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GSA approves contract extensions and billing fixes, pays overdue Ukiah invoice and green-lights fee‑finder tool
Summary
The board approved a contract amendment extending Larry Walker Associates’ on-call support for the periodic evaluation, authorized negotiation of a Hansford consulting agreement (including restoring an interactive fee-finder web map), and approved paying a $31,895 invoice to the City of Ukiah while adopting quarterly billing tied to the existing $83,366 flat fee.
At its meeting the Groundwater Sustainability Agency board approved several administrative and contracting actions intended to align consultant support with the upcoming periodic evaluation and improve billing transparency.
The board authorized an amendment to the on-call technical services contract with Larry Walker Associates to extend the agreement through the periodic evaluation work; staff described the revised total not to exceed $343,000. Separately, the board authorized the chair to negotiate and execute a Hansford Economic Consulting agreement for a two-year term with three one-year options to support annual fee-setting work and the interactive, public-facing GIS fee-finder web map. Staff said the web map requires an annual hosting/license cost (estimated $3,000–$4,000) and suggested a current placeholder budget of about $28,000 for the two-year contract.
Board members debated whether to restore the fee‑finder map and how costly ongoing hosting would be. Director Gaska and Director Bailey favored restoring the tool for public transparency; some board members asked staff to research lower‑cost options such as less frequent updates or a static two‑year refresh schedule.
On a longstanding billing matter, the board reviewed earlier gaps in invoicing after the City of Ukiah took over management duties. Staff presented an itemized invoice for roughly $31,895 for last year’s work and recommended moving to quarterly invoices tied to the flat $83,366 annual contract figure so the city can allocate staff and the GSA retains visibility. The board voted unanimously to pay the $31,895 invoice and to require quarterly invoices that include project codes and staff hours for transparency.
General manager Maya said the agency will also work to define county staff reimbursement and to build an independent audit into future budgets; Amber Fisette of Mendocino County clarified the county’s current project-code approach for charging staff time to the GSA.
