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 — Only two expenditures make up a $9.2 million consent agenda to be considered by City Council tonight.
Several parking structures need new elevators and City Hall says it's going to cost $5,230,544 to do it.
The elevators in Parking Structure 2, 4, and 5 were installed when the garages were built in the 1960s. Each structure has three elevators.
"Although the existing elevators receive periodic maintenance," city officials said, "due to the age and high volume of traffic the elevators are frequently out of service, are costly to maintain and are not code compliant."
The new project will consist of removing all the outgoing equipment, replacing the roof of the elevator shafts, buying new gear and a fire alarm system, upgrading one elevator in each structure to allow for gurney access, and the installation of a new HVAC system.
"The new elevators would reduce maintenance costs, enhance customer experience and bring the parking structure elevators into compliance with all applicable seismic, ADA, and building code requirements," city officials said.
Icon West will likely get the bid.
Esplanade trees
And the trees that will line Colorado Avenue between terminus of the Expo Light Rail and the Santa Monica Pier will be ... the Mexican sycamore. That is, assuming council gives the green light.
The Colorado Esplanade, meant to tie the Expo station to Downtown and the pier with pedestrian-friendly thoroughfares, would use the sycamore as a "framing tree," planted every 25 feet along both sides of Colorado.
Council initially picked three different trees for the esplanade but two of them drop heavy pinecones, presenting a safety issue, and the third is in short supply, city officials said.
The Mexican sycamore and City Hall's second choice, the California sycamore, are easy to get a hold of and free of those dangerous pinecones.
Sidewalk repairs and street paving
City Hall's annual upkeep of the sidewalks and the streets, plus some additional paving projects, will likely cost $4,006,588.
"Annual street and sidewalk maintenance work consists of cold-milling and asphalt overlay, slurry sealing, sidewalk removal and reconstruction, curb and gutter removal and reconstruction, pervious gutter construction, and tree root pruning," city officials said.
Sully-Miller Contracting Company will likely get the bid.
dave@www.smdp.com
