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 — Last call for consent agenda. In Tuesday's City Council meeting that was moved up from the previously canceled Christmas Eve date, council members will consider $481,520 in spending with a majority going toward a water main replacement.
City Hall also stands to make more than $150,000 off a plot of land being sold to a local school.
About 9,000 feet of pipelines need to be replaced in City Hall's 250-mile network of water distribution mains. Cannon Corp. will do it for $264,820 starting next fall if council approves the item.
The system provides 12 million gallons of water to the city by the sea each day, city officials said. A 2011 study performed by the Water Resource Division looked at the areas with the highest potential for water main breaks and analyzed the cost to upgrade those sections. It focused on the oldest cast iron pipe installed before the 1970s.
Public works officials also studied the areas with the worst water pressure. Poor water pressure is often caused by rust build-up, which can negatively impact the quality of the water as well.
City officials identified 11 high priority stretches of piping in need of replacement. Many stretches on or near Olympic Boulevard top the list.
The work will take six to eight months, officials said. Cannon Corp. beat out 11 other bids and was selected for its experience in urban coastal municipalities like Beverly Hills and Manhattan Beach.
Trash bins
City Hall wants to continue its replacement of boring, old concrete public-trash cans with newfangled solar powered compactors. Council will likely grant $100,000 to be spent on the Big Belly/Smart Belly compactors in the next year.
Thirteen of these cans were added to Main Street last year. They only need to be emptied twice a week, unlike the roughly 400 concrete bins, which require daily collection. Public works officials say that this will eventually reduce route hours required by collection trucks. It's unclear from the report how many bins $100,000 will buy City Hall.
Only Waxie Sanitary Supply submitted a bid and they will likely get the contract.
It includes two one-year extensions bringing the potential total to $300,000. Over the next three years, City Hall would like to complete bin replacement on Main Street and begin replacements Downtown, on Montana Avenue and Pico Boulevard.
Floors and carpet
An increased budget for carpet and flooring rounds out the trifecta of Department of Public Works' requests in this consent agenda. The department wants another $100,000, with $15,000 going to HM Carpet and $85,000 going to Elite Floorcovering bringing the annual total for the two companies to $350,000.
Additional projects have been identified, city officials said, resulting in the need for increased funds. Carpet and flooring replacements are planned for 1450 Ocean, City Hall, Fairview Library, Main Library, Joslyn Park Auditorium, the Public Safety Facility, and the Santa Monica Pier Carousel Building, city officials said.
The original contract asked for two one-year extensions totaling $650,000. This item asks that an additional $100,000 be added to the contract extensions, bringing the potential three-year total to $950,000.
Property swap
City Hall wants to sell a plot of land on 20th Street to Crossroads School of Arts and Sciences and concurrently buy an easement from the school on another plot of land.
The 772-square-foot public parcel on the 1700 block of 20th would go for $154,400 and allow Crossroads to put up a new science building.
City Hall wants to buy a 20-year easement on Crossroad's property at 1748 21st St. for a future bike path. Given that the bike path is still in the planning phase, City Hall would pay a $16,700 deposit on the land and would pay $150,300 if they decide to exercise an option on the land.
dave@www.smdp.com
