For City Council Meeting February 24, 2026
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council
FROM: Tanya Williams, City Manager
AUTHOR: Sachin Chawla, Director of Utilities
Title
Request City Council/Rialto Utility Authority to: (1) Adopt Resolution No. 8478 and RUA Resolution No. 26-04 Amending its 2025-2026 Wastewater Fiscal Year Budget for an Amount of $120,000; (2) Authorize Professional Service Agreement Amendment No. 5 With Soto Resources in the Amount of $200,000 to Provide Additional As-Needed Grant Writing Assistance; and (3) Authorize the City Manager/Executive Director or Their Designee to Execute all Related Documents.
(ACTION)
Body
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council/Rialto Utility Authority:
1) Adopt resolutions amending its 2025-2026 Wastewater fiscal year budget for an amount of $120,000;
2) Authorize Professional Service Agreement Amendment No. 5 with Soto Resources in the amount of $200,000 to provide additional as-needed grant writing assistance; and
3) Authorize the City Manager/Executive Director or their designee to execute all related documents.
BACKGROUND
Soto Resources was awarded a Professional Services Agreement (PSA) on July 13, 2021, in the amount of $50,250 to provide funding research, strategy support, and as-needed grant writing assistance for the Dr. June Hayes and Deborah Robertson Nature Center (Nature Center) project and other RUA needs.
The PSA has since been amended four times: (1) October 26, 2021, $150,250; (2) December 13, 2022, $100,000; (3) May 28, 2024, $100,000; and (4) August 12, 2025, $62,100.
ANALYSIS/DISCUSSION
Since July 2021, Soto Resources has brought in $18.2 million in grant funding for the projects listed in Table 1: Soto Resources Grants Awarded and Managed.
Soto Resources supports grant success through weekly coordination meetings with staff to identify upcoming capital improvement projects and pursue new funding opportunities. Grant deliverables, agency coordination meetings, and inter...
Click here for full text