TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Bruce Moe, City Manager
FROM:
Erick Lee, Public Works Director
Sean Roberts, Maintenance Manager
Erika King, Senior Management Analyst
SUBJECT:Title
Update on the Downtown Manhattan Beach and North Manhattan Beach Beautification Work Plan (Public Works Director Lee).
(Estimated Time: 15 Min.)
DISCUSS AND PROVIDE DIRECTION
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Recommended Action
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that City Council receive an update on the Downtown Manhattan Beach and North Manhattan Beach Beautification work plan and provide direction.Body
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
For Fiscal Year 2022-2023, the City Council appropriated $525,000 for business district beautification efforts to install lighting and enhancements in both business districts and to address basic infrastructure deficits in North Manhattan Beach. Funds for the initiatives identified in this report are currently available in the adopted Public Works budget. There are no additional fiscal implications at this time.
BACKGROUND:
On April 23, 2019, City Council directed staff to place “Downtown and North End Beautification” on the City Council Work Plan to evaluate various “refresh” opportunities, including sidewalk and landscaping replacements. In 2020, City Council directed staff to undertake several actions, including installing scrambled crosswalks on Manhattan Beach Boulevard at the intersections and Highland Avenue and Manhattan Avenue and completing a painting refresh. The consideration of widening sidewalks has been removed from this beautification work plan and will be evaluated as part of the Long-Term Outdoor Dining and Business Uses on Public and Private Property Work Plan.
In Fiscal Year 2021-2022, the City completed the following actions related to this work plan item:
• Installed the Rainbow Crosswalk on Manhattan Beach Boulevard and The Strand.
• Applied new slurry seal and curb paint to Downtown streets and the Lower Pier Parking Lot.
• Partnered with the Downtown Business and Professional Association (DBPA) to install new plant materials in Downtown.
As part of the budgeted Capital Improvement Program (CIP) work for Fiscal Year 2022-2023, Public Works is planning to complete a slurry seal project in North Manhattan Beach. The design work for this project is currently underway, and staff anticipates recommending the City Council award a construction contract for this project in January 2023. The construction will be completed by May 2023.
DISCUSSION:
As it relates to the $525,000 budget for Fiscal Year 2022-2023 beautification efforts, staff has consulted with both the Downtown Business and Professional Association (DBPA) and the North Manhattan Beach Business Improvement District (NMBBID) to determine what enhancements their members would like the City to undertake to improve the public spaces in their respective areas. Many ideas were proposed to refresh and enhance these areas. Ultimately, conversations with these business groups centered around:
• Improvement and expansion of ambient lighting to enhance evening aesthetics and attract visitors to the business areas.
• Enhancement to planters and installation of plant materials in bare or sparsely-filled planters.
• Improvement of cleanliness and uniformity of refuse receptacles.
• Installation of irrigation infrastructure in the NMBBID.
Additionally, the NMBBID requested that the City consider using this fiscal year’s allocation of beautification funds to purchase and install a new monument sign on Rosecrans Avenue. The previous sign had been destroyed multiple times from traffic collisions. While Public Works clearly supports the installation of a new monument sign, staff recommends that this request be considered on a different track, with a different funding source, and as part of the regular business between the NMBBID Board and the City.
For Fiscal Year 2022-2023, staff recommends that the City Council consider four specific initiatives to enhance and further beautify the two business districts:
1. Expansion of Big Belly Smart Trash Can Program $75,000
The City currently deploys 57 concrete trash and recycling receptacles in Downtown and 21 receptacles in the NMBBID. These containers are picked up three times per day. Periodically, these containers reach capacity between scheduled pickups and need to be emptied by staff to prevent overflows and the creation of unsanitary conditions.
In order to address the cleanliness issues associated with these receptacles, reduce dirty conditions caused by flies and birds, and deter scavenging, staff recommends that the City’s existing Big Belly Smart Trash Can Program be expanded from 8 duo-units to 29 duo-units. Big Belly containers utilize an internal compactor to store the equivalent of five trash or recycling receptacles in each unit, are solar powered, and automatically notify the City’s waste hauler when they need to be serviced.
Under the City’s lease arrangement for the Big Belly program, the cost per duo unit (includes both trash and recycling containers) is approximately $300 per month. Staff proposes that the City add up to 15 units in Downtown (including four specifically at Metlox) and six units in the NMBBID. The annual cost for this proposal is approximately $75,000. Funds are available in the current Fiscal Year 2022-2023 budget for this purpose. However, additional appropriations in future fiscal years will be necessary to keep this expanded program operating.
2. Expand Tree Lighting Program - $50,000
The City currently deploys lighting around 33 trees in Downtown Street scape area of Manhattan Beach. The lights are not in optimal condition and not regularly maintained and replaced.
In order to improve the lighting in existing areas and expand this program to enhance evening aesthetics and attract visitors to the business areas, staff recommends that the City contract with a firm that specializes in outdoor lighting. Under a contractual arrangement, high quality tree lights would be installed and maintained by lighting professionals on the 33 trees in Downtown that have historically been lighted year around and 33 trees that currently are not wrapped with lights in the NMBBID. The maintenance contract piece would ensure the lights remain in good working condition throughout the year. Photo renderings of what the lighting would look like on these trees is included as an attachment to this report.
The costs to enhance the trees with a more professionalized approach, as outlined above, is a one-time cost of approximately $25,000. Annual maintenance would cost about $9,480 per year. The cost includes high quality LED lights and all necessary preparation, installation, and associated fasteners and cords. If directed by the City Council, staff is prepared to place the necessary orders to get this work completed by mid-November in time for the City’s annual Pier Lighting event. With an allocation of $50,000 for tree lighting, additional funding of approximately $20,000 would be available if the City Council wanted to explore expanding the existing footprint of lighting in Downtown.
3. Enhancements to Landscaping - $100,000
The DBPA and NMBBID have expressed an interest in filling bare and sparsely-filled planter beds and upgrading existing planters with more vibrant plantings. There are 30 planter beds within the Downtown Manhattan Beach District and 6 in the North Manhattan Beach Business Improvement District, ranging from small corner areas to larger parkway areas, that are bare or sparsely filled.
Staff recommends that beautification funds be used to install plant materials in all planters within the business districts and to enhance declining planters with more vibrant plantings. Such a move would enhance the planters with top-tier plantings and certainly enhance the aesthetics of these areas. Photo renderings of what the landscaping would look like in these planters is included as an attachment to this report.
Staff estimates that it will take approximately $100,000 to complete this initiative, including all necessary preparation to refurbish planters, medians, and surrounding parking lots in the business districts.
4. Installation of Irrigation Infrastructure in the North Manhattan Beach Business Improvement District - $300,000
Because of the lack of irrigation in the tree wells along Highland Avenue in the NMBBID, the City currently pays over $16,000 per year to hand water 33 trees in this area, which is expensive and inefficient.
Staff recommends the installation of irrigation infrastructure to reduce long-term costs associated with maintaining these trees.
The cost to install irrigation in the NMBBID tree well is estimated to cost approximately $300,000. However, actual costs will not be known until the system is designed and bids are received. As such, staff recommends setting aside $300,000 as a placeholder for this proposed initiative. If the project cannot be completed by June of 2023, it would be included as part of next fiscal year’s Capital Improvement Program (CIP).
Staff recommends that the City Council provide direction generally on the work plan item to beautify the two business districts and specifically on the four proposed initiatives outlined above.
PUBLIC OUTREACH:
Staff met with the DBPA on October 11, 2022, the NMBBID on October 12, 2022, and the Chamber of Commerce on October 19, 2022 to discuss the proposed beautification initiatives. Additionally, staff met with informal representatives of Downtown residents on October 18, 2022. All parties were supportive of these proposals.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
The City has reviewed the proposed activity for compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and has determined that the” action is not a “Project” as defined under Section 15378 of the State CEQA Guidelines; therefore, pursuant to Section 15060(c)(3) of the State CEQA Guidelines the activity is not subject to CEQA. Thus, no environmental review is necessary.
LEGAL REVIEW:
The City Attorney has reviewed this report and determined that no additional legal analysis is necessary.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Photo Renderings
2. PowerPoint Presentation