Title
Resolution to Approve a 5-Year Best Source Professional Services Agreement with American Conservation & Billing Solutions, Inc. for a Customer Portal and Consumption Data Analytics Solution (Aquahawk) ($222,641.67)
Memorandum
Attached for your review and approval is a resolution to approve a 5-year best source Professional Services Agreement with American Conservation & Billing Solutions, Inc. (AmCoBi) for a continued Customer Portal and Consumption Data Analytics Solution (Aquahawk) and associated software licensing, support and maintenance. The total contract amount is estimated at $222,641.67, which includes annual maintenance fees as well as pay-per-contact charges for e-mail, text, and phone messaging capabilities.
The City issues over $90,000.00 in credits per year due to apparent leaks and incurs additional customer dissatisfaction due to unexpected high water bills, which is unquantifiable. As a result, the City issued RFP 18-32 seeking a customer engagement and data analytic solutions that could take full advantage of the City’s Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) system. The solutions were required to provide customers self-service access to their water consumption data, allow them to set customer specific thresholds for alerts, provide projected bill estimates, and provide consumption analysis and leak detection on all meters for the City to review.
Through that RFP process, the City selected and entered into a 5-year contract with AmCoBi to implement its Aquahawk product. Because the current contract with AmCoBi is set to expire in 2024, staff is recommending AmCoBi as a best source because it originally implemented the current Aquahawk program and has provided good support for the past five years. AmCoBi possesses knowledge of the City’s existing Aquahawk system and changing to a different system now would be unnecessarily expensive and inefficient.
Budget/Fiscal Impact: The FY2025 portion of $45,480.00 is planned for in the proposed FY2025 budget and will be paid from the following funds: $32,400.00 from the Information Technology budget; $6,540.00 from the Water Supply System budget; and $6,540.00 from the Sewage Disposal System budget. The remaining $177,161.67 is anticipated to be budgeted for in the FY2026 through FY2029 Information Technology budgets as follows:
FY 2026: $42,980.00
FY 2027: $44,289.00
FY 2028: $44,289.00
FY 2029: $45,603.67
Staff
Prepared by: Joshua Baron, Interim Director, IT Services
Reviewed by: Milton Dohoney Jr., City Administrator
Approved by: Milton Dohoney Jr., City Administrator
Body
Whereas, The City issues over $90,000.00 in credits due to apparent customer leaks per year and customer dissatisfaction due to unexpected high water bills is unquantifiable;
Whereas, The City has implemented technology to allow the City and its customers to address these issues while saving costs and increasing customer satisfaction;
Whereas, Pursuant to RFP 18-32 the City selected and entered into a 5-year contract with American Conservation & Billing Solutions, Inc. to implement and maintain its Aquahawk solution to meet this need;
Whereas, The City Administrator recommends that City Council waive competitive bidding requirements for this professional services agreement as American Conservation & Billing Solutions, Inc. is a best source for continuing to provide and service the Aquahawk solution because it has detailed knowledge of that system which will provide operational and financial benefits;
Whereas, The FY2025 portion of $45,480.00 is planned for in the proposed FY2025 budget and will be paid from the following funds: $32,400.00 from the Information Technology budget; $6,540.00 from the Water Supply System budget; and $6,540.00 from the Sewage Disposal System budget and the FY2026-FY2029 amounts are anticipated to be available in the corresponding Information Technology budget; and
Whereas, American Conservation & Billing Solutions, Inc. complies with the City’s Non-Discrimination and Living Wage Ordinances;
RESOLVED, That, upon the City Administrator’s recommendation, the City Council authorizes the professional services agreement described herein without competitive bidding as it is a best source for the services;
RESOLVED, That City Council approve the 5-year Professional Services Agreement with American Conservation & Billing Solutions, Inc. in the amount of $222,641.67 for the Aquahawk customer portal and consumption data analytics solution;
RESOLVED, That the Mayor and City Clerk are authorized to sign the agreement after approval as to substance by the City Administrator and approval as to form by the City Attorney; and
Resolved, That the City Administrator is authorized to take all appropriate actions to implement this resolution.