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Chief Administrative Office, Procurement and Contracts Division, on behalf of various County departments, recommending the Board consider the following for the provision of web-based electronic information library services:
1) Pursuant to Article II, Section 210(b.)(6) of the El Dorado County Charter and in accordance with County Ordinance Code Chapter 3.13.030 section B, find that specialty skills and qualifications not expressly identified in County classifications are involved in the performance of the work;
2) Find that this contract is exempt from competitive bidding pursuant to section 3.4 (4), since a competitively bid contract is available through the State of California;
3) Approve and authorize the Purchasing Agent to sign Schedule A documents under new Agreement 8207 with RELX Inc., doing business as LexisNexis, for the provision of web-based electronic information library services for use by County departments in the maximum amount of $150,000 for the period of January 1, 2024, through December 31, 2027;
4) Authorize the Purchasing Agent to extend the term of the requested Agreement for Services 8207 if the State of California Department of General Services extends their Master Service Agreement 5-23-70-40-01 for the provision of web-based electronic information library services;
5) Authorize the Purchasing Agent to sign Schedule A documents for County departments that request access to this agreement and to increase the maximum amount of Agreement for Services 8207 on an "as-needed" basis during the awarded contract period as long as funding is available within the requesting departments budgets; and
6) Authorize the Purchasing Agent to execute administrative amendments to Agreement for Services 8207, each amendment would be contingent upon County Counsel and Risk Management approval.
FUNDING: General and Non-General Funds.
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DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
On August 25, 2020, the Board approved and authorized the Purchasing Agent to process a change order to County-wide Agreement 2754 with RELX Inc. to increase the maximum amount of the agreement to $78,075 for web-based electronic information library services and to increase the contract on an as-needed basis during the term of the agreement as long as funding is available within the requesting department's budget. The State of California Department of General Services executed a new Master Service Agreement 5-23-70-40-01 with RELX Inc. for web-based electronic information library services to replace their previous Master Service Agreement 5-17-70-12. As a result the County must execute new Schedule A documents for existing County department customers to reflect the pricing, terms, and conditions of the State of California Master Agreement 5-23-70-40-01 to avoid any interruption to these services.
Pursuant to Article II, Section 210(b.)(6) of the El Dorado County Charter and in accordance with County Ordinance Code Chapter 3.13.030 section B, it is necessary to contract out web-based electronic information library services because specialty skills and qualifications not expressly identified in County classifications are involved in the performance of the work. The vendor provides web-based electronic information library services on a global scale which exceeds the County's equipment and staffing capacity to provide this service internally. The County Procurement Policy, Section 3.4, describes exceptions that may be made to the competitive bidding process. The web-based electronic information library services falls under subsection 4 of this section, which requires that the item may be procured from a vendor that has a contract with another public agency; that the contract was awarded utilizing a competitive bidding process substantially the same as the County's; and that the item and terms of the transaction are the same, or substantially the same. For these purchases, the Department is able to utilize RELX Inc competitively-bid Contract. The department is recommending that the Board make the finding that this contract is exempt from competitive bidding as the vendor has a piggyback contract available through the State of California.
RELX Inc. provides the web-based electronic information library services to a large number of government agencies throughout California and has historically provided the County with excellent levels of customer service and billing support that the County requires.
ALTERNATIVES
The Board could choose to not authorize the new agreement with RELX Inc. A new agreement for web-based electronic information library services would need to be secured for the various County departments that rely on these services as part of their operations.
The Board could choose not to grant the authority to extend the contract term, sign additional Schedule A documents and increase the contract value, or execute administrative amendments to the new agreement with RELX Inc. and Procurement and Contracts would need to return to the Board for any changes to the term, maximum amount, or terms and conditions of the new agreement.
PRIOR BOARD ACTION
N/A
OTHER DEPARTMENT / AGENCY INVOLVEMENT
County Counsel, Risk Management, and Human Resources.
CAO RECOMMENDATION / COMMENTS
Approve as recommended.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Each County department that uses the requested agreement is responsible for ensuring that sufficient appropriations are included in their current Fiscal Year operating budget and will be included in future budgets.
CLERK OF THE BOARD FOLLOW UP ACTIONS
N/A
STRATEGIC PLAN COMPONENT
Good Governance
CONTACT
Michele Weimer, Procurement and Contracts Manager/Purchasing Agent