ITEM:		CONSENT CALENDAR
2.	CONSIDER APPROVAL OF CONTRACT WITH ACCELA INC. FOR PURCHASE AND IMPLEMENTATION OF WATER DEMAND DIVISION DATABASE
Meeting Date:			November 13, 2017	Budgeted:	Yes, partially
From:			David J. Stoldt,	Program/	Capital Assets
			General Manager	Line Item No.	XX-XX-914000
Prepared By:			Suresh Prasad	Cost Estimate:	$725,000
General Counsel Review: The legal counsel has reviewed this item.
Committee Recommendation: The Administrative Committee reviewed this item on November 6, 2017 and recommended approval.
CEQA Compliance: This action does not constitute a project as defined by the California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines section 15378.

SUMMARY: The District’s Water Demand Division (WDD) is responsible for processing water permits, conducting inspections, managing conservation and rebate programs, and other water use regulatory functions affecting residential and non-residential properties within the District boundaries. All data collected as a result of these efforts is stored in custom designed database developed about ten years ago. The existing database is problematic and incapable of providing the level of service needed to adequately manage, track and report on the District’s current conservation and demand management programs.

The database was set up in 2008 by Software Company that is designed to write customized software solutions for retail customers. The District was its only customer for this type of software. The current database is not setup to be made available for use to the public, cannot be accessed by field staff outside the office, inability to generate simple and basic reports, and making changes without getting the software developers involved with the change. Since there are no other entity using the current system, any fix or updates to the system is solely paid by the District.

The plan to upgrade the WDD database was part of a strategic goals of the Board adopted in April 2017 under the one-year-goal “Develop Long Term Information Technology Plan – Replace Water Demand Database.” Staff envisions a single-entry comprehensive database system that will eliminate duplication of effort and will increase the effectiveness and responsiveness of the WDD. The new system will also be made available to the public via internet.

Since beginning of 2016, WDD staff with the help of Information Technology staff and the Chief Financial Officer has been looking for databases that are most commonly used by other land use jurisdictions and water agencies. There were two software’s identified in the search. One of them was from Tyler Technologies called EnerGov. The other one was Accela’s software.

For almost a year, staff has been meeting with Accela staff to review the Accela platform and develop a comprehensive Statement of Work (Exhibit 2-A). It is understood that Accela’s software will most closely match the District’s existing business process. Since the software is already been utilized by other public agencies, any change or fix in the software will be made available to the District as well.

The requirements specifications for new software included permits tracking and inventories for all types of water fixtures, credits and debits occurring as part of the water permit process, financial accounting for revenue and accounts receivables, and maintaining and tracking allocations for the various jurisdictions.

RECOMMENDATION: District staff recommends authorizing the General Manager or the Chief Financial Officer to enter into an agreement (Exhibit 2-B) with Accela Inc. for an amount of $725,000.00 ($705,780.87 for the actual contract plus contingencies), to purchase and implement the new WDD database system. District’s FY 2017-2018 Budget includes $650,000 for this project, however, the additional $75,000 will be included with the mid-year budget adjustment.

BACKGROUND: The District’s WDD software is a custom written software developed for the District back in 2008. The current software has deficiencies such as inability to generate and run basic reports, not available for use by the staff while out in field, constituents not able to use via internet.

Since this is a customized solution solely written for the District, any fixes or updates made to the system is paid by the District. The existing database was set up in 2008 by Software Company that is designed to write customized software solutions for retail customers. The District was its only customer for this type of software.

The plan to upgrade the WDD database was part of a strategic goals of the Board adopted in April 2017 under the one-year-goal “Develop Long Term Information Technology Plan – Replace Water Demand Database.”

EXHIBITS

2-A Statement of Work

2-B Accela Agreement

2-C Accela Presentation

2-D Accela Customer Overview

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