CITY HALL — City Council will consider spending $3,598,745 in Tuesday night's consent calendar, with a majority of that going toward a public works project.
Council may approve $2,282,756 worth of work on the city's wastewater mains.
For about $2 million, Vasilji would replace 6,600 linear feet of sewer pipeline and rehabilitate another 1,100 feet between January and the summer.
SA Associates would manage the project and perform inspections for the additional quarter million dollars.
The Water Resource Division operates and maintains 150 miles of wastewater pipelines.
"The proposed improvements consist of replacing substandard 6-inch-diameter pipe with new 8-inch-diameter pipe and replacing/repairing maintenance structures holes to ensure adequate and reliable sewer service for customers," city officials said in a report to council. "The project implements cured-in-place lining and rehabilitation of existing mainline pipes providing substantial extension to the lifecycle of the existing critical segments. Improvements are mostly south of the I-10 freeway."
Search for Gould's replacement
Alliance Resource Consulting may get tasked with finding Santa Monica's next City Manager.
Current City Manager Rod Gould announced earlier this year that he will retire from City Hall's top job at the end of January.
Alliance would get $47,500 to fill the vacancy through a 14-week recruitment process.
"Executive search firms assist in the creation of a recruitment profile which details the desired qualifications and characteristics for the position," city officials explained. "The firm then uses professional contacts, relationships, industry-specific and non-traditional outreach to find qualified candidates. Once an applicant pool is created, the firm assesses and evaluates candidates, verifies degrees and certifications, monitors news sources, conducts preliminary interviews, and checks references."
Custodial services
Lee's Maintenance Services could get $658,494 for six months of cleaning at the Public Safety Facility, the Civic Center, and other city offices. With one-year renewal options, the contract could exceed $7.5 million over five and half years.
Custodial contracts came before council in August but approval was delayed after a debate arose over the use of in-house versus contract laborers.
City officials will present the results of a contractual services study in January.
"A combination of in-house and custodial contract cleaning services has historically been used to clean City-owned and City-leased locations," city officials said in its report to council. "Locations with seasonal demands and leased office spaces are currently being contracted out, whereas park restrooms, community centers, City Hall and libraries are maintained in-house."
Resident survey
Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates will likely get the $34,995 bid to perform the biannual resident survey.
"The City of Santa Monica conducts a bi-annual telephone survey of Santa Monica residents to assess attitudes about City services and to identify changes in attitudes compared to similar studies conducted in previous years," city officials said.
This is the same firm that completed the 2011 and 2013 bi-annual surveys. They also did the survey that found narrow support for a tax increase to support affordable housing this year — the results of which led to Measure H and HH. These measures ultimately failed at the polls.
Bergamot Station Arts Center group
City Hall is recommending the formation of an advisory committee to guide the development of the Bergamot Station Art Center. One member from each of the five groups would form the advisory group: The Arts Commission, Planning Commission, Neighborhood Council, Bergamot Station Gallery and Cultural Association, and Santa Monica Museum of Art.
Bus stop signs
Council may add $400,000 to contracts related to the much maligned Big Blue Bus' Bus Stop Improvement Project. The costs would have little to do with changes bus stops themselves, which residents and politicians have bashed.
West Valley Investment Group would get $375,000, to go toward extended network signs. The other $25,000 would go to Lorcan O'Herlihy Architects for the design of new stop locations in response to changes of existing stops on Olympic Drive, Colorado Esplanade, and multiple stops related to new Expo stations.
Getting the word out about water
Council could spend $175,000 for a year of communication assistance with the upcoming mandatory water cuts.
Council is in the process of forming the plans that would require residents and businesses to cut back on their water usage. Cook+Schmid would help get the word out.
"Messages and action steps such as the top five ways to conserve water would be customized by target audiences (single-family, multi-family, employees, business, and visitors)," city officials said in a report. "Technical assistance, rebate programs, and other incentives would be highlighted. Progress towards the 20 (percent) reduction goal, would be tracked and communicated."
ABC mini-grant
The police department got a $10,700 mini-grant from the Alcoholic Beverages Control for education and enforcement of laws related to the sale of alcohol to minors.
Going with the Flow again
Council will consider adding $31,424 to an existing $59,000 contract with Iteris, Inc. to provide continued engineering services for the Transportation Management Center. Iteris monitored traffic patterns every weekend and holiday between Memorial Day and Labor Day as a part of City Hall's Go With the Flow program.
City Hall recommends continuing the work during the winter Go With the Flow program.
