requested approval is:
Contract $153,425
Contingency 15 423
Total Requested $168,848
Data conversion of the cemetery information will take approximately five months to
complete.
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Budget/Financial Impact
Funds in the amount of $168,848 are available in Account C370837.589000.
Prepared by:
Ivo Chewtoh, Systems Analyst - Water Resources
Approved:
Forwarded to Council:
~g Perkins °~. La~'n well ~
Dir ctor - Environmental and Public C,~`~M ager ''~~
Works Management t ,,...-
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