DATE: April 28, 2020
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Robert W. Bash, Director of Internal Services/Chief Information Officer
Paul Dictos, C.P.A., Assessor-Recorder
SUBJECT: Agreement with Kofile Technologies, Inc.
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
1. Make a finding that it is in the best interest of the County to waive the competitive bidding process under Administrative Policy No. 34 due to unusual or extraordinary circumstances for document indexing services and document storage solutions for historical vital records; and
2. Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute an Agreement with Kofile Technologies, Inc. for document indexing services and document storage solutions for historical vital records, effective upon execution, not to exceed five consecutive years, which included a three-year base contract and two optional one-year extensions, total not to exceed $646,000.
REPORT
There is no increase in Net County Cost associated with the recommended actions. Approval of the recommended actions will authorize Kofile Technologies, Inc. (Kofile) to provide a digital index for the Assessor-Recorder’s Office and provide a large-format storage solution for historical vital records, including birth certificates, marriage certificates, and death certificates, for the new Assessor-Recorder’s building. These tools will assist County staff in accessing historical vital records to issue copies to the public, as provided by statute. This item is countywide.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
Should your Board not approve the recommended actions, the department will continue using manual processes, resulting in slower services and longer wait times for the public.
SUSPENSION OF COMPETITION/SOLE SOURCE CONTRACT:
The Assessor-Recorder’s Office is requesting that your Board waive the competitive bidding process under Administrative Policy No. 34 due to unusual or extraordinary circumstances to allow Kofile to provide these services. Kofile is the only regional distributor of some of the document storage solutions, and the use of Kofile’s indexing services will not require additional conversion services, which will limit implementation expenses. The Internal Services Department - Purchasing concurs with the Department's request to waive the competitive bidding process.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no increase Net County Cost associated with the recommended actions. The recommended agreement has a total compensation amount of $646,000 for the entire five-year term of the agreement. Sufficient appropriations and estimated revenues to cover the costs associated with the recommended actions for the remainder of FY 2019-2020 are budgeted in the Recorder’s RDS (Modernization) Fund Org 1044 FY 2019-20 Adopted Budget, and will be included in future budget requests.
DISCUSSION:
In March of 2015, County Purchasing, in conjunction with the Assessor-Recorder’s Office, issued Request for Proposal (RFP) No. 962-5337, for document restoration, preservation, and digitization services for historical vital records, including birth certificates, marriage certificates, and death certificates. Kofile was selected and Agreement No. A-15-366 was approved by the Board in August 11, 2015. The conservation and digitization work was completed by the end of the initial three-year term. As a result, that agreement was not renewed.
The Assessor-Recorder’s Office has been exploring indexing software to better allow staff to search the County’s historical vital records. Currently, members of the public request historical vital records, and staff manually search the vital records to provide copies of the documents, as provided by statute. This manual process is inefficient, and it can take up to an hour to locate a single record. If approved, the recommended agreement will provide a digital index for the Assessor-Recorder’s Office and a large-format storage solution for historical vital records.
The Kofile system will allow staff to digitally search through the index of historical vital records. This digital index is anticipated to significantly shorten the wait times for the public in obtaining copies of vital records. Kofile is best positioned to perform the indexing services, as its previous work digitizing these historical vital records will limit the effort and cost required to develop the required digital index.
In addition to the indexing solution, the Assessor-Recorder’s office is in need of archival storage solutions to safely store the newly conserved historical vital records. Kofile can best provide the archival-quality document storage solutions, because it is the only regional distributor of some of the pieces of equipment that the Assessor-Recorder’s Office requires. This equipment will allow the Recorder’s office to store the County’s historical vital records safely in archival-quality conservation materials for the foreseeable future.
REFERENCE MATERIAL:
BAI #27, August 11, 2015
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
Suspension of Competition Acquisition Request
On file with Clerk - Agreement with Kofile Technologies, Inc.
CAO ANALYST:
Yussel Zalapa