CONSULTING SERVICES FOR CLEARWATER GAS SYSTEM STRATEGIC PLAN
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CONTRACT FOR CONSULTING SERVICES
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This AGREEMENT made this I r day Of~96, by and between the City of
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Clearwater, Florida (City) and Black & Veatch (Consultant), a partnership organized
under the laws of Missouri.
WHEREAS, the City wishes to have consulting services conducted regarding the
Clearwater Gas System's Strategic Plan and Marketing Process;
WHEREAS, the City desires to engage Consultant to undertake said project,
hereinafter described;
NOW THEREFORE, the City and Consultant do mutually agree as follows:
1. Scope of Work. Consultant agrees to perform the following services.
Evaluate and report on the financial, operational (including organizational structure and
reporting relationships), marketing, management efficiency and effectiveness of the Ik.
Clearwater Gas System/ q3 dere,.,'bee! ,oil fh ~,..k I'/Q"!"J dlj~~,"."r ~ A.re.>b. ~L(j19L
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2. Time of Performance. Consultant agrees to complete performance of@!J;il'llfr.,. ~/J'fL,
the services specified in No. 1 within three (3) months of the date of this Agreement, not
including time delays caused by the City.
3. Reports. Reports on the various tasks will be provided to the City on
dates mutually agreed to by the City and Consultant.
4.
Compensation.
The City will pay Consultant a sum not to exceed
$43,900. The City may, from time to time, require changes in the scope of the services
of Consultant to be performed hereunder, including but not limited to, the designation of
one or more additional study areas. Such changes, including any increase or decrease
in the amount of Consultant's compensation and changes in the terms of this Agreement
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which are mutually agreed upon by and between City and Consultant shall be effective
when incorporated in written amendment to this Agreement.
5. Method of Payment. Consultant will invoice City for services performed,
and the City shall pay invoices within 30 days of receipt.
6. Contacts for Responsibility. Mike Metzler will be designated as Project
Director for this project by Consultant, and to manage and supervise the performance of
this Agreement on behalf of Consultant. Associated with the Project Director will be
staff members whose experience and qualifications are appropriate for this study. The
City will be represented by Dan Katsiyiannis, Internal Audit Director, or his/her designee
for all matters relating to this Agreement.
7. Termination of Contract. The City shall have the right to terminate this
contract for its convenience by giving Consultant written notice of its election to do so
and by specifying the effective date of such termination. The Consultant shall be paid
for its services through the effective date of such termination. Further, if Consultant
shall fail to fulfill any of its obligations hereunder, this contract shall be in default, the
City may terminate the contract, and Consultant shall be paid only for work completed.
8. Non-Discrimination. There shall be no discrimination against any
employee who is employed in the work covered by Agreement, or against applicants for
such employment, because of race, religion, color, sex, or national origin. This provision
shall include, but not be limited to the following: employment, upgrading, demotion, or
transfer; recruitment or recruitment advertising; layoff or termination; rate of payor other
forms of compensation; and selection for training, including apprenticeship.
9. Interests of Parties. No officer, member, or employee of the City and no
member of its governing body, and no other public officials of the governing body of the
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locality or localities in which this project is situated or being carried out, who exercises
any functions or responsibilities in the review of approval of the undertaking or carrying
out of this Project shall (1) participate in any decision relating to this Agreement which
affects his personal interest or the interest of any corporation, partnership, or
association in which he is directly or indirectly interested; or (2) have any interest, direct
or indirect, in this Agreement or the proceeds thereof.
Consultant further covenants that its officers, employees and shareholders have
no interest and shall not acquire any interest, direct or indirect, which would conflict in
any manner or degree with the performance of services required to be performed under
this Agreement.
10. Indemnification and Insurance. Consultant agrees to protect, defend,
indemnity and hold the City and its officers, employees and agents free and harmless from
and against any and all losses, penalties, damages, settlements, costs, charges,
professional fees or other expenses or liabilities of every kind and character arising out of
or due to any negligent act or omission of Consultant or its employees in connection with
or arising directly or indirectly out of this Agreement and/or the performance hereof.
Consultant shall procure and maintain during the life of this Agreement professional liability
insurance with minimum limits of $1,000,000 per occurrence. This provision shall survive
the termination of this Agreement.
11. Compliance With Recycled Paper Ordinance. Per Ordinance 5059-90,
the City and Counsel agree to the following:
A. All reports submitted to the City shall use recycled paper when it is
available at a reasonable price and of satisfactory quality to meet contractual performance
standards. For the purposes of this paragraph, the price of recycled paper shall be
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considered "reasonableJif its cost is no more than ten percent hiJer than the lowest price
offered for non-recycled paper.
B. All reports submitted to the City shall use both sides of paper sheets
whenever practical.
C. Counsel shall be responsible for maintaining records documenting
usage of recycled paper for reports submitted to the City in fulfillment of contractual
obligations. Counsel shall submit such records to the City according to procedures to be
established by the Purchasing Manager.
12. Attorneys Fees. In the event that either party seeks to enforce this
Agreement throughattomeys at law, then the parties agree that each party shall bear its
own costs, and jurisdiction for such an action shall be in a court of competent jurisdiction in
Pinellas County, Florida.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the City and Consultant, have executed this
Agreement on the date first above written.
Countersigned:
CITY OF CLEARWATER, FLORIDA
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By: ~? ~
Elizabe h M. Deptula
City Manager
ita Garvey
Mayor-Commissioner
Approved as to form and
legal sufficiency:
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John Carassas
Assistant City Attorney
Attest:
r ~ \ \J - ~. /ie~ .J)ao.
Cy~~ciil
City Clerk / ".
BLACK & VEATCH
By: ~~~
Mike Metzler, Regional Manager
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ATTACHMENT A
City of Clearwater, Florida
Work Plan
This section presents our detailed work plan for the performance of an evaluation of the
Strategic Plan.
Major tasks to be accomplished include:
. Needs Assessment
. Current Plans Assessment
. Defining and/or Redefining Intermediate and Long-term Goals, Objectives,
and Strategies
Strategic Assessment
The objective of this study is to assist the City in the definition and/or redefinition of
CGS's intermediate and long-term goals, objectives, and strategies based upon the
results of a needs assessment, review of current strategic and marketing plans, and
comparative operations analysis with other similar utilities. The results of this study will
drive the development and adoption of an action plan for implementation of
enhancements to meet redefined goals, objectives, and strategies.
In order to perform a productive strategic assessment of the current strategic and
marketing plans, we will require knowledge regarding CGS's current perceived strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Information assembled in this task will be used
to evaluate whether the current plan promotes the strengths of the organization,
addresses the weaknesses, enhances its opportunities, and considers perceived current
and future threats whether competitive or other.
Task 1 - Project Initiation Meeting
The purposes of the project initiation meeting are:
1. Review with management the project approach and work plan for
understanding (and modification, if desired).
2. Establish clear goals and objectives for the study.
3. Establish communication and resource links within CGS.
4. Schedule management interviews.
The project team at the conclusion of this meeting will prepare a memorandum
summarizing all discussions. A list of basic data needs for the study will be submitted
prior to this meeting and will be supplemented as the study progresses.
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City of Clearwater, Florida
Work Plan
Task 2 - Conduct Management Interviews
The purpose of these interviews is to identify, from a management perspective, the
perceived strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats facing CGS. In addition,
discussions will be held to address the current strategic and marketing plans. The results
of the interviews will be summarized by the project team in a format that can be used
for subsequent discussions and decision making purposes.
Task 3 - Preliminary Evaluation of Strategic and Marketing Plan
Based on the information gathered for completing the above tasks, the project team will
perform a preliminary assessment of CGS's strategic and marketing plans. The purpose
of this preliminary assessment is to identify areas of strengths and weaknesses within the
current plans and other items to be addressed which may enhance the value of the plans
for the future. The intent of the review is to assist CGS in preparing for and responding
to the challenges and opportunities created by increased competition, rapidly changing
markets, and deregulation. To maintain market share in this changing environment, CGS
must offer and price services that reflect how customers value such services when
compared to other providers.
Task 4 - Conduct Workshop NO.1 with Management
The purpose of this workshop is to draft revised organizational goals, objectives, and
strategies which will provide direction for the remainder of the study. The project team
will prepare and distribute to management a memorandum summarizing discussions and
conclusions resulting from this workshop.
Task 5 - Conduct a High Level Management and Organizational Assessment
The purpose of this task is to perform a high level assessment of the key business and
operations functions of CGS. The evaluation will center around those key functions
which impact the elements of price, marketing, sales, and product over which CGS has
control. Organizational structure is a critical factor for bond rating agencies and financial
markets and has become an important factor in reviews by such agencies and markets.
Having worked for a wide variety of utilities with different corporate structures and
policy making boards, we can give the City the insight and guidance necessary for
evaluating appropriate alternatives for CGS. The assessment will be accomplished using
draft goals, objectives, and strategies as guides for resulting recommendations. The
results of this task will be summarized in a memorandum and distributed to management
for review and comment.
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City of Clearwater, Florida
Work Plan
Suggested areas for review include:
1. Existing general policies and procedures.
2. Communication links and critical information flow patterns and
appropriateness.
3. Performance standards, resource utilization (financial as well as human), work
scheduling, staffing and management and staff training programs.
4. Automation.
5. Customer service activities.
6. Span of control.
7. Organizational structure.
Task 6 - Conduct High Level Marketing Plan Assessment
The purpose of this task will be to perform a high level marketing plan assessment. The
evaluation will focus on the reasonableness of CGS's strategic plan to increase marketing
success throughout its service territory.
For CGS to successfully preserve its customer base, it must answer three key questions:
. Who are our customers?
. What products and services do they want?
. How much are they willing to pay for the services and the products they
desire?
Our experience has shown that companies answer these questions by dividing customers
by market segment; identifying those segments that show the greatest potential; forming
market segment teams to study in detail customers' needs and wants; analyze the
competition; and identify product and pricing strategies.
The evaluation will determine the feasibility of CGS's strategic marketing plan to identify
both its potential and "at risk" customer groups and to generate products and services
that are competitively priced to acquire and/or retain these customers. Where necessary,
the assessment will include recommendations on how to modify or alter CGS's current
strategic plan such that it will better serve CGS in its efforts to expand customer base
as well as confront and counter the loss of customers to "predatory" pricing.
Task 7 - Conduct Financial Assessment
This task will provide the City with a high level financial assessment of CGS. The
assessment will be conducted at the macro level to determine the financial viability of
CGS. In addition, the strategic marketing plan will be reviewed with respect to the
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City of Clearwater, Florida
Work Plan
expected effects of major plan elements on CGS financial operations. A procedure will
be recommended to assist CGS staff in quantifying the effect that future changes to the
plan are expected to have on the expenses, costs, and profitability of CGS.
Task 8 - Develop Benchmark Criteria and Perform Assessment With Comparable
Utilities
The purpose of this task is to benchmark key performance indicators directly applicable
to CGS with those of comparable utilities. Performance measures will be developed in
the areas of financial, operations, marketing, customer service, and organizational issues.
The benchmark activities will begin early enough in the study to provide adequate time
for responses from utilities and the use of the current Black & Veatch performance
measures data base. The results of this assessment will be summarized by the project
team in a memorandum and distributed to management for review and comment. Every
effort will be made by the project team in performing this assessment to acquire
information which is directly comparable to CGS's operation. There is always a danger
in performing a benchmarking assessment of comparing apples with oranges. Our
project team's experience with utilities across the nation should eliminate this problem.
Task 9 - Conduct Workshop No.2 With Management
The purpose of this 1/2 to one day workshop is to review the results of all tasks
completed since Workshop No.1 and use this information to finalize revised goals,
objectives, and strategies for the future management and operation of CGS.
Task 10 - Conduct Public Hearings
The purpose of this task is to present the final report in two public hearings for CGS.
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