City of Culver City, California
Agenda Item Report
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends the City Council approve a Professional Services Agreement with
Vision Internet in an amount not-to-exceed $62,570 to provide professional design
services and content management software to support the City’s website.
BACKGROUND:
The Information Technology Department (IT) launched the City’s current website on
November 14, 2007. While content updates are performed on a routine basis (often
daily), the overall design and navigational structure remains unchanged. Given
advances in technology, it is commendable that the current site has remained viable
and useful for over six years. There are no definitive rules, but conservative best
business practices would dictate a website redesign about every 2-3 years. Given
the trend toward mobile computing, it is highly recommended that a website be
developed with the ability to automatically adjust the viewing experience based on
the device used. This is a common feature of most recently designed websites, and
most end-users expect a responsive website regardless of device used. Taking all
of these factors into consideration, the IT Department’s work plan for Fiscal Year
2013/2014 included a project to redesign the City’s website.
DISCUSSION:
In November 2013, staff began preparing for the website redesign project by
developing an online survey to solicit feedback from the public regarding the current
Meeting Date: 06/23/14 Item Number: C-7
CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM: Approval of a Professional Services Agreement
with Vision Internet in an Amount Not-to-Exceed $62,750 for Professional
Design Services and Content Management Software to Support the City’s
Website
Contact Person/Dept.: Michele Williams Phone Number: (310) 253-5950
Fiscal Impact: Yes [X] No [] General Fund: Yes [X] No []
Public Hearing: [] Action Item: [] Attachments: []
Commission Action Required: Yes [] No [X] Date: _______________
Public Notification:
Meetings and Agendas – City Council (06/17/14), Ashley Fruechting, Vision Internet
(06/16/14)
Department Approval:
Michele Williams (06/11/14)
City Attorney Approval:
Carol Schwab (by H. Baker) (06/16/14)
Chief Financial Officer Approval:
Jeff Muir (by M. Noller) (06/17/14)
City Manager Approval:
John M. Nachbar (06/17/14) City of Culver City, California
Agenda Item Report
website and features/functions they would like to see changed or implemented. We
received a total of 44 responses from the public and 100 from Culver City employees.
While most of the responses were positive in nature, there was a consistent desire
to have content easier to find as well as more streamlined navigation. Staff will be
taking into account all the feedback received during the formal redesign effort which
will also include community outreach meetings.
On January 22, 2014 a Request for Proposals (RFP) was released to obtain bids for
website redesign professional services. The RFP provided the following general
guidelines for responding vendors to include in their proposals:
1) Design a unique, attractive website to completely fulfill all City requirements
either in this RFP or in discussions with the City following selection of a
Contractor.
2) Design a self -supporting, consistent, user -friendly navigation framework for
the City website that is understandable to users on all levels.
3) Design a unique home page for the City website. Design should be simple and
allow users to easily access relevant information.
4) Design unique landing pages, or a landing page template, or a combination,
for the seven main landing pages of the website. Currently, these include
Residents, Business, Visitors, Government, Online Services, Arts & Culture
and Environment.
5) Design one or more templates for the sub-page content within the site. All
pages must be consistent, look professional, and enhance the image of the
City.
6) Contractor should maintain timely and regular communication with the City
during the design development process.
7) Assist with the organization of web page content so users can easily locate
the information they require.
8) Design the website to be optimized for viewing on mobile devices or include a
secondary design specifically for use on mobile devices.
9) Any additional features the respondent feels would improve the City website.
It is expected that the Contractor work with the City to develop a site that best
meets the needs of the City.
City of Culver City, California
Agenda Item Report
10) The City would like the site design to be compliant with Section 508 and
Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines. Respondent should make an effort
to comply with guidelines. Compliance with the standards should not prevent
any other requirements from being met.
The following 12 vendors submitted proposals:
? A-1 Technology, Inc
? Civic Live
? Elegant Enterprise-Wide Solutions, Inc.
? Evenson Design Group
? Get Found LA
? Island Technologies
? Revize Software Systems
? Square Lines Design
? Strausberg Group
? Tomato Studios
? Vision Internet
? Waking State
Staff from the IT Department (IT web design project team) reviewed all of the
proposals and rated them based on their response to the above listed guidelines,
recommended web design, experience (including prior work with municipal
governments), and cost.
The top three vendors were invited to an interview with the project team. The
interviews were used to further assess each vendor. After the evaluations were
complete, it was determined that Vision Internet is the vendor best suited to provide
website redesign services to the City.
Vision Internet is based in Santa Monica, CA and has been operating as a website
design firm that primarily supports local governments since 1995. Local government
client references include:
? Burbank, CA
? Costa Mesa, CA
? Manhattan Beach, CA
? West Hollywood, CA
? Orange County Sanitation District
? Reno, NV
City of Culver City, California
Agenda Item Report
One of the key objectives with any website is to ensure that content does not become
“stale” but remains current, relevant, and credible. The most effective way to achieve
this goal is by empowering departments to manage and update their specific content
to every extent possible. Staff also recommends purchasing from Vision Internet their
Content Management Software (CMS) that will facilitate updating and maintaining
content on the website. The integrated CMS solution offered by Vision Internet was
specifically designed for local government. It offers a user-friendly interface with
improved workflow functionality that will result in expedited updates and increased
ability for departments to manage content.
FISCAL ANALYSIS:
Approval of the Professional Services Agreement with Vision Internet would result in
an expenditure not-to-exceed $62,570. Sufficient funding is appropriated in the
following accounts for this expenditure:
Description Account Amount
Website Design Services 10124100.619800
10124100.600200
$16,000
$20,125
Content Management
Software
42080000.732160.PZ636 $17,565
Annual maintenance (1
st
year) 10124100.600200 $8,880
Total Contract Expenditure $62,570
Ongoing annual maintenance to provide support for the content management
software is estimated not-to-exceed $8,880 for the first year. This ongoing annual
expenditure would be budgeted in the Information Technology Repairs and
Maintenance budget.
ATTACHMENTS:
None.
MOTION:
That the City Council: City of Culver City, California
Agenda Item Report
1) Approve a Professional Services Agreement with Vision Internet in an amount
not-to-exceed $62,570 to provide professional design services and content
management software to support the City’s website; and,
2) Authorize the City Attorney to review/prepare the necessary documents; and,
3) Authorize the City Manager to execute such documents on behalf of the City.