To: Board of Supervisors
Department or Agency Name(s): Regional Parks
Staff Name and Phone Number: David Robinson, 707-565-2824
Vote Requirement: Majority
Supervisorial District(s): Countywide
Title:
Title
Climate Action and Resiliency Plan Professional Services Agreement with Rincon Consultants, Inc.
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Recommended Action:
Recommended action
Authorize the Chair to execute a Professional Services Agreement with Rincon Consultants, Inc. to develop a Climate Action and Resiliency Plan for Regional Parks for the period of December 13, 2022, through December 12, 2023, in the amount not-to-exceed $248,848.
end
Executive Summary:
Regional Parks proposes the County of Sonoma enter into a Professional Services Agreement with Rincon Consultants, Inc. for the purpose of developing a Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Plan (CARP) for Regional Parks. The CARP will focus on strategies for mitigating the effects of climate change to parks facilities while prioritizing high yield economic options.
Discussion:
Background
In March of 2021 your Board adopted a Five-Year Strategic Plan with a Climate Action and Resiliency (CAR) Pillar to mobilize countywide efforts towards mitigating and preventing climate change, and improving Sonoma County’s ability to survive and thrive in the changing climate. The CAR Pillar has five broad goals that lay out specific objectives and actions addressing (1) fire resilience; (2) community climate resilience; (3) reducing energy use and waste at county facilities; (4) electrifying the County fleet and reducing transportation emissions; and (5) mitigating climate change and promoting resilience through land use policies and management. In particular, your Board set an overarching CAR Pillar goal to “make Sonoma County carbon neutral by 2030” with a specific objective (CAR 3.1) to “design or retrofit County facilities to be carbon neutral, zero waste and incorporate resilient construction techniques and materials.” In addition, CAR 5.1 calls for County planning documents to “… identify areas within the County that have the potential to maximize carbon sequestration and provide opportunities for climate change adaptation.”
To implement the Strategic Plan, your Board has dedicated over $35 million for vegetation management, energy resilience, fleet electrification, and actions building climate resilient lands. The County’s Energy and Sustainability team in the CAR Division of the County Administrator’s Office (CAO) is completing investment-grade energy audits of County facilities, and, in partnership with the Auditor, Controller, Treasurer, and Tax Collector (ACTTC), provided nearly $1 million in property-assessed loans for energy resilience projects at multi-family residential buildings. In addition, Sonoma Water has prepared Climate Action and Climate Adaptation Plans, and the County has been awarded over $50 million in grant funds for projects that support climate action and resilience.
The CAR Division is preparing a municipal greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory of all County operations and will use it to support development of a Climate Action Resilience Plan to guide County investments to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030. This County-wide CAR Plan will be proposed in late 2023, and will also rely on a zero-waste audit and plan, and a carbon sequestration study forthcoming next year; it may additionally identify specific actions to build resilience in natural and working lands owned or managed by the County, following the recommendations of the Sonoma County Climate Resilient Lands Strategy approved in 2022. The County-wide CAR Plan will build on and reference actions identified by all County-affiliated departments and agencies, and articulate how they interrelate.
In May of 2021, your Board dedicated $10 million to support implementation of the CAR Pillar by County departments and agencies. To date, over $9.4 million has been allocated by your Board for specific projects, including $100,000 approved on October 25, 2022 for Sonoma County Regional Parks to develop a CARP. Actions identified in this CARP will be incorporated into the County-wide CAR Plan.
Regional Parks CARP
Sonoma County Regional Parks manages nearly 60 facilities, encompassing approximately 18,000 acres, including trails, marinas, parks and beaches throughout Sonoma County. Many locations offer wild landscapes and miles of trails, while others feature sports fields, playgrounds, and campgrounds. Regional Parks employs 136 full time employees and up to 150 seasonal employees working throughout Sonoma County.
Regional Parks recognizes the effects of climate change to the park system, the community and park staff. Fires, floods, sea level rise and increasing disasters are leaving an impact on park properties and for both visitors and staff who work in them. In 2020, Regional Parks created a Climate Conscious team, consisting of field staff, supervisors and management who are passionate about creating change in real time to increase resiliency and mitigate the impacts of climate change within the Regional Parks system.
In 2021 Regional Parks hired a consultant to create a baseline greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory (attached). This baseline allowed the department to identify and quantify major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions within the Parks system. The baseline study also identified how to further Regional Parks’ and the County of Sonoma’s goals of reducing GHG’s and increasing resiliency.
Regional Parks solicited Requests for Proposals for a CARP in 2022. This plan will evaluate options for Regional Parks to effectively mitigate its contributions to climate change and make its properties more resilient to the changing climate. It will also identify the economic benefit to the department of specific investments in resiliency and infrastructure that decreases GHGs.
Regional Parks applied for funding through the Board of Supervisors’ Round #2 of Climate Resilience Funding submissions, and was awarded $100,000 on October 25, 2022. Parks will be using an additional $150,000 in Measure M sales tax funding and the Regional Parks Foundation non-profit funding to fully fund the CARP proposal.
Regional Parks issued a Request for Proposals on July 20, 2022, on the County Supplier Portal soliciting submittals from over 800 suppliers. The request was tiered with funding that Regional Parks had already identified and options to enhance the project if Regional Parks received additional funds. Three firms responded with proposals for the requested scope of work: AEI Consultants, Map-Collective, Inc., and Rincon Consultants, Inc.
An evaluation committee consisting of one staff member from the Regional Parks Department, one from the Public Infrastructure Department, and one from Sonoma Clean Power evaluated and scored proposals based on the criteria outlined in the Request for Proposals.
Rincon Consultants, Inc., was unanimously scored as a preferred proposer. Rincon provides comparable pricing, the ability to perform requested service and to meet the timeline of the project, and prior experience working on similar projects, including climate adaptation plans and carbon sequestration feasibility studies, for various local California government agencies including County of San Mateo, County of Contra Costa, and County of Santa Cruz. They received excellent references.
Rincon Consultants, Inc. will begin work on the CARP in January 2023 with the target end date in the month of October 2023. Upon the completion of the CARP, Regional Parks staff will be able to start implementing the identified climate mitigation measures throughout the parks of Sonoma County.
Rincon Consultants, Inc. will perform nine tasks with varying deliverables that are identified with further background and information in the attached professional service agreement. The tasks include:
• Task 1 - Project Orientation, Kickoff, and Management
• Task 2 - Develop GHG-Emissions Forecast and Reduction-Target Setting
• Task 3 - Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment
• Task 4 - CARP Measure Development
• Task 5 - Stakeholder Engagement
• Task 6 - Funding and Financing Strategy
• Task 7 - Implementation and Monitoring Plan
• Task 8 - Develop Draft and Final Climate Adaptation and Resilience Plan
• Task 9 - Prepare Environmental Analysis
Strategic Plan:
This item directly supports the County’s Five-year Strategic Plan and is aligned with the following pillar, goal, and objective.
Pillar: Climate Action and Resiliency
Goal: Goal 1: Continue to invest in wildfire preparedness and resiliency strategies
Objective: Objective 3: Leverage grant funding to support sustainable vegetation management program.
The funding and financial strategy portion of CARP will identify potential grant opportunities that can fund Regional Parks projects geared towards wildfire preparedness through vegetation management and is aligned with the abovementioned County’s Five-year Strategic Plan’s goal and objective.
Pillar: Climate Action and Resiliency
Goal: Goal 3: Make all County facilities carbon free, zero waste and resilient
Objective: Objective 1: Design or retrofit County facilities to be carbon neutral, zero waste and incorporate resilient construction techniques and materials.
The plan will provide strategies for developing local renewable and zero-carbon energy projects such as distributed solar, microgrids, and battery storage, and electrification of new and existing County buildings and is in line with the abovementioned County’s Five-Year Strategic Plan’s goal and objective.
Pillar: Climate Action and Resiliency
Goal: Goal 3: Make all County facilities carbon free, zero waste and resilient
Objective: Objective 3: Invest in County owned facilities, establishing carbon eliminating microgrid technology and improving energy grid resilience to reduce the impact of power loss during power shutdowns and natural disasters (floods, fires, earthquakes).
The CARP will provide a blueprint for electrification and battery backup and facilities throughout County Parks. A vulnerability assessment will identify specific areas throughout the County and County Parks that are of particular risk and identify opportunities to mitigate those risks.
Pillar: Climate Action and Resiliency
Goal: Goal 4: Maximize sustainability and emissions reductions in all County Fleet vehicles
Objective: Objective 1: Where feasible, phase out County (owned or leased) gasoline powered light-duty cars, vans, and pickups to achieve a 30% zero-emission vehicle light-duty fleet by 2026.
The CARP will identify commutes, reporting locations, EV charging locations as well as which operations can be accommodated by an EV. Regional Parks is already and will continue to work with The Department of Public Infrastructure (PI), Fleet to continue to electrify the Parks’ fleet.
Pillar: Climate Action and Resiliency
Goal: Goal 4: Maximize sustainability and emissions reductions in all County Fleet vehicles
Objective: Objective 3: Upgrade the existing County owned Electric Vehicle charging station infrastructure by 2023.
Regional Parks’ is currently working with PI, Fleet to add EV charging infrastructure in County Park properties. The CARP will provide input and identify high opportunity facilities.
Pillar: Climate Action and Resiliency
Goal: Goal 5: Maximize opportunities for mitigation of climate change and adaptation through land conservation work and land use policies
Objective: Objective 2: Develop policies to maximize carbon sequestration and minimize loss of natural carbon sinks including old growth forests, the Laguna de Santa Rosa, and rangelands. Encourage agricultural and open space land management to maximize sequestration
The Natural and Working Lands Assessment portion of Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Plan will include developing and modeling various carbon sequestration activities and determining the level of implementation that is feasible. It will identify co-benefits for each carbon sequestration activity with an emphasis on those identified as local priorities. This part of CARP is in line with the abovementioned County’s Five-Year Plan goal and objective.
Prior Board Actions:
October 25, 2022 - Climate Resilience Fund, Round #2
Fiscal Summary
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Expenditures |
FY 22-23 Adopted |
FY23-24 Projected |
FY 24-25 Projected |
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Budgeted Expenses |
$150,000 |
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Additional Appropriation Requested |
$100,000 |
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Total Expenditures |
$250,000 |
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Funding Sources |
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General Fund/WA GF |
$100,000 |
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State/Federal |
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Fees/Other |
$150,000 |
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Use of Fund Balance |
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Contingencies |
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Total Sources |
$250,000 |
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Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
Regional Parks identified $125,000 in Measure M sales tax revenue, and $25,000 of Regional Parks Foundation (non-profit) support in the fiscal year 22-23 budget. An additional $100,000 in Climate Resilience Funding was approved by the Board of Supervisors on October 25, 2022. The County Administrator’s Office will be processing all budgetary adjustments related to the second round of Climate Funding in January 2023.
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Staffing Impacts: |
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Position Title (Payroll Classification) |
Monthly Salary Range (A-I Step) |
Additions (Number) |
Deletions (Number) |
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Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
None
Attachments:
None
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
Professional Services Agreement
Living Wage Questionnaire
Insurance Certificate
Baseline Assessment