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Public Works Agency <br />www.santa-ana.org/public-works <br />Item # 14 <br />City of Santa Ana <br />20 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana, CA 92701 <br />Staff Report <br />August 1, 2023 <br />TOPIC: Award Agreement to Conduct Cost of Service Study <br />AGENDA TITLE <br />Approve Agreement with Stearns, Conrad & Schmidt, Consulting Engineers, Inc. to <br />Conduct a Cost of Service Study for the Sanitation Services User Charge, in an Amount <br />Not to Exceed $82,875 (Specification No. 23-029) (Non-General Fund) <br />RECOMMENDED ACTION <br />Authorize the City Manager to execute a consultant agreement with Stearns, Conrad & <br />Schmidt, Consulting Engineers, Inc. to conduct a cost of service study in an amount not <br />to exceed $82,875, including a contingency of $16,575, for a three-year term beginning <br />on August 1, 2023 and expiring July 31, 2026, with provision for one, two-year <br />extension, subject to non-substantive changes approved by the City Manager and City <br />Attorney. <br />DISCUSSION <br />The Public Works Agency maintains 400 miles of public right-of-way and provides <br />maintenance services that include roadway maintenance, tree services, roadway <br />cleaning, and sanitation services. Roadway cleaning and sanitation related services are <br />funded through the Sanitation Services Users Charge (Sanitation Fee) and is collected <br />on a bi-monthly basis along with other charges in the City’s municipal utility services bill. <br />The Sanitation Fee was established in 1991 by Ordinance NS-2129 and provides street <br />cleaning services and environmental sanitation services that include street sweeping, <br />street cleaning, removal of illegal deposits such as trash and bulky items, weed <br />abatement, and inspections in the City’s right-of-way. Over 35,000 public roadway <br />cleaning and sanitation service requests are completed, and over 50,000 miles of <br />streets are swept annually. As a best practice, the City periodically reviews enterprise <br />operations; the last comprehensive evaluation of the Sanitation Fee was performed in <br />2019. <br />At that time, the Tree Services Program expenses were transferred from the Sanitation <br />Fee program to the General Fund. Correspondingly, the monthly Sanitation Fee was <br />reduced from $6.47 monthly to $5.35 monthly (Resolution 2019-039). Due to increases <br />in cost due to inflation, contractual increases, increasing prevailing wage requirements, <br />and the need to keep pace with the increased demand in public service levels, it is