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Council approves on-call CEQA consultant roster, councilmembers say fund is reimbursed by developers
Summary
The council approved an on-call CEQA/environmental consultant roster intended to shorten review timelines; staff said the $700,000 figure is a contract pool and invoices are reimbursed by developers under deposit agreements.
Council approved an on-call consultant contract to provide CEQA and environmental review services, a measure councilmembers said will reduce delays in entitlement and environmental review by having vetted consultants on call.
Councilmember Grull (who pulled item 19 for public explanation) told the council that the $700,000 number reflects the size of the on-call contract pool rather than an immediate allocation of city funds. "It's not $700,000 that's allocated and then goes away," he said, explaining that consultants will be used as needed and many costs are reimbursed by developers.
City staff confirmed the reimbursement process: when a consultant is used on a development application, the developer deposits funds under a reimbursement agreement and the city pays invoices from that deposit. Staff said having consultants pre-contracted can save three to four months on project timelines.
Council voted to approve the item; the measure passed with a recorded vote of 5–0–2 (Twining and Vandermark absent).
