That the City Council:
A. Approve and authorize the City Manager to execute an agreement with Willdan Engineering of Anaheim, California, in the annual amount of $100,000 for On-Call Private Development Review and Plan Check Services for Fiscal Year 2025-2026 through Fiscal Year 2027-2028; and,

B. Authorize staff to issue an annual purchase order to Willdan Engineering for Fiscal Year 2025-2026 through 2027-2028 in the amount of $100,000.

In July 2025, staff issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for On-Call Private Development Review and Plan Check Services. The scope of services listed in the RFP include, but are not limited to, the following: review for completeness of developer application and submittals for tract maps, tentative maps and parcel maps; the review of survey documentation, lot and boundary closure calculations, dedications and easements in compliance with Subdivision Map Act, the Land Surveyor's Act, the approved tentative map, and the City's conditions of approval; review/prepare and/or process lot line adjustment and lot merger documents; and review/prepare legal descriptions and plats associated with easements, right-of-way deeds, offers of dedications, etc.

On August 14, 2025, staff received seven proposals from the following firms: 1) Willdan Engineering, 2) Transtech Engineers, Inc., 3) TKE Engineering, Inc., 4) Bureau Veritas North America, Inc., 5) CSG Consultants, Inc., 6) Charles Abbot Associates, Inc., and 7) Ladayu Consulting Group.

An Evaluation Committee consisting of staff from the Public Works Department evaluated the proposals and ranked them based on the following criteria:

1. Qualifications of the Firm - Experience performing work of similar nature and size; experience working with public agencies, such as the City of La Habra and/or nearby jurisdictions; understanding and demonstrated competence in the services identified in Section II - Scope of Work; strength, stability, experience and technical competence of subcontractors; and assessment of client references.
2. Staffing and Organization - Qualification of staff, particularly key personnel and especially the Project Manager; key personnel's level of involvement in performing map checking and related work cited in the Scope of Work section; logic of providing on-call services to local agencies; adequacy of labor commitment; concurrence in the restrictions on changes in key personnel; and references from past projects.
3. Overview and Approach - Depth of Consultant's understanding of the scope of services required by the RFP; City's objective; overall quality and logic of work plan; appropriateness of labor distribution among the tasks; and ability to accomplish services being rendered within the proposed timeframe.

The Evaluation Committee scored the proposals as follows:

 
The Evaluation Committee determined Willdan to be the best qualified firm, based upon Willdan's demonstrated knowledge, experience, skills, and understanding of the City's objectives and expectations. Staff has experience working with Willdan's electronic plan review process and it has proven to be successful. This electronic review process provides timely review and approval of private development projects; therefore, staff recommends that the City Council approve and authorize the City Manager to execute an agreement (Attachment 1) with Willdan for Fiscal Year 2025-2026 through 2027-2028 with an option for two (2) one-year extensions with a not-to-exceed amount of $100,000 per year for On-Call Private Development Review and Plan Check Services.

Funding for the On-Call Private Development Review and Plan Check Services Agreement is included in the approved Fiscal Year 2025-2026 Budget. In most cases, the cost to provide on-call development review and plan check services for private development projects are offset by fees the City collects from those project applicants. There are sufficient budgeted funds for the proposed $100,000 purchase order for Fiscal Year 2025-2026; therefore, no additional funds are requested at this time.