Agenda Item   

AGENDA STAFF REPORT

 

                                                                                                                        ASR Control  19-001438

 

MEETING DATE:

02/11/20

legal entity taking action:

Board of Supervisors

board of supervisors district(s):

All Districts

SUBMITTING Agency/Department:

OC Community Resources   (Approved)

Department contact person(s):

Dylan Wright (714) 480-2788 

 

 

Stacy Blackwood (949) 923-3743

 

 

Subject:  Renew OC Parks Public Relations Services Contract

 

      ceo CONCUR

County Counsel Review

Clerk of the Board

Concur

Approved Agreement to Form

Discussion

 

 

3 Votes Board Majority

 

 

 

    Budgeted: Yes

Current Year Cost: $75,000

Annual Cost: FY 2020-21 $225,000

 

 

 

    Staffing Impact:

No

# of Positions:

Sole Source: No

    Current Fiscal Year Revenue: N/A

  Funding Source: OC Parks Fund 405: 100%

County Audit in last 3 years: No

 

 

    Prior Board Action: 2/26/2019 #24, 7/18/2018 #27, 1/23/2018 #13, 1/24/2017 #11

 

RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):

 

Approve and authorize the County Procurement Officer or authorized Deputy to execute Amendment Number Five to the contract with The ACE Agency, Inc. for public relations services to renew the contract for the final period from April 1, 2020, through March 31, 2021, in an amount not to exceed $300,000, for a five-year cumulative contract total amount not to exceed $1,329,167.

 

 

 

 

SUMMARY:

 

Authorization to renew the contract with The ACE Agency, Inc. will continue to provide outreach, information and related public relations services for OC Parks facilities.

 

 

 

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

 

Public relations and media management services are utilized by OC Community Resources/OC Parks (OC Parks) to promote and provide outreach and information to the public for the many varied facilities and recreational opportunities throughout the regional parks system. OC Parks has a small communications staff, including a Public Information Officer and a staff assistant, but has a high volume of communications responsibilities such as managing the website, brochures and maps, social media, print media and press releases; interfacing with local media outlets; and marketing for public events and activities. After an evaluation of internal resources, it was determined that it would be more cost effective to use a contractor to augment in-house services.

 

On March 29, 2016, after a competitive procurement process, OC Parks entered into a contract with The ACE Agency, Inc. (ACE) effective from April 1, 2016, to March 31, 2017, in an amount not to exceed $95,000. The contract with ACE includes services such as development of an annual communications/public relations plan, media, social media and website support, press releases and follow-up, promotional photography, videography and advertising. On August 9, 2016, Amendment One to the contract was administratively issued for a non-material change to specify the contract not-to-exceed amount of $95,000.

 

On January 24, 2017, the Board of Supervisors (Board) approved Amendment Two to expand services to include the Dana Point Harbor (Harbor) facility that was reorganized under OC Parks in June 2016. Amendment Two increased the contract not-to-exceed amount to $300,000 annually and renewed the contract through March 31, 2018. The contract was increased by a prorated amount of $34,167 for the two-month period through March 31, 2017, and by $205,000 for the term ending March 31, 2018. Subsequently, on January 23, 2018, the Board approved Amendment Three to renew the contract to March 31, 2019, with no change to the contract not-to-exceed amount of $300,000. Expenses on the contract related to the Harbor were paid for wholly by Fund 108, which is comprised of revenue from rents and leases of land improvements on or adjacent to state tidelands in the Harbor that were granted in trust to the County and can only be used to benefit that area.

 

Amendment Four with ACE was approved by the Board on February 26, 2019, to renew the contract for the third of four allowed renewal periods to March 31, 2020, with no change to the contract's not-to-exceed amount of $300,000 annually. On July 17, 2018, the Board approved a Public-Private Partnership (P3) Lease and Option Agreement with Dana Point Harbor Partners and, as such, marketing and public relations services associated with the Harbor will be managed by the lessee, consistent with other revenue-generating leases throughout the County. As a result, OC Parks reallocated a greater portion of the public relations contract capacity to provide enhanced services to the remainder of the OC Parks system.  

 

Between April and December 2019, OC Parks facilities garnered a total of over 6.5 billion media impressions from websites, television, social media and print publications. This is equivalent to an estimated publicity value of over $27.5 million, which is determined via an analytics company that performs industry standard calculations for earned media value.

 

 

Media Impressions

Publicity Value

4/1/2016 – 3/31/2017

5.8 Billion

$5,129,244

4/1/2017 – 3/31/2018

13.1 Billion

$10,579,671

4/1/2018 – 3/31/2019

6.7 Billion

$9,531,870

4/1/2019 – 12/31/2019

6.5 Billion

$27,497,255

 

Amendment Number Five with ACE has been prepared to renew the contract for the last of its four allowed renewal periods to March 31, 2021, with no change to the contract's not-to-exceed amount of $300,000 annually. The Amendment also updates the County billing address, contact information and invoicing instructions. No change in the contract terms, conditions or scope of work has been requested by ACE. Prior to contract expiration, OC Parks will engage in a new solicitation process for these services.

 

 

Contract MA-012-16011797 includes subcontractors. See Attachment C for the Contract Summary Form.  The contractor’s performance has been confirmed as satisfactory. OC Community Resources has verified there are no concerns that must be addressed with respect to Contractor’s ownership/name, litigation status or conflicts with County interests.

 

 

 

FINANCIAL IMPACT:

 

Appropriations for this Amendment are included in the FY 2019-20 Budget and will be included in the budgeting process for future years.

 

This contract contains language allowing OC Community Resources to terminate or modify the contract without penalty in the event that funding is reduced and/or not available.

 

 

 

STAFFING IMPACT:

 

N/A

 

ATTACHMENT(S):

 

Attachment A – Amendment Number Five to Contract MA-012-16011797
Attachment B – Contract Redline
Attachment C – Contract Summary Form