That the City Council approve and authorize the City Manager to enter into an agreement with Priscila Davila & Associates, Inc., to provide professional services related to the preparation of the City of La Habra's Annual Action Plan, Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER), Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) administration technical assistance, and CDBG labor compliance for construction projects for a five-year term (Fiscal Years 2020-2025).

On March 16, 2020, the City of La Habra entered into an agreement with Priscila Davila & Associates, Inc., to provide labor compliance for CDBG funded public works projects for Fiscal Year 2019-20.  Labor compliance involves reviewing weekly item cards, interviewing employees at construction sites, and monitoring pay to ensure that project contractors are paying Federal Davis Bacon Wage or California Prevailing Wage for CDBG funded projects.  By law, contractors are required to pay either Davis Bacon or California Prevailing Wage, which ever is higher. 

In addition to labor compliance services, Priscila Davila & Associates also provides other CDBG related services, including preparation of annual, biannual, and quarterly Housing and Urban Development (HUD) reports, IDIS programing and draws, sub-recipient monitoring, and daily administration of CDBG funded programs.  Staff requests City Council authorization to continue using services provided by Priscila Davila & Associates, Inc., through the duration of the current five-year Consolidated Plan with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) (Fiscal Years 2020-25) for labor compliance as well as preparation of the City's annual reports and general technical assistance, including reviewing and updating program guidelines, applications, sub-recipient monitoring checklists and completing a general review of files and documentation to identify any updates or changes that should be made to refine the City's CDBG programs to ensure compliance with HUD's requirements. 

The City has implemented a number of programs with its CDBG entitlement including graffiti removal, fair housing services, residential rehabilitation grants/loans, and construction of public infrastructure projects such as alley improvements, park improvements and parking lot rehabilitation.  In the event the City Council approves the agreement, staff will also work with the consultant to develop an annual economic development program to assist small La Habra businesses that qualify under CDBG regulations to apply for HUD grants.

In order for the City to continue to receive and use its CDBG allocation, HUD requires the regular submittal of reports that discuss the use of CDBG funds.  To ensure reports are submitted to HUD in a timely manner and assure continuity of programming, staff is recommending the use of its current consultant for the current five-year Consolidated Plan period which runs from July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2025.  A multi-year relationship with one consultant rather than potentially retaining a new consultant each year basis will help establish program stability and continuity over the five-year period and help strengthen working relationships between staff, the consultant, and the City's CDBG partners, as well as with HUD staff as they perform program monitoring and audits over the next five years. 

Over the past year staff has worked with three different consultants for various CDBG related administration efforts.  The current fee structure for each consultant is as follows:

B-Adair Consulting and Administrative Services and Priscila Davila & Associates currently charge the same hourly rate; however, staff has not worked with B-Adair Consulting and Administrative Services since the completion of the FY 2018-19 CAPER.  Staff is currently working with Priscila Davila & Associates for labor compliance for Fiscal Year 2019-2020 CDBG public infrastructure projects and has encountered no issues or concerns with the quality of her work product.  She also has a track record of being responsive to questions and concerns and her company has successfully worked on other HUD funded activities in other cities.

There will be no impact to the General Fund as a result of this agreement.  HUD allows 20 percent of the City's allocation to be used towards administrative services.  The proposed agreement would allocate an amount, not-to-exceed $29,975 per year, for completion of the City's annual reports as well as allow up to 20 hours a month for general technical assistance.  If approved by Council, the maximum not-to-exceed amount for the full five-year contract term will be $149,875.

Since it is unknown which and how many infrastructure projects may be funded by CDBG over the five-year term of this agreement, or the number of hours needed for labor compliance, the consultant will bill hourly for labor compliance related to CDBG funded infrastructure projects.  The cost for labor compliance will be added to the overall project cost and will be paid for through CDBG so there will be no impact to the General Fund.