TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Bruce Moe, City Manager
FROM:
Mark Leyman, Parks and Recreation Director
Erick Lee, Public Works Director
Melissa McCollum, Senior Recreation Manager
Gilbert Gamboa, Principal Civil Engineer
SUBJECT:Title
Consideration of a Resolution Awarding a Design Services Agreement to HMC Group for $244,822 for the Professional Architectural and Aquatic Preliminary Design Services for Begg Pool Facility (Parks and Recreation Director Leyman).
(Estimated Time: 45 Mins.)
APPROVE RESOLUTION NO. 23-0099
Line
_________________________________________________________
Recommended Action
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that City Council adopt Resolution No. 23-0099:
a. Awarding a contract to HMC Group for $244,822 for the Professional Architectural and Aquatic Preliminary Design Services for Begg Pool Facility; and,
b. Authorizing the City Manager and/or his designee to execute the agreement; and,
c. Authorizing the City Manager and/or his designee to approve additional design services at a cost not to exceed $24,500 (approximately 10%) should additional work be necessary during this investigative preliminary design phase.
Body
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
The Aquatic Center Feasibility Study project was approved as part of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023-2024 Capital Improvement Plan with an initial budget of $150,000 within the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) Fund. After the receipt of proposals for the project, staff now estimates the total cost for the Feasibility Study to be $270,000. If approved, sufficient funds to cover the revised budget are available from a reallocation of $120,000 from the Park Improvements Program in the CIP Fund.
Should City Council award preliminary design services to HMC Group (HMC) for the Project, the City Manager will be authorized to execute the agreement with HMC in the amount of $244,822 along with an additional $24,500 City Manager authorization, if necessary, for a total not to exceed amount of $269,322. City Council’s award of the agreement is required as the total contract amount exceeds the City Manager’s awarding authority per the City’s purchasing policy.
BACKGROUND:
The City operates Begg Pool as part of a long-standing Joint Use Agreement with the Manhattan Beach Unified School District (MBUSD), owner of the parcel. Originally built in the 1940s, the Begg Pool Facility located at 1402 N Peck Avenue has served the community for approximately 80 years. Twenty-five yards long, six lanes wide, and approximately four-feet deep, the pool hosts a variety of recreation programs and classes, including swim lessons, lap swim, swim team, water aerobics, summer camp programs, water safety classes, recreational water play, and required Manhattan Beach Middle School physical education swim classes. The Begg Pool Facility requires significant pool, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, locker room, and additional upgrades due to age and level of deterioration.
In October 2022, True North Research conducted a statistically valid survey about Manhattan Beach residents’ experiences, opinions, and priorities related to aquatics, Begg Pool, and a potential new Aquatics Center (Attachment). Key conclusions include:
• 41% of residents identified using Begg Pool; strengths are its excellent staff, parking, and water clarity. Issues with Begg are limited availability of programming, limited availability of lanes, pool size and depth, and overall aged facility conditions including locker rooms and bathrooms.
• 81% of households favor prioritizing a new 35-meter pool for swimming laps, swim competitions, and water sports. 73% favor a shallow teaching/therapy pool for swim lessons, water aerobics, water therapy, and children’s programming and a wet classroom for teaching CPR, water safety, junior lifeguards, and swim lessons.
• The majority of respondents indicated that they or other members of their household would use a new aquatics center built in Manhattan Beach to swim for exercise while just under half of the respondents anticipated participating in recreational water play. Approximately one-third are expected to use the facility for therapy, senior classes, water aerobics, swim lessons, summer camp programs, or swim team.
DISCUSSION:
The City Council directed staff to obtain proposals for conceptual/schematic design and opinion of probable cost estimates for the three options listed below including, but not limited to design, construction, and operations. In addition to pool and facility upgrades, key costs will be identified and outlined including environmental, parking, accessibility, and related site improvement costs.
The Request for Proposal (RFP) included the investigation of three options:
• Option 1 - Renovate the existing 25-yard shallow pool and support buildings at the current Begg site
• Option 2 - Design a new Aquatics Center which includes one 25-yard shallow pool, one 35-meter competition pool, and support buildings at the current Begg site
• Option 3 - Same requirements as Option 2, but redevelop and relocate the new Aquatics Center to the MBUSD maintenance yard site located at 1517 Manhattan Beach Boulevard
The City issued RFP No. E1278-23S on March 13, 2023, for professional architectural and aquatic preliminary design services for the renovation and/or replacement of the Begg Pool Facility. The City received three proposals. The City’s committee evaluated and ranked each proposal based on the proposer’s understanding of the scope of services, proposed methodology and work plan, and experience of the firm and its project team members. Furthermore, the evaluation committee conducted interviews with the top two ranked consultant firms in May 2023, and completed thorough reference checks for each firm.
HMC Architects (HMC) submitted the most responsive and comprehensive proposal. The firm’s assigned staff has extremely relevant experience and its proposal demonstrated a significant understanding of the key project tasks and constraints. HMC has an in-depth knowledge of aquatics design, community engagement, fundraising, Division of State Architect (DSA) expertise, and has extensive aquatic renovation experience for cities and school districts, having prepared previous designs for the San Gabriel Valley Aquatic Center, Yucca Valley, Mount San Antonio College and El Camino College. Per Government Code Section 4526, Professional Services Consultants are selected based on qualifications.
Some of the key services that will be provided include:
• Complete oversight of the project scope and administration including progress meetings, adherence to the project schedule, project cost accounting, and quality control.
• Site analysis and data collection/review including thorough field review of existing facility and constraints, review of record drawings, review of operations and maintenance, and interviews with City staff.
• Community engagement (two meetings) to engage stakeholders in a visioning and programming exercise before any design concept development to determine this facility’s aspirations, guiding principles, and user goals.
• Clear assessment of the City’s needs for the facility including refining the usage of space for a more efficient layout of the facility based on input and information gathered in the site analysis and community engagement.
• Preparation of custom-tailored schematic/conceptual designs for (1) renovation of existing facility and (2) design of a new aquatics center.
• Preparation of a single Basis of Design Report (BODR), which evaluates options, recommendations, and estimates of probable cost for the design, construction, and operation as well as site improvements.
At this time, staff is recommending the award of Options 1 and 2 listed above. Staff is not recommending moving forward with Option 3 - considering the MBUSD Yard as an alternate location - for a variety of reasons including that it is currently used heavily by MBUSD with no alternate location available. Even if there was an alternate location available or it was relocated to the current Begg Pool site, project costs would escalate quickly with two or more impacted project sites. HMC is able to analyze the site for an additional $39,245 or develop design options and cost estimates in addition to the site analysis for an additional $148,657.
If a contract award for Option 1 and Option 2 are approved tonight, upon the completion of the preliminary conceptual phase in approximately seven months, the project team will present the basis of design report with preferred alternatives and cost estimates to City Council. It is anticipated the selected consultant may be utilized for design development and construction documents following the initial schematic design; however, this will depend on performance and overall project approval by City Council, and is not guaranteed.
Please note that the attached resolution authorizes the City Manager to authorize additional services at a cost not to exceed $24,500 should additional design work be necessary during this investigative preliminary design phase.
PUBLIC OUTREACH:
True North ensured a statistically significant sample of the Manhattan Beach community was included in the aquatics survey. In addition, the Parks and Recreation Commission’s Aquatics Subcommittee conducted extensive outreach over the past two years, including numerous discussions with community stakeholders, pool operators, and management, architects and aquatic design specialists, and financial and fundraising experts.
If a design services award is approved, the project team will conduct community meetings and send notices to residences adjacent to the site. The project team will include MBUSD’s Deputy Superintendent and Director of Maintenance and Facilities to help ensure close collaboration between the City and MBUSD during this phase of project development.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
The City has reviewed the proposed action for compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and has determined that the activity 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 at this time.
At this time, the City is uncertain as to what the appropriate environmental determination might be for the Begg Pool location. The scope of work included will make preliminary determinations for each site. The City anticipates that the appropriate CEQA environmental document for the project will be an initial study mitigated negative declaration for construction.
LEGAL REVIEW:
The City Attorney has reviewed this report and determined that no additional legal analysis is necessary.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Resolution No. 23-0099
2. Agreement - HMC Group
3. HMC Proposal
4. HMC Cost File
5. Location Map
6. PowerPoint Presentation