Council approves amendment to on-call plan review contract to cover staff augmentation needs

The Hermosa Beach City Council approved April 14 a first amendment to the on-call agreement with Willdan Engineering to supplement plan review and provide staff augmentation services. Staff said the contract has historically supported plan review functions and that the amendment would expand the contract authority to allow temporary staffing in planning and counter functions when vacancies or workload surges occur.

City staff described the amendment as a tool to maintain service continuity while recruitment for permanent positions continues. The five-year contract authority would increase in order to provide flexibility for temporary technical personnel to perform counter and planner duties; annual budget authority will continue to come before the council in the usual budget process. Council members asked about performance reporting and tracking of permit-time metrics; staff said they would revamp KPIs and report on permits processed, workload and financial impacts.

Council approved the staff recommendations by roll-call vote 5-0.

Next steps: staff will continue to use the on-call contract for temporary staffing as needed, present relevant budget authority in upcoming budget sessions, and develop performance metrics to track service levels and permit turnaround time.