REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
SUBMITTED TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
SUBMITTED BY: Travis Hopkins, Acting City Manager
PREPARED BY: Jane Chung, Assistant to the City Manager
Subject:
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Approve and authorize the execution of a Software License Agreement with Accela, Inc. for software service migration from On-Premise to Software as a Service (SaaS), supporting the City’s Land Management services.
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Statement of Issue:
The City currently uses Accela to review and process permits through the Community Development Department. Accela has informed the City that they will discontinue maintenance of the On-Premise Accela Civic Platform as of June 30, 2025. Maintenance involves the development and distribution of updates, service packs, and patches to enhance a specific version or product. Subsequently, Accela will end support for the On-Premise Civic Platform on December 31, 2025.
Financial Impact:
The new agreement spans five years, from February 28, 2025, to February 27, 2030. The first-year cost is approximately $470,363, which includes a one-time implementation cost of $125,000. The quoted one-time implementation cost is based on estimated hours and may be higher if additional hours are needed. Annual licensing costs include a 5% annual increase and are subject to change based on the number of licenses required. Sufficient funding for the first-year cost is available in the ELM Automation Fund (Account No. 32242101). Funding for subsequent years of the contract will be included in future year budgets.
Recommended Action:
recommendation
Approve and authorize the Mayor and City Clerk to execute the Software License Agreement with Accela, Inc. for software service migration from On-Premise to Software as a Service (SaaS), supporting the City’s Land Management services.
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Alternative Action(s):
Do not approve the recommended action and direct staff accordingly.
Analysis:
On May 16, 2016, the City Council approved a new contract with Accela, Inc. for the purchase of Accela’s Land Enterprise Land Management (ELM) system. This system has provided an online platform for the City, contractors, and citizens to apply for and track the status of planning entitlements and permits. Since its launch in March 2021, all Community Development permit applications have been made available on Accela. As a result, 100 percent of plan reviews are now conducted online via ACA, Accela’s citizen platform, with 90 percent of all applications being submitted through ACA. Since its implementation, Accela has significantly enhanced interdepartmental communication, improved reporting, and electronically connected departments, thereby increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the City’s development services process.
In 2023, Accela notified the City that they would discontinue maintenance of the On-Premise Accela Civic Platform as of June 30, 2025. Maintenance, which involves the development and distribution of updates, service packs, or patches, is critical to the system’s continued functionality. Consequently, support for the On-Premise Civic Platform will end on December 31, 2025.
Accela will no longer support the current platform the City is using beyond December 2025, necessitating a migration to their new platform to ensure continued and uninterrupted service. Accela, as the exclusive provider of maintenance for its software, is the only vendor authorized to offer such support. Establishing a new contract for their updated platform and associated maintenance will ensure ongoing technical support and software updates.
Through this new agreement, the City can maintain its current configuration during the SaaS migration and will gain access to new features and configurations. Accela estimates that the migration process will take nine (9) months, during which they will continue to support the current platform as long as the City commits to the new one. Staff anticipates minimal disruption during this migration process.
Migrating to the SaaS platform offers additional benefits, including the elimination of costs and time associated with maintaining and upgrading hardware, software, and IT resources. It ensures maximum uptime with redundant power sources to safeguard data against disasters or outages, automates the scaling of systems and resources for an unobtrusive user experience, meets rigorous security industry standards, and allows for the flexibility to support internal and external integrations to help the City maximize the benefits of Accela’s offerings.
Environmental Status:
This action is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Sections 15060(c)(2) (the activity will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment) and 15060(c)(3) (the activity is not a project as defined in Section 15378) of the CEQA Guidelines, California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Chapter 3, because it has no potential for resulting in physical change to the environment, directly or indirectly.
Strategic Plan Goal:
Non Applicable - Administrative Item
For details, visit www.huntingtonbeachca.gov/strategicplan.
Attachment(s):
1. Software License Agreement between the City of Huntington Beach and Accela, Inc. for software service migration from On-Premise to Software as a Service.