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 — In one of the smallest consent agendas this year, the most significant thing that the Santa Monica City Council will be asked to consider costs nothing at all.
City staff recommends the council reject five bids for the design and construction of energy efficient lighting at the Civic Center parking structure because of inconsistency in the pricing and the indication that the total cost might exceed $100,000.
City Hall put out a bid for energy-efficient lighting services at the garage. The estimate was under $100,000, which side-stepped the need to publish the bid in the local newspaper.
The five bids all exceeded $100,000, which would require public notice. In addition, several unnecessarily priced their bids using prevailing wages because the project will use some federal funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, causing them to come in high.
As a result, staff recommends rejecting all bids and trying again with extra clarity on bid requirements, and enough time for appropriate public notice to be published.
That item contributed nothing to the $511,280 consent agenda.
Plush goes medieval
The City Council will be asked to approve a three-year, $363,000 contract with Ye Olde Upholstery Shoppe to re-upholster, purchase and install transit bus passenger seats and bus operator seats for the Big Blue Bus.
Ye Olde Upholstery Shoppe employees will provide a weekly inspection and seat cleaning to keep the seats free of gum, grease, dirt and graffiti.
Only two companies bid on the project, Ye Olde Upholstery Shoppe and Sardo Bus & Coach Upholstery. Sardo’s bid came in 25 percent higher than the Santa Monica company, which was accepted as the best bidder.
Round 2, fight!
Council members will have the opportunity to hire a consultant to launch the second phase in a three-part process to envision the future of the Santa Monica Airport at their meeting Tuesday.
Staff recommends Moore Iacofano Goltsman, Inc., a California-based company, for a $148,280 contract to design, facilitate and manage an outreach program to solicit public comment about the future of the airport.
That information will set the agenda for the third phase, where staff will analyze the various options and present their findings to the City Council.
According to the staff report, MIG created a unique facilitation model called “Meeting of the Minds,” a form that blends social psychology with dynamic visualization to facilitate groups and reach agreement on vision and direction for the airport.
MIG will train 24 city staff to help with the community discussion groups.
Groups will consist of eight to 12 people. Participants can only sign up for one session to ensure that there’s a mix of varying points of view.
MIG helped facilitate community input portions of other projects, including the Land Use and Circulation Element update of the General Plan.
To register by phone, contact the Public Works Department at (310) 458-8221.
ashley@www.smdp.com
