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Environmental Consultant List <br />June 18, 2007 <br />Page 2 <br />DISCUSSION <br />The City has experienced an upward trend in development over the last <br />several years. In order to facilitate this investment in the community, <br />staff has identified ways to streamline the environmental process by pre- <br />qualifying environmental consultants. While staff prepares many of the <br />environmental services required for private development projects, larger <br />and more complex projects often necessitate the hiring of environmental <br />consultants to ensure all state-mandated requirements are satisfied. <br />However, the hiring of these consultants adds additional and sometimes <br />vital time to development processing, as it requires staff to request <br />proposals from several consulting firms for projects, review them and <br />prepare a contract and staff report for City Council approval. This <br />process can add as many as four months to the development process and, <br />thus, substantially delay projects. <br />Staff is requesting that the City enter into agreements with pre- <br />qualified consultants for environmental services. These consultants then <br />will be contracted with individually for specific projects each time a <br />developer initiates a new project in the City. <br />Similar to many cities, the City of Santa Ana utilizes consulting firms <br />to provide technical expertise relating to environmental services. <br />Recently, the City has contracted environmental firms to prepare complex <br />environmental impact reports for such projects as the Nexus Development <br />at MacArthur Place, Village Green on North Bristol, the Renaissance <br />Specific Plan, the City Place mixed-use development and most recently the <br />City Place Sky Lofts Residential Tower. <br />Developers are required to pay for the total cost of the environmental <br />services for development projects. It is proposed that contracts for <br />firms on the approved consultant list would not need to return to Council <br />for approval. Proposals would be submitted and the developer would <br />deposit the entire fee prior to commencing services. When considering <br />that environmental reviews can take several months to complete, this <br />process will not only help expedite development projects, but also <br />provide better quality customer service. <br />Staff sent out a request for qualifications to 45 consulting firms in May <br />2007. Staff received proposals from 19 firms that then were evaluated <br />and compiled onto a list of qualified firms. The list includes <br />consulting firms that provide all disciplines of environmental and <br />technical studies required to process development projects. <br />251-2 <br />