TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Bruce Moe, City Manager
FROM:
Mark Leyman, Parks and Recreation Director
Melissa McCollum, Senior Recreation Manager
Eilen Stewart, Cultural Arts Manager
SUBJECT:Title
Consideration of a Resolution Approving Amendment No. 2 to the Professional Services Agreement with History Associates Incorporated for Expanding Historic Archiving Services and Extending the Agreement Term for One Year (Parks and Recreation Director Leyman).
ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 24-0029
Body
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RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt Resolution No. 24-0029 approving Amendment No. 2 to the professional services agreement with History Associates Incorporated.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
The expenditures associated with this amendment will be fully reimbursed by the Los Angeles County Library System, which accumulates surplus funds generated from property taxes paid for the use and benefit of the Manhattan Beach Library.
BACKGROUND:
The current agreement with History Associates Incorporated (HAI) for historic archiving services has a total not to exceed of $485,000 with $139,118.27 funds remaining. Amendment No. 2 to the professional services agreement expands the scope of services at a cost of not-to-exceed $100,000 and extends the term for one year.
The City of Manhattan Beach Historical Collection Action Plan is outlined in the following five phases:
|
Phase I |
Policy Development |
Up to $65,000 |
|
Phase II |
Inventory and Survey Collections |
Up to $110,000 |
|
Phase III |
Process, Catalog, Rehouse Collections |
Up to $310,000 |
|
Phase IV |
Digitization |
Determined by size and scope |
|
Phase V |
Maintain Collections |
Determined by size and scope |
Los Angeles County Library previously approved use of surplus library funds to fund implementation of Phases I-III of the Action Plan. Los Angeles County Library is supportive of using surplus library funds to implement Phase IV.
Manhattan Beach has a branch of the Los Angeles County Library system. Property taxes paid into the system by Manhattan Beach residents exceed the cost of operating the branch, including the debt service on the library building. The surplus funds accumulate for the benefit of the Manhattan Beach library branch. Currently, there is an accumulated surplus balance of $11.0 million. Most recently, for Fiscal Year 2022-2023, the library generated a surplus of $1,455,730.
On July 19, 2022, City Council received a Collections Assessment Report from HAI and approved an agreement with the firm to help implement Phases I and II of an Action Plan for improving the care and management of the City of Manhattan Beach’s historic objects and archives.
HAI conducted an on-site survey and inventory of the Historical Collection during January and February of 2023. During this time, the team compiled comprehensive inventories of the object collection and archival collection. The inventories provide brief descriptions of materials, measurements, and recommendations for the disposition of materials. HAI also drafted a collection policy, processing manual, and cataloging manual to aid the next steps towards full control of the collections.
On March 7, 2023, City Council accepted the Collection Policy for the City of Manhattan Beach Historical Collection, and directed staff to begin implementing Phases III (Process, Catalog, and Rehouse Collections) and Phase IV (Digitization) of the Action Plan.
On June 6, 2023, City Council approved an agreement with HAI to implement Phase III of the Action Plan. Phase III of the Action Plan was completed in November 2023. Priority work included:
• Item-level cataloging of all objects in the Historical Collection currently owned by the City
• Folder-level descriptions for the archives collection to improve accessibility of the collection
• Housing objects and paper materials in preservation quality containers, folders, and enclosures
• Collection Management recommendations
DISCUSSION:
HAI, staff, and the Manhattan Beach Historical Society (MBHS) are ready to proceed with implementation of Phase IV of the Historical Collection Action Plan. Phase IV priorities include:
• Digitization of bound and unbound newspapers - estimated at 275 issues or 63,000 images
• Digitization of photographs - estimated at 5,000 images
• Metadata capture for each issue - four fields of information
The materials make up a significant portion of the paper collection and are among the more fragile assets, which also happen to be the most accessed and handled materials. Every handling, with or without protective gloves, contributes to the overall degradation of archival materials. Creating an alternate way to access materials can extend the life of fragile collections.
Phase IV expenses include transportation of the collection in a dedicated, secure truck directly to and from the National Office Systems (NOS) headquarters in Beltsville, Maryland for the digitization work. Deploying a team to perform the digitization work in California is not recommended due to the increased cost for this work.
Amendment No. 2 also includes ongoing archival services from a professional Senior Archivist/Records Manager I for the City of Manhattan Beach Historical Collection, up to 288 hours for one year, including participation in Historical Collection Committee meetings, ongoing processing and cataloging of new acquisitions, research appointment assistance, and exhibition planning support. The City will only be invoiced for hours worked.
PUBLIC OUTREACH:
The City Council considered the Collections Assessment and Action Plan on July 19, 2022, the Collection Policy, inventories, and project updates on March 7, 2023, and processing, cataloging, and rehousing plans on June 6, 2023.
The Manhattan Beach Historical Society contributed to the Collections Assessment as well as development of policies during Phases I and II of the Action Plan. They were active partners during implementation of Phase III of the Action Plan and support moving forward with implementation of Phase IV.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
The City has reviewed the proposed activity for compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and has determined that the activity is not a “Project” as defined under Section 15378 of the State CEQA Guidelines; therefore, pursuant to Section 15060(c)(3) of the State CEQA Guidelines the activity is not subject to CEQA. Thus, no environmental review is necessary.
LEGAL REVIEW:
The City Attorney has reviewed the agreements and is approved as to form.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Resolution No. 24-0029
2. Amendment No. 2 - History Associates Incorporated
3. Agreement and Amendment No. 1 - History Associates Incorporated