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Water & Wastewater Commission Review and Recommendation Government That Works for All January 12, 2022 Commission Meeting Date: Council Meeting Date: Department: Financial Services Department - Purchasing COA Strategic Direction: January 27, 2022 Client: Randi Jenkins Agenda Item Recommend approval to negotiate and execute a contract with ETC Institute to provide survey services, for a term of five years for a total contract amount not to exceed $4,500,000. Austin Water’s total requested authorization is $200,000. Amount and Source of Funding Funding is available in the Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Operating Budget of Austin Water. Funding for the remaining contract terms is contingent upon available funding in future budgets. The Financial Services Department issued a Request for Qualification Statements (RFQS) 5000 LMI4000 for these services. The solicitation issued on July 19, 2021, and it closed on August 10, 2021. Of the four offers received, the recommended contractor submitted the best evaluated responsive offer. A complete solicitation package, including a log of offers received, is available for viewing on the City’s Financial Services website, Austin Finance Online. Link: Solicitation Documents. N/A January 12, 2022 — To be reviewed by the Water and Wastewater Commission. This solicitation was reviewed for subcontracting opportunities in accordance with City Code Chapter 2-9C Minority Owned and Women Owned Business Enterprise Procurement Program. For the services required for this solicitation, there were no subcontracting opportunities; therefore, no subcontracting goals were established. Purchasing Language: Prior Council Action: Boards and Commission Action: MBE/WBE: The contract will provide identification and implementation of streamlined survey services for City departments to improve municipal government operations. The City has over 40 departments and offices that serve every member of the Austin community. Addressing changing needs and opinions requires research and insights collected from the community. Surveys on various topics throughout the year will require thoughtful research and efforts to avoid survey fatigue. The City has long contracted for the administration of an annual community survey. This survey is used to understand opinions and priorities for City programs and services as well as understanding the current perception of City government. In addition to this survey, City departments such as Austin Code, Communications and Public Information, and Development Services conduct needs and opinions surveys focused on their specific programs, services, and/or customers and stakeholders. As a result, in many cases a survey may already exist and require little to no assistance for updates or design changes before the selected contractor is expected to manage its administration. In addition to these established surveys, numerous other departments have expressed interest in access to regular research services. Previously, these departments and others have defined needs and selected contractors independently or by utilizing resources available internally. Separate contracts for full-service research and self-service tools have amounted to lost opportunities to collaborate on efforts, share results, and achieve contract administration efficiencies. The contractor is expected to conduct research and analysis as requested by participating departments as well as support governance efforts to ensure all research is shared thoughtfully within the City. Lastly, throughout this entire process, the contractor is expected to actively engage with and include City staff in this work. It is also important to involve City staff since they will need to sustain the change implemented as a result of this effort. An evaluation team with expertise in this area evaluated the offers and scored ETC Institute as the best to provide these services based on company professional experience, personnel qualifications and experience, sample documents and references. This is a new contract as previous purchases have been made using individual contracts issued on a project-by-project basis. The requested authority is based on department estimates and will allow all City departments to use this contract; it will increase efficiency, reduce cost and administrative burdens. If the City is unable to secure a contract, the departments will be forced to procure these services on an as needed basis, which may result in higher prices and higher administrative costs. Solicitations: 178 notices were sent, including 12 MBE and 20 WBE firms with no M/WBE firms responding.