Editor’s note: This story is part of an ongoing series that tracks the city’s expenditures appearing on upcoming Santa Monica City Council consent agendas. Consent agenda items are routinely passed by the City Council with little or no discussion from elected officials or the public. However, many of the items have been part of public discussion in the past.
CITY HALL — Ocean Park Boulevard will finally go green.
Tuesday, City Hall will move to get over $5 million in contracts approved to begin converting a section of Ocean Park Boulevard into what planners call a “complete green street.”
It only took four years.
The project, originally conceived in June 2007, got its design phase approved in April 2010. When completed, the “green street” will improve conditions for alternative forms of transportation, include new tree species and reduce the amount and impact of run-off that flows into the Santa Monica Bay.
Six companies bid on the construction portion of the project, with PALP-EPC coming in as the lowest bidder at $4,448,438.
The company has done work for Santa Monica in the past, completing the 2003 Annual Street Improvement Project.
The design team, KHA, will get a $90,000 increase to its contract to continue doing shop drawings, requests for information and submittals, to attend project construction meetings and to prepare record drawings.
Finally, if approved, the Arcadis, US, Inc. company will perform construction management and inspection services. Arcadis beat out 25 other firms for a $366,652 contract.
The Green Street project is the most expensive item on the $13,902,204 consent agenda, pricing out at a total of $5,349,934.
More street improvements
Arizona Avenue, the Mid-City area and the city’s office district will all be getting makeovers if the City Council approves two contracts that will connect 40 signalized intersections to City Hall’s centralized traffic control system.
The work represents the fourth phase in a five-phase effort to connect all of Santa Monica’s intersections using fiber optic cables. Some signals will need to be fully replaced, while others can get by on smaller upgrades, according to the staff report.
Select Electric won the bid, with a price tag of $3,276,871. The company did similar work for the first phase of the Exposition Light Rail Line, amongst other projects.
PSOMAS Engineering, a construction management firm, won the oversight contract of $580,000.
The total of both contracts, plus a 10 percent contingency on each, is $4,480,000.
The work is expected to be completed by July 2012.
Suped up
Over the next three years, City Hall plans to replace approximately 110 police department vehicles, all of which will need specialized equipment.
With that in mind, city staff recommend a contract with AirWave Communications Enterprises, Inc. to install a range of things from computers to equipment used to transport prisoners, depending on the vehicle.
AirWave’s bid of $12,082 per car was higher than the only other competing bid, which belonged to the 911 Vehicle company.
According to the staff report, only AirWave could complete all the installations rather than forcing the police department to rely on multiple companies, which could be more expensive in both time and money.
The contract, if awarded, would not exceed $1,300,000 over the course of three years.
Popped a main
Some things do not improve with age, not the least of which are Santa Monica’s water mains.
City staff identified 2,000 feet of piping that needs replacing between Broadway and Wilshire Boulevard, and recommends Williams Pipeline Contractors, Inc. and SA Associates to provide construction and inspection services, respectively.
According to the staff report, the section of pipe will be removed and replaced by a pipe of larger diameter. The work will cost $922,784 for the construction and $81,400 for inspection.
Beach restrooms
Remember those eight restrooms along the beach that were supposed to be completed by Memorial Day?
Well, they’re still not quite done, and they’ll need another $578,526 to get them finished by the end of August, according to a staff report.
Excavation for final utility connections turned up “unforeseen conditions,” including inadequate water supply at one site, unsafe electrical components at three sites and major sewer line problems at two of the sites.
The extra costs fall into three categories — $295,000 to CWS Systems Inc. for design and structural modifications amongst other improvements; another $137,500 to Monarch Plumbing & Mechanical to put in additional water piping; and $132,751 to Blois Construction to do extra sewer construction work.
If approved, staff say that restrooms at 1200 Palisades Beach Road, 2600 and 2800 Ocean Front Walk will be completed by Aug. 1. The remaining four — at 810 and 1100 Palisades Beach Road and 2000 and 2500 Ocean Front Walk — will be done by the end of August.
The dark side
City Hall wants to take a walk on the dark side and lease out an additional dark fiber connection through the Department of Water and Power of Los Angeles as part of a disaster recovery network.
The $367,850, five-year lease would provide a redundant connection to protect its voice, video and data communications when its primary connection gets some scheduled maintenance.
Dark fiber connections provide those services to the libraries, other city facilities, businesses and wi-fi hot zones.
Engine repair
While many Californians are getting their cars smog-checked, City Hall is making sure that its vehicles pass all of their inspections as well.
That’s what a $270,000, three-year contract with Valley Power Systems Inc., a California-based company that supplies the Big Blue Bus with replacement engine parts, is meant to accomplish.
State standards require that the buses use original manufacturer parts as replacement pieces when engine or transmission pieces wear out.
Although the council approved a $780,000 contract for a three-year term in September 2010, the first year’s bills have already exceeded its budget by $70,000.
With that in mind, staff recommended increases to cover the overage and an extra $100,000 for each of the next two years of the contract.
HLP, I need somebody
The police department’s Homeless Liaison Program, or HLP, is requesting a contract with contractor West Coast Care to provide services to Santa Monica’s homeless.
The contract would actually be a continuation of services for West Coast Care, which has helped with housing, shelters, medical treatment and family reunifications since June 2008.
The programs focus on individuals identified as new arrivals to prevent them from becoming regulars on city streets.
If the City Council approves the contract, it would cost $246,250.
Dump the truck
The City Council will get a chance to further two community goals Tuesday with the purchase of a new dump truck for the Water Division.
The truck, which costs $204,808, will carry through a vehicle replacement plan that has been ongoing in city departments, and will also replace an aging vehicle with a cleaner, natural gas burning unit.
Rush Truck Center was chosen out of four bids to supply the truck.
Keeping it clean
Even bus parts need a good hose down.
To that end, city staff recommend an extra $51,208 go toward covering the cost of non-hazardous cleaning solutions from the 2010-11 fiscal year and to recycle old solution that was used in the same time frame.
The allocation was based on the amount of cleaner used the previous year, but a larger maintenance facility and bigger parts used up more solution.
Another $29,444 also had to be added for cleaning solutions for the buses’ exteriors.
Software maintenance
To keep $26 million worth of business license tax revenues in order, the Finance Department needs an extra $20,000 to keep its software contract current.
That’s how much the department has exceeded its 14-year, $100,000 contract with provider HdL Software, LLC.
A new competitive bidding process is scheduled for fiscal year 2012-13.
ashley@www.smdp.com
