TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Talyn Mirzakhanian, City Manager
FROM:
Erick Lee, Public Works Director
Katherine Doherty, City Engineer
Jeff Fijalka, Principal Civil Engineer
SUBJECT:Title
Consideration of a Resolution Authorizing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Between the Cities of Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, and Torrance, Regarding the Implementation of the Beach Cities Green Streets Project (Public Works Director Lee).
ADOPT RESOLUTION 24-0128
Body
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RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt Resolution 24-0128, authorizing the City Manager and/or his or her designee to approve a MOU between the Beach Cities for the Green Streets Project (Project).
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
As described within the MOU, the Project will be funded in part by two separate grant programs, and all grant funds will be disbursed to, and managed by, the City of Torrance. The City of Manhattan Beach’s share of the required local match is anticipated to be approximately $355,000. Sufficient funds are currently available for the Green Streets Project within the Measure W fund.
BACKGROUND:
Per the 2012 Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board's (Regional Board) 2012 NPDES Permit, cities were provided the opportunity to establish a regional approach to address stormwater pollution through an Enhanced Watershed Management Program (formerly EWMP, now WMP).
In 2016, the cities of Manhattan Beach, Torrance, Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach, and the Los Angeles County Flood Control District formed a Watershed Management Group (WMG) and submitted a WMP document to the Regional Board, which identified projects and programs that would be implemented to comply with established limits for bacteria and toxics discharges to Santa Monica Bay. That WMP included a number of individual “green streets” projects within each of the four participating cities. Green streets projects are typically smaller, local control measures constructed in available rights-of-way that augment regional structural projects to achieve water quality objectives. Typical project elements include drywells, trash capture devices, trees and plants in medians and parkways, permeable pavement, and bio-retention swales. These elements all serve to improve storm drainage, reduce pollutants, and simultaneously help beautify the streetscape.
The 2016 WMP document has since been updated to comply with the 2021 regional stormwater permit. With this update, the distributed green streets projects remain an integral component of the WMG’s plan to achieve compliance with stormwater discharge requirements.
In Manhattan Beach, targeted areas for the green streets improvements include 19th Street, between Sepulveda Boulevard and Pine Avenue, and along with the north side of Artesia Boulevard, between Redondo Avenue and Aviation Boulevard. Proposed green streets elements at these locations include drywells and permeable curb sections designed to receive and treat dry-weather and some stormwater runoff from an approximately 38-acre combined drainage area. No reductions in traffic lanes are being contemplated as part of this Project. In addition to the two project sites located in Manhattan Beach, an additional eleven sites were identified in Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, and Torrance.
In 2020, the City of Manhattan Beach entered into a Design MOU with WMG members for the coordination and funding of the design of the distributed green streets projects. As the Lead Agency, Torrance contracted with CWE to prepare design drawings, specifications, and cost estimates for the green street features. Those documents are now in the final stages of development, and the WMG members are intending to enter into a new MOU to define responsibilities for the funding, construction, and monitoring that is required to implement the Project.
DISCUSSION:
The City of Torrance, in partnership with the other participating cities, applied for a Proposition 12 Santa Monica Bay Restoration Grant and was awarded $2,000,000 from the California State Coastal Conservancy and Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission. Additionally, Torrance submitted an application to the Los Angeles County Safe, Clean Water Regional Infrastructure Program, and received an award of $5,366,953. Torrance has since executed a transfer agreement with each grantor.
Because the grant agreements are exclusively between Torrance and the granting agencies, the proposed MOU is intended to establish an understanding of each of the other cities’ responsibility for funding, constructing, and monitoring their portion of the Project. Per the terms of the MOU, Torrance will solicit competitive bids for the construction of all project features within each of the participating cities. Additionally, Torrance will hire third-party consultants to provide construction management, inspection, and post-construction monitoring services. Each city will be responsible for the cost of the work performed in its jurisdiction, and grant funds will be distributed according to each city’s proportional share of the total project cost.
The MOU includes an estimate of the anticipated costs in excess of the grant funding that each city will be responsible to pay, i.e. the “local match.” As identified in the MOU, the City of Manhattan Beach’s local match is anticipated to be approximately $355,000. After bids are received, if the local match exceeds expectations, each city will have the opportunity to request additional funding from its City Council. Any city may, with proper notice, withdraw from the MOU without penalty if not able to obtain the additional funding necessary to complete the Project.
Similar to the previously authorized Design MOU, the MOU that is currently under consideration includes provisions that if a party withdraws or terminates the MOU in a manner that renders Torrance in violation of its grant agreement, the party(ies) that terminate or withdraw are individually responsible for any interest and penalties and repayment of any grant funds forfeited. This is a standard term in State grant agreements and is reflected in the proposed MOU as applying to all four partner cities. Additionally, this MOU states that if a party breaches the terms of the MOU, it shall be responsible for the payment of fines, penalties and costs incurred by the other parties as a result of non-performance of the WMP implementation. Typically, parties are responsible for their own penalties for failure to meet their WMP and storm water obligations; however, this MOU would potentially shift that liability to a party that unilaterally breaches the MOU. Under the MOU, defaulting parties would be given 60 days to cure a default before any punitive provision would be triggered.
If adopted by City Council, Resolution No. 24-0128 will authorize the City Manager or his or her designee to enter into the MOU. The City of Torrance will present the MOU to their City Council for approval after execution by each of the three other participating cities.
PUBLIC OUTREACH:
No public outreach was conducted in preparation of recommending the approval of this MOU. Outreach will occur prior to the start of construction to inform the public of construction activities and potential construction-related impacts. Additionally, project information signs will be in place during construction.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
The City has reviewed the proposed project for compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and has determined that the project qualifies for a Class 1 categorical exemption pursuant to Section 15301 (Existing Facilities) of the State CEQA Guidelines since it involves the modification of an existing storm drain system with no expansion of use. Thus, no further environmental review is necessary.
LEGAL REVIEW:
The City Attorney has approved the MOU as to form.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Resolution No. 24-0128
2. Memorandum of Understanding
3. Location Map