TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Mark Danaj, City Manager
FROM:
Raul Saenz, Interim Public Works Director
Prem Kumar, City Engineer
Karen Domerchie, Senior Management Analyst
SUBJECT:Title
Approve Contract Amendment No. 3 to the Professional Services Agreement with Community Works Design Group for Additional Design Services for the Strand Stairs Rehabilitation Project in the amount of $33,600 (Interim Public Works Director Saenz).
APPROVE
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Recommended Action
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council:
a) Approve Contract Amendment No. 3 in the amount of $33,600 with Community Works Design Group for additional design services for the Strand Stairs Rehabilitation Project - Attachment 1.
b) Authorize City Manager to execute the Contract Amendment.
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FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
The funding request of $33,600 for Contract Amendment No. 3 is available in the Strand Stairs Rehabilitation Project account. See Attachment 2 for Strand Stairs Rehabilitation Project Budget and Expenditures to date.
BACKGROUND:
A pedestrian walkway (The Strand) owned and maintained by the City and a bike path (Marvin Braude Bike Path) owned and operated by the County of Los Angeles Department of Public Works exists along the City’s entire two-mile coastline. The bike path is situated to the west and is separated from The Strand by a vegetated slope of varying widths and grades. Connecting The Strand and the bike path are thirty-six pedestrian access points. Twenty-seven of these access ways possess stairs of varying designs and condition. In addition to stairs, there are three handicap accessible ramps; two leading from The Strand to the El Porto parking lots at 41st and 43rd Streets and a third leading from the parking lot to the bike path at 42nd Street.
The original contract with Community Works Design Group (CWDG) was approved by City Council at its May 1, 2012 meeting in the amount of $200,885 to conduct public meetings and prepare plans and specifications for construction for the Strand Wall Repair and Enhancement Project as well as the Strand Stairs Rehabilitation Project.
On April 15, 2014, the City Council approved Amendment No.1 in the amount of $25,000 to the agreement with CWDG for additional design services for aesthetic enhancements of the five retaining walls in the Strand Wall Repair and Enhancement Project. City Council appropriated $25,000 from the Public Art Trust Fund for Amendment No. 1.
On November 18, 2014, the City Council approved Amendment No. 2 in the amount of $11,310 to the agreement with CWDG. After the Strand Stairs Rehabilitation project was placed out to bid with the goal of completing construction by Summer, 2015, the bids came in higher than anticipated and this contract amendment was issued to CWDG to assess the scope and recommend changes in order to obtain lower bids within the project budget.
Total project funding in the amount of $2,491,249 is made available as follows:
• The City identified the need to improve the stairs and requested and secured earmark funding through the Federal surface transportation bill in 2005. The bill, entitled the “Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users” (Safetea-Lu) lists the Strand Stairs improvement project as a High Priority Project in the total amount of $1,600,000.
• On September 15, 2015, Council approved the appropriation of additional Surface Transportation Program - Local (STPL) Funding in the amount of $481,249 for this project.
• FY 2008-2009 Capital Improvement Funds in the amount of $320,000 were made available for this project.
• On February 25, 2014, City Council designated $25,000 from the Public Arts Trust Fund for the design of the Strand Stairs/Wall Rehabilitation Project.
• On March 4, 2015, City Council designated $65,000 from the Public Arts Trust Fund for the construction of the Strand Stairs/Wall Rehabilitation Project.
DISCUSSION:
CWDG’s original contract envisioned that the construction at the Strand walls and at the Strand stairs would occur concurrently. However, the scope of work for the stairs was expanded, which necessitated that the project be split in two phase. Phase 1 included the wall rehabilitation and Phase 2 includes stair rehabilitation. As such, the entire duration of the project was extended beyond what is included in CWDG’s original contract. Therefore, CWDG’s contract needs to be amended in the amount of $33,600 to include additional design and field support services during construction. The field services of a licensed structural engineer will be required because there may be structural issues related to attaching the new stair balustrades to the existing concrete curbs when construction begins.
POLICY ALTERNATIVES:
ALTERNATIVE # 1:
Do not approve Amendment No. 3 for additional design support services during construction and structural engineering services.
PROS:
Capital Improvement Plan Funds would not be expended for the design support services during construction and structural engineering services.
CONS:
If issues arise during construction and the architect and engineer are not contracted to provide solutions to these issues, then the completion of the project could be delayed.
PUBLIC OUTREACH/INTEREST:
City staff performed significant outreach to residents before construction started for this project.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Based on the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requirements, a Notice of Exemption was filed for the project with the Los Angeles County Clerk’s office.
LEGAL REVIEW
The City Attorney has reviewed this report and determined that no additional legal analysis is necessary.
Attachments:
1. Contract Amendment No. 3 to the Agreement with Community Works Design Group
2. Strand Stairs Rehabilitation Project - Budget and Expenditures