HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 07/05/2016 - FIRST READING OF ORDINANCE NO. 084, 2016, APPROPRIAgenda Item 5
Item # 5 Page 1
AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY July 5, 2016
City Council
STAFF
Tom Leeson, Director, Comm Dev & Neighborhood Svrs
SUBJECT
First Reading of Ordinance No. 084, 2016, Appropriating Prior Year Reserves in the Data and
Communications Fund for Implementation of Electronic Plan Review.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The purpose of this item is to appropriate funds from the reserves of the Data and Communications Fund for
implementation of electronic plan review as part of the building permit and development review process.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends adoption of the Ordinance on First Reading.
BACKGROUND / DISCUSSION
This appropriation request will enable the City of Fort Collins to provide electronic plan review as part of the
building permit and the development review process to the community and customers of those processes.
Traditionally, plan review processes have required customers of development processes to submit large
numbers of construction and development plans to the City for review and comment. The routing and review of
these plans is not only environmentally unfriendly, but it is also inefficient, adding unnecessary time to an
already complex process.
The proposed electronic plan review process at the City will enable:
The electronic submittal of plans
Electronic routing and review of construction and development plans
Automated online access of review comments
A significant reduction of paper involved in review processes
Greater efficiency in the construction and development review processes
Efforts to implement electronic plan submittal and review for building permit applications have been underway
over the last two years. Currently, electronic document submittals are accepted on flash drives for all building
permit types. By the end of the 3rd quarter of this year, the review of electronic documents for several project
types of building permit submittals will be integrated into the City’s building permitting systems. This funding
request will allow the City of Fort Collins to expand the service to all building permit types and to the entire
development review process.
This funding will purchase an Enterprise License Agreement (ELA) for the software that the City uses to
manage development and code compliance processes. An ELA will allow the City to more broadly license a
larger number of users as plan reviewers, such as Poudre Fire Authority, to the proposed electronic plan review
processes.
Agenda Item 5
Item # 5 Page 2
The funding will allow for the purchase of all of the related technology to equip plan reviewers to efficiently
review and mark comments on electronic plans on their PCs. Due to the large scale of construction plans, it is
necessary to provide plan reviewers with the larger monitors on the PCs, as well as video displays in
conference rooms used to discuss and review plans with internal staff and with customers of the process.
Finally, the funding for this offer will provide for a contract with a consultant to adapt the current automated
review processes for building permitting and development review. T he consultant will assist the City in the
implementation and configuration of the electronic plan review module for the system used by the City. See
Attachment 1 for a breakdown of the costs to implement Electronic Plan review.
Due to training times and the need to transition efficiently from paper plan review to electronic plan review, it is
anticipated that implementation will occur over the next 18 months.
Benefits of implementing Electronic Plan review include:
The routing and reviewing of electronic documents rather than paper will improve the efficiency of the
development review processes. It will reduce the time required for administrative staff to sort and deliver
plans to reviewing departments.
Provide streamlined collaboration among reviewing departments by centralizing the related documents.
Increase accuracy and availability of reporting data, including review times and rounds of review. The move
toward a more fully electronic review process, the tracking and measuring of the process will be more readily
available.
Accomplish a high level of transparency through efficient publication of project documentation. By
having process-related documents in a digital form, they are much more readily shared and accessible.
The purchase of an Enterprise License Agreement (ELA) will allow the inclusion of more plan reviewers to
participate in and electronic plan review process. As well, it will serve to flatten the on ongoing costs
associated with the annual maintenance of the software that is used to maintain the building permit,
development review, and code compliance activities of the City.
CITY FINANCIAL IMPACTS
The total cost of implementation is $484,000 (Attachment 1). The funding source is the reserves of the Data
and Communications Fund. Future ongoing expenses will increase by a small amount for equipment
maintenance and replacement.
Electronic Plan Review will result in significant savings in terms of the amount of paper used, as well as staff
time due to the increase in efficiency. See Attachment 2 for the staff analysis of savings to the private sector,
as well as to the City.
PUBLIC OUTREACH
Although there was no formal public outreach, designers, developers, and contractors that have been using
the current level of electronic plan review have widely praised the City’s efforts to move in this direction and
anticipate a wider use for electronic plan review in all aspects of development review.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Cost Breakdown (PDF)
2. Electronic Plan Review Savings (PDF)
Count Price/ea 2016 Price 2017 Price
Hardware
Workstation allowance 60 $1,200.00 $36,000.00 $36,000.00
Adobe Acrobat License 0 $51.00 $0.00 $0.00
Electronic Pad/Pen 5 $300.00 $0.00 $1,500.00
For front counter -
electronic signatures
Ergostands 0 $150.00 $0.00 $0.00
Peripherals 0 $50.00 $0.00 $0.00
PDT Dev Rev Insp iPads 3 $840.47 $0.00 $2,521.41
Facilities Installation 0 $43.00 $0.00 $0.00
IT setup 0 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
Conference Rooms/Cust Service Areas Setup
Conf Rm A 1 $1,200.00 $1,200.00 $0.00
Conf Rm B 1 $1,200.00 $0.00 $1,200.00
Conf Rm C 0 $1,200.00 $0.00 $0.00
Conf Rm D 0 $1,200.00 $0.00 $0.00
Grande 1 $1,200.00 $1,200.00 $0.00
Venti 0 $1,200.00 $0.00 $0.00
(New 281 Conf Rm) 1 $1,200.00 $0.00 $1,200.00
Eng Conf Rm 0 $1,200.00 $0.00 $0.00
Permit Counter Station 1 $1,200.00 $1,200.00 $0.00
Tech Services Station 1 $500.00 $0.00 $500.00 New HDTV
Water Utility Conf Rm 1 $1,200.00 $0.00 $1,200.00
Light & Power Conf Rm 1 $1,200.00 $0.00 $1,200.00
Accela Setup
Consultants 1 $220,000.00 $120,000.00 $100,000.00
IT
Software Licensing
Accela Enterprise License 1 $179,000.00 $0.00 $179,000.00
Total: $159,600.00 $324,321.41 $483,921.41
Allowance Pricing - Partial Implementation (2016)
Item Notes
ATTACHMENT 1
Community Development & Neighborhood Services
281 North College Avenue
P.O. Box 580
Fort Collins, CO 80522.0580
970.416.2740
970.224.6134- fax
fcgov.com
Planning, Development & Transportation Services
Memorandum
Date: June 7, 2016
To: Dan Coldiron
Tom Leeson
From: Mike Gebo
Ref: Electronic Plan Review Savings
Electronic Plan Review (EPR) is the ability to receive and review development related plans and
documents, currently submitted on flash drives, and to transmit electronically, development
review and plan review corrections and comments across City departments and to anyone
anywhere by way of the internet.
Over the past several years, and with assistance from the City’s innovation fund, the building
services department of CDNS has purchased hardware and software programs needed to initiate
and test an EPR program for building permit plan reviews. Currently the front counter permit
techs, zoning staffs, permit plan review staffs, and several general contractors have been
receiving, reviewing, editing and commenting on construction plan reviews both residential and
commercial, using EPR.
All development within the City includes several City review steps which currently require an
applicant to provide numerous paper copies of the project site plan, elevations, construction
details, utility plans, and so on. These details are typically provided on 24” X 36” sheets of
paper. A project’s initial review requires at least 12-18 separate copies that are mailed to various
City departments. A relatively small development project can easily have 20 sheets while larger
projects contain 50 or more. Staff processing of paper plans for a Project Review amounts to 2-4
hours per project, while electronically the routing and processing can be reduced to 15 minutes
or less. See attached EPR Estimates Project Review for average paper and staff time savings per
project.
The applicant is required to make the necessary paper copies and deliver the packets to the City
where the development review staff process the copies and enter the data into the City’s
development tracking systems and disperses the copies to the various departments. Project
designers and developers use electronic tools such as AutoCad to work and rework their project’s
plans and details numerous times from a desktop. The private sector development industry is
asking that the City embrace and acquire the necessary tools to be able to receive and review the
industry’s electronic versions.
Once a project has been approved for construction, building services performs plan review. Plan
reviews require two copies of all construction details, including electrical, mechanical, and
plumbing sheets. These detailed plans can reach several hundred pages on an average plan
ATTACHMENT 2
BFO Round 2
Electronic Plan review
review. Each page of each copy must be hand stamped with the application/ permit number. This
processing of the construction plans and stamping of the permit number can average 30-60
minutes of staff time, yet electronically this process is simply a click of a button. See attached
EPR Estimates Plan Review Residential and Commercial for average paper and staff time
savings per review.
Since the project’s applicant provides all copies needed to the City, the significant savings in
paper and printing cost are assigned to the developer’s side. Staff regularly attaches paper pages
of comments, directions, detail corrections, and code sections to the paper plan reviews, with
EPR this information is transmitted without the need for paper. The number of paper sheets
attached to any specific plan are directly related to how detailed and accurate the submitted plans
are.
EPR addresses the City’s desire to be efficient, to streamline the development review and plan
review processes, and to assist the development/construction industry. The estimates of paper
saved are generally a benefit to the developer/builder, while the staff time saved directly benefits
the City.
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EPR Estimates
Project Review Savings Per
Project Review
Annual Savings Units Data Source
Project Review (prior to
permit review)
1056 sheets 265,000 (250 -300
projects per year)
Sheets 24x36 Per project: 22 sheets, 4 rounds, 12 copies each round = 1,056
Project Review (utility
reports)
440 sheets 110,000 (250 -300
projects per year)
Sheets 8.5 x 11 Per project: 55 sheets, 2 rounds, 4 copies each round = 440
Applicant's Total Cost of
Paper Saved
$1,161.00 $291,500.00 Sheets 24x36 At average retail print cost of $1.10/sheet
Staff Time 2-3 Hours 500-750 hours Sheets 24x36 Baseline data: 250-300 projects/year
Plan Review Residential Savings Per
Plan Review
Annual Savings Units Data Source
Total Number of Drawing
Sheets
40.00 61,960.00 Sheets 24x36 Per Plan Review, 20 sheets per plan set, 2 sets per review.
Pounds of Paper Saved 2.40 3,717.60 Pounds Figured 30lb paper average.
Tons of Paper Saved 0.0012 1.86 Tons 2000lbs/ton
Number of Trees Saved 0.03 45.00 Trees Environmental Paper Network Paper Calculator Version 3.2 at
www.papercalculator.org.
Applicant's Total Cost of
Paper Saved
$44.00 $68,156.00 Paper cost At average retail print cost of $1.10/sheet.
Staff Time 1 hour 1549 hours Sheets 24x36 Baseline data: 1,549 plan reviews 2015
Processing residential paper plans and data entry
Plan Review
Commercial
Savings Per
Plan Review
Annual Savings Units Data Source
Total Number of Drawing
Sheets
100.00 35,800.00 Sheets 24x36 Per Plan Review, 20 sheets per plan set, 2 sets per review.
Pounds of Paper Saved 6.00 2,148.00 Pounds Figured 30lb paper average.
Tons of Paper Saved 0.0030 1.07 Tons 2000lbs/ton
Number of Trees Saved 0.07 26.00 Trees Environmental Paper Network Paper Calculator Version 3.2 at
www.papercalculator.org.
Applicant's Total Cost of
Paper Saved
$110.00 $170,390.00 Paper cost At average retail print cost of $1.10/sheet.
Staff time 2.5 hours 895 hours Sheets 24x36 Baseline data: 358 plan reviews 2015 Processing
commercial paper plans and data entry
Environmental Impact Savings Per
Plan Review
Annual Savings Units Data Source
Total Miles Driven 51.00 78,999.00 miles 3 trips at 17 miles/trip - round trip from S College Ave (at City
limits) to the building department and back.
Total Gallons of Gas Used 2.83 4,388.83 gallons At 21 mpg, Source:
http://www.epa.gov/oms/climate/documents/420f11041.pdf
Cost of Fuel Used $9.83 $15,224.86 Fuel cost http://www.eia.gov/petroleum/gasdiesel/ - Does not include
vehicle wear and tear.
Hours of Driving 1.70 2,633.30 hours At 30 mph average per Google Maps estimate.
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ORDINANCE NO. 084, 2016
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS
APPROPRIATING PRIOR YEAR RESERVES IN
THE DATA AND COMMUNICATIONS FUND FOR
IMPLEMENTATION OF ELECTRONIC PLAN REVIEW
WHEREAS, traditionally the plan review processes has required customers of
development processes to submit large numbers of construction and development plans in paper
format to the City for review and comment; and
WHEREAS, the routing and review of these plans is not only environmentally
unfriendly, but it is also inefficient given available technologies; and
WHEREAS, the Building Services department of the Community Development and
Neighborhood Services area is proposing to implement electronic plan review as part of the
building permit and development review process; and
WHEREAS, the proposed electronic plan review process will enable the electronic
submittal of plans, electronic routing and review of plans and automated online access of review
comments, significantly reducing the amount of paper involved in the review processes and
allow for overall greater efficiency; and
WHEREAS, the estimated cost for the implementation is $484,000; and
WHEREAS, Article V, Section 9, of the City Charter permits the City Council to make
supplemental appropriations by ordinance at any time during the fiscal year, provided that the
total amount of such supplemental appropriations, in combination with all previous
appropriations for that fiscal year, does not exceed the current estimate of actual and anticipated
revenues to be received during the fiscal year; and
WHEREAS, Article V, Section 9 of the City Charter also permits the City Council to
appropriate by ordinance at any time during the fiscal year such funds for expenditure as may be
available from reserves accumulated in prior years, notwithstanding that such reserves were not
previously appropriated.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
FORT COLLINS as follows:
Section 1. That the City Council hereby makes and adopts the determinations and
findings contained in the recitals set forth above.
Section 2. That there is hereby appropriated from prior year reserves in the Data and
Communications Fund the sum of FOUR HUNDRED EIGHTY FOUR THOUSAND
DOLLARS ($484,000) for expenditure in the Data and Communications Fund for
implementation of electronic plan review as described above.
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Introduced, considered favorably on first reading, and ordered published this 5th day of
July, A.D. 2016, and to be presented for final passage on the 19th day of July, A.D. 2016.
__________________________________
Mayor
ATTEST:
_______________________________
City Clerk
Passed and adopted on final reading on the 19th day of July, A.D. 2016.
__________________________________
Mayor
ATTEST:
_______________________________
City Clerk
Cars on the Road 3.00 4,647.00 cars 1 car/trip.
Pounds of Carbon Dioxide 17.00 26,333.00 lbs. of CO CO2 calculator: http://www.infinitepower.org/ calc_carbon.htm