TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Bruce Moe, City Manager
FROM:
Erick Lee, Public Works Director
Katherine Doherty, City Engineer
Marzena Laskowska, Senior Civil Engineer
SUBJECT:Title
Discussion Regarding Placing Cameras at Public Facilities, Public Areas and Parks (Public Works Director Lee).
(Estimated Time: 45 Mins.)
DISCUSS AND PROVIDE DIRECTION
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Recommended Action
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council discuss and provide direction regarding the expansion of the City Security Camera System Project to include additional public facilities and areas, including City parks.
Body
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
There is no fiscal implication associated with the recommended action at this time. However, once the City Council directs staff on this matter, additional staff time, resources, and funding appropriations may be required.
BACKGROUND:
In 2019, the City’s Safety Committee evaluated options to enhance the safety and security of employees at City Hall and other facilities. The Committee brought their updates on existing and proposed safety and security measures to City Council on January 7, 2020. The City Facilities Camera Project Assessment Report was completed in March 2022 by Triad Consulting and System Design Group (Triad) and included security recommendations and rough order magnitude (ROM) cost estimates for installing cameras and other security measures at seven City facilities:
1. City Hall
2. Police Department Headquarters
3. Fire Department Station 1
4. Public Works Yard
5. Joslyn Community Center
6. Live Oak Park
7. Manhattan Heights Community Center
.
On June 7, 2022, the City Council approved Amendment No. 1 to the agreement with Triad to develop the bidding documents associated with this project. Since that time, staff has been working with Triad to operationalize its recommendations for equipment, cameras, camera placement, installation standards, and recorded video storage.
At this time, Triad Consulting and System Design Group has performed in-depth site evaluations for the seven City facilities, coordinated with staff on camera system requirements, re-evaluated phasing to provide for streamlined installation, and produced the 65 percent plan set for all three phases. Phase 1 includes the Public Works Yard and City Hall, Phase 2 includes the Police Department and Fire Department, and Phase 3 includes Joslyn Community Center, Live Oak Park, and Manhattan Heights Community Center.
The current scope of the project involves installing 94 exterior and interior cameras at the seven City facilities mentioned above. Funding in the amount of $819,067 is programmed into the current five year Capital Improvement Program (CIP) for the design and construction of this project. Construction costs for all three phases are anticipated to total approximately $700,000.
The design plans for Phase 1 are anticipated to be completed by March 2023. The bidding process should occur in April 2023, with the City Council considering a construction contract award in June 2023. Construction is anticipated to be complete by February 2024.
During the November 15, 2022 City Council meeting, the Council requested a future agenda item to discuss expansion of the scope of the Citywide Security Cameras Project to include other public facilities and public areas, including City parks. As originally suggested by Mayor Pro Tem Montgomery when he requested this item on November 1, 2022, these public areas should specifically include Downtown Manhattan Beach and the parking lot behind the Manhattan Village Senior Villas.
DISCUSSION:
Expansion of the scope of this project to include additional public facilities and areas, including City parks, could certainly provide safety benefits to the community. Estimated costs to do so are unknown at this time. These costs would include the actual costs of purchasing and installing cameras, and also costs for additional disk space to store video locally, cloud storage if necessary, and the installation of network and power infrastructure which involve both up front and recurring costs. Expansion of this program could also require additional staff resources to operate and maintain the camera system and to respond to requests for video footage, both from City personnel and from the public.
While rough order of magnitude (ROM) cost estimates to expand the scope of this project cannot be established until the camera locations are identified and proper site assessments can be conducted, approximations can be made. Given that the 94 cameras included within the current scope of work for this project are anticipated to cost $700,000 to purchase and install, the average cost to deploy each camera is approximately $7,500. It’s important to note that these 94 specific cameras will be deployed at locations that are generally easy to install in terms of proximity to power and network connections in and/or around City buildings.
To obtain useful video footage in open public space areas, including the middle of City parks or in commercial areas not near City buildings, power for cameras would have to be derived from other sources (potentially lights or traffic signals), and network connectivity may need to be accomplished with wireless technology. These elements could significantly increase the costs of installing each camera beyond the $7,500 average. Furthermore, this amount does not include additional ongoing costs associated with storage, backup, network management, camera maintenance (cleaning, repair, etc.), and staff support that would be necessary to operate an expansive system.
In order to deploy enough cameras to capture useful video footage in all parks, key public areas, and at all properties owned and operated by the City, hundreds of additional cameras would need to be installed. The total costs to expand this project could be well in excess of $10,000,000.
If the City Council directs staff to expand the scope of the Citywide Security Cameras Project, staff will develop a list of potential locations that could be included in this expanded program for the City Council’s review and consideration. Once those locations are confirmed as appropriate, the security camera needs at each new location would be assessed and a findings report that summarizes recommended camera solutions and estimated costs for implementation could be developed. Staff would then return to the City Council with the recommendations and estimated costing to request direction on how to proceed.
Furthermore, the City’s current approach to this project is to capture and archive footage from a security perspective and does not include increased costs associated with live surveillance or monitoring of cameras. If the City Council wants consider changing this approach, staff would review available options and return to the City Council at a future date with more information.
CONCLUSION:
Staff recommends that the City Council discuss this item and provide direction regarding the potential expansion of the Citywide Security Cameras Project.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
The City Council’s discussion of this item is not a “project” as defined under Section 15378 of the State California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines; therefore, pursuant to Section 15060(c)(3) of the State CEQA Guidelines, the activity is not subject to CEQA. Should the City Council direct staff to proceed with the security camera expansion project, said project would qualify for an exemption pursuant to State CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3), the common sense exemption (formerly the “general rule”) that CEQA applies only to projects which have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. Where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question can have a significant effect on the environment, the activity is not subject to CEQA, as is the case with the security camera expansion project.
LEGAL REVIEW:
The City Attorney has reviewed this report and determined that no additional legal analysis is necessary.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Map Depicting Scope of Current Citywide Security Cameras Project
2. PowerPoint Presentation