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 — City Hall's a cheap date in this week's consent calendar. City Council will consider spending $179,203 on four items.
Where's all that water bill money going? City Hall wants to buy an app that will answer that question. WaterSmart Software Corporation will likely get a $99,000 contract to provide its web-based software that lets residents of single-family homes and City Hall track, compare, and report on water use.
Residents can compare their water use with similar homes in the neighborhood.
The updates will come with the bi-monthly water bill.
In other municipalities, City Hall said, the software has resulted in a 5 percent reduction in single-family water usage.
"Many residential customers complain about the difficulty understanding their water bill, the amount of water used compared to their neighbors and the target of 123 gallons per person per day," city officials said in a report.
If approved, the program could be good to go in the next few months. City Hall would mail out surveys to 3,000 of the roughly 7,300 single-family homes. Those who respond to the survey would start seeing the bi-monthly e-mails from WaterSmart. City Hall would organize a 1,000-resident control group and compare their water usage to that of the WaterSmart users.
In the second year, City Hall would aim to bring on another 2,000 residents.
Traffic survey
The company in charge of studying speed limits in the city by the sea needs some more cash. Council will consider giving Kimley-Horn Associates an additional $9,625.
Last year, council asked the company to review and update speed limits on 200 street segments.
The state requires that the average daily traffic must be studied at each segment. Kimley-Horn needs to collect that data at 77 locations, hence the boosted pay. Last year, City Hall spent $80,000 on the initial traffic study.
Traffic signals
Last January, council approved a $1.42 million contract with KDC Inc. to upgrade traffic signals on Ocean Park Boulevard, Main Street, and Neilson Way but the company needs some more cash thanks to "unforeseen conditions and requirements during construction."
Council will consider approving another $55,578 to finish the project, which replaced signals at 26 intersections.
"Due to unforeseen conditions, additional requirements encountered during construction, an underestimation of bid quantities, and an error in the bidding documents, the scope of work required has increased," city officials said in a report.
The bid indicated that 10 battery backup units need to be purchased and installed but the actual total is 23.
Extended cemetery funds
Council will likely approve a short contract extension with RNC Genter Capital Management to manage investments of the Cemetery and Mausoleum Perpetual Care Funds. The additional three months would cost taxpayers about $15,000, city officials said.
The three year contract is set to expire in March and city officials would like to extend that while they are in the process of reviewing bids from companies for the next contract.
dave@www.smdp.com
