The Enforcer

The City of Coalinga eliminated the Code Enforcement Officer position when it dug into the process of chipping away at the city’s budget to create one which was balanced. It was not the only position eliminated, but to some residents, the loss of this job has meant that some people are frustrated with blatant code infractions.

City manager, Marissa Trejo and council members created City Ambassador positions which would allow a volunteer to undertake some of those tasks related to code enforcement as well as some other tasks.

Coalinga has a handful of residents who volunteered to help out in the offices and doing other things. It was short lived, though, for several reasons. Now the city is once again without any sort of code enforcement other than residents reporting obvious infractions they encounter in their neighborhoods.

Now the city is considering hiring a firm to do the code enforcement at a possible cost of $63 per hour.

This is on the agenda to be discussed at February 6 meeting. 6 PM, City Hall.

From the cover sheet for this discussion at City Council:

I.    RECOMMENDATION:
Staff’s recommendation is to select Willdan to provide Code Enforcement Services for the City.  Staff also seeks approval for the City Manager to enter into a contract with Willdan for said services which the City Attorney will review prior to execution.

II.    BACKGROUND:
The City Council requested City staff to advertise a Request for Proposal (RFP) from Municipal Code Enforcement Consultants who would have the ability to provide full-service code enforcement services. Staff advertised the RFP on December 9, 2019 and proposals were due on January 9, 2020. The RFP requested information such as qualifications of the firm and personnel, relative experience in providing services in a municipal environment, and a fee schedule.

CSG Consultants and Willden

III.   DISCUSSION:
Staff reviewed the proposals from both firms taking into consideration their qualifications, qualifications of the firm’s personnel, relative experience, completeness of the proposal and the reasonableness of the fee schedule when comparing the firms. After careful consideration, staff feels that Willdan is the best fit for the City of Coalinga to provide the services needed by the City of Coalinga and at a reasonable cost considering the sensitivity of the City’s budget.  [Business names removed]

Staff recommends code enforcement services for sixteen hours per week (two eight hour days).  This cost would be $52,416 per year.

IV.   ALTERNATIVES:
Do not authorize the City Manager to enter into a professional services agreement with Willdan for code enforcement services and direct staff accordingly. – staff does not recommend. 

V.    FISCAL IMPACT:
The contract for services with Willdan will be set at a not to exceed amount determined  by the City Council.  The all-inclusive hourly rate is $63.00.  If Council proceeds with staff’s recommendation of 16 hours per week, the annual cost would be $52,416.  This is not a budgeted item and the cost would come from the General Fund.