TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Bruce Moe, City Manager
FROM:
Terry Hackelman, Information Technology Director
Tatyana Roujenova-Peltekova, Senior Management Analyst
SUBJECT:Title
Consideration of a Resolution Approving a Three-Year Broadcast Services Agreement with PEGasus Studios for a Not-to-Exceed Three-Year Cost of $180,000 (Information Technology Director Hackelman).
ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 21-0113
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Recommended Action
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council:
a) Adopt Resolution No. 21-0113 approving a three-year broadcast services agreement with PEGasus Studios for a not-to-exceed annual cost of $60,000 or a three-year total value of $180,000; and
b) Approve the option for the City Manager to extend the term for up to two additional one-year periods; if both extensions are exercised, the approximate five-year total contract amount will be $300,000.
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FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Funds are included in the adopted Fiscal Year 2021-2022 budget and will be included in future fiscal year’s budgets.
BACKGROUND:
The City broadcasts live and re-broadcasts City Council and Planning Commission meetings through two cable television franchisees, Spectrum (formerly Time Warner) and Frontier (formerly Verizon). In addition, City Council and Planning Commission meetings are available via the City’s website www.manhattanbeach.gov/MBtv <http://www.manhattanbeach.gov/MBtv>, both as a live stream and as on-demand viewing. The programming may include other special events such as Town Hall meetings and other content promoting City events and activities. The City of Manhattan Beach is the programming authority for the channels presenting the same content concurrently.
Since 2007, the Information Technology (IT) Department staff has supported all aspects of the broadcast and re-broadcasts of City meetings and special events, including the audio/video (A/V) and technology infrastructure to support the 24-hour public access to the government channels. The broadcasting relied exclusively on existing IT staff to perform the services in addition to their day-to-day technical operations responsibilities. This resulted in increased overtime labor costs for the IT Department.
To allow for more appropriate use of the IT staff and reduce overtime charges, in January 2017, City Council awarded PEGasus Studios a three-year contract to provide professional broadcast services to augment the department efforts. The agreement included an option for the City Manager to extend the term for two additional one-year periods. The estimated five-year contract value was $246,950 or $49,390 annually. With the last extension expiring on January 23, 2022, there is a need to establish a new contract.
DISCUSSION:
PEGasus successfully provided on-site broadcasting services from 2017 until the beginning of March 2020. Due to the impacts of COVID-19, after March 3, 2020, the City Council and Commission meetings have been held virtually using Zoom (this is permissible under Governor Newsom’s Executive Orders Nos. N-25-20 and N-29-2). To limit exposure and maintain social distancing, the City determined that the broadcasting should be supported using IT staff only. Over the last seven to eight months, the IT Department has begun using PEGasus for hybrid City Council meetings (Zoom and on-site meeting broadcast). The hybrid model requires significantly more resources to support. If PEGasus resources are not used for the hybrid meetings, additional IT staff members would be required, increasing considerably the labor costs.
The proposed PEGasus agreement anticipates future City Council and Planning Commission meetings will use a hybrid broadcast format (Zoom and on-site) and plans for increased PEGasus involvement. The hybrid City Council and Planning Commission meetings increase public participation and access, resulting in greater transparency. In preparation for the hybrid meeting possibility, the yearly amount for the contract has been increased to an amount not-to-exceed $60,000. The City only pays for actual services provided, so the City will only incur costs if PEGasus services are used during broadcasts.
Staff recommends that the City Council: a) adopt Resolution No. 21-0113 approving three-year professional services agreement with PEGasus Studios for broadcast contract services for a not-to-exceed annual cost of $60,000 or three-year total cost of $180,000; and b) approve the option for the City Manager to extend the term for up to two additional one-year periods; if both extensions are exercised, the approximate five-year total contract amount will be $300,000.
PUBLIC OUTREACH:
After analysis, staff determined that public outreach was not required for this issue.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
The City has reviewed the proposed activity for compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and has determined that there is no possibility that the activity may have a significant effect on the environment; therefore, pursuant to Section 15061(b)(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 approved the agreement as to form.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Resolution No. 21-0113
2. Agreement - PEGasus Studios