TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Mark Danaj, City Manager
FROM:
Tony Olmos, Public Works Director
Raul Saenz, Utilities Manager
SUBJECT:Title
Approve an Amendment to the Memorandum of Understanding between the Cities of Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach, Torrance and the Los Angeles County Flood Control District for Administration and Cost Sharing for Development of Phase II of the Enhanced Watershed Management Program (Public Works Director Olmos).
APPROVE
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Recommended Action
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommend that the City Council:
1. Approve the amended Memorandum of Understanding between the Cities of Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach, Torrance and the Los Angeles County Flood Control District for administration and cost sharing for development of Phase II of the Enhanced Watershed Management Program; and
2. Authorize the City Manager to execute the amended Memorandum of Understanding.
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FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
The City's cost share component of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is $74,928. Funds are budgeted in the Fiscal Year 2014-2015 Public Works Storm Drain Maintenance Budget to carry out Phase II of the MOU.
BACKGROUND:
On December 3, 2013, City Council approved an MOU between the Cities of Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach, Torrance and the Los Angeles County Flood Control District (Group). The MOU identified cost sharing for development of the Enhanced Watershed Management Program (EWMP) Work Plan, Coordinated Integrated Management Plan (CIMP), and preparation of the EWMP Plan for the Santa Monica Bay and Dominguez Channel Watersheds to comply with the Municipal Stormwater Permit (Permit). The total estimated cost in the original MOU was $760,000, and only included the consultant fee.
The MOU also discussed that previous water quality modeling would be submitted to the Regional Water Quality Control Board (Board) and could result in cost savings if the Board approved its use. As a result, it was decided to separate the overall tasks into two phases. Phase I would only include the development of the Enhanced Watershed Management Program (EWMP) Work Plan and Coordinated Integrated Management Plan (CIMP). Phase II would then include the preparation of the actual EWMP Plan in accordance with the EWMP Work Plan. The City of Manhattan Beach's share of the cost for Phase I was $42,585. The approved MOU recognized that an amendment was forthcoming and made provisions for Phase II work.
Phase I has been completed and the EWMP Work Plan and CIMP were submitted to the Board on June 17, 2014.
DISCUSSION:
This amendment to the MOU addresses Phase II, or the preparation of the actual EWMP Plan in accordance with the EWMP Work Plan. The purpose of the EWMP Plan is to present to the Board the basis for, and define the elements of the methodology that will be utilized by the Group for its development through Phase II. The cost of the consultant services agreement with Geosyntec for Phase II is $648,818. The City of Redondo Beach was the lead agency for Phase I and has agreed to continue to serve as lead agency for Phase II. Given the staff time and fiduciary responsibility required based on past experience, the City of Redondo Beach has requested a 10% contract administration fee, or $47,941, of the shared cost of the contract. Thus, the overall contract and contract management cost for Phase II is $696,759. The City of Manhattan Beach's share of this cost is $74,928 (Attachment 1 - Exhibit A-1).
The EWMP Plan will comprehensively evaluate opportunities, within the Group's collective jurisdictional areas, Santa Monica Bay and Dominguez Channel, for collaboration on multi-benefit regional projects that, wherever feasible, will retain all non-storm water runoff and storm water runoff from the 85th percentile, 24-hour storm event for the drainage areas tributary to the projects. Where retention of the 85th percentile storm is not feasible, the EWMP Plan shall include a Reasonable Assurance Analysis (RAA) that employs a quantitative water quality model to demonstrate that applicable water quality based effluent limitations and receiving water limitations are achieved through implementation of other watershed control measures.
The revised cost of the project has increased from $760,000 to $1,003,014 (Phase I: $306,255 + Phase II: $696,759). The difference in cost includes $161,408 for additional modeling within the City of Torrance to be paid by the City of Torrance and additional outreach of $8,000. The difference also includes the 10% administration fee to the City of Redondo Beach, which was inadvertently omitted in the original MOU.
City of Manhattan Beach's approved share for Phase I was $42,585 and is $74,928 for Phase II. The City's share was calculated based on the percentage of area within the Santa Monica Bay and Dominguez Channel watersheds (Attachment 1 - Exhibit A-1).
The following is a status of major project milestones:
June 2014:
· Submitted EWMP Work Plan and CIMP to the Regional Board
April 2015
· Complete Phase II Draft EWMP Plan for Group Review to include:
- Finalize approach to addressing receiving water limitations
- Develop list of regional projects and conduct initial screening
- Identify selected watershed control measures and conduct Reasonable Assurance Analysis
- Develop project schedule and cost estimates
May 2015
· Present City Councils with Overview of the:
- Phase II Draft EWMP Plan
- Preliminary list of regional projects and cost estimates
June 2015:
· Submit Final Draft EWMP Plan to the Regional Board
January 2016:
· Submit Final EWMP Plan approval
Staff will provide additional information regarding Phase I and Phase II at the upcoming Study Session on Stormwater Management to be scheduled for later this month or next month.
CONCLUSION:
Staff recommends that City Council approve an amendment to the MOU between the Group for administration and cost sharing for development of Phase II of the EWMP to comply with the Permit.
Attachments:
1. Amended MOU Between Cities of Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach, Torrance and the Los Angeles County Flood Control District
2. Original MOU Between Cities of Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach, Torrance and the Los Angeles County Flood Control District