Honorable Mayor and Members of the Hermosa Beach City Council Regular Meeting of June 11, 2019
Title
LOCAL COASTAL PROGRAM UPDATE AND NEW/AMENDED
CONTRACTS TO FULFILL GRANT DELIVERABLES
(Environmental Analyst Leeanne Singleton)
Body
Recommended Action:
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the City Council receive an update on the City's Local Coastal Program (LCP) Grant and authorize the Mayor to sign the following amendments and contracts to support the deliverables of the LCP grant:
• An amendment to the contract with IBI group to extend the contract through December 31, 2019;
• A new contract with Climate Access in the amount of $30,000 to prepare sea level rise visualizations and conduct community engagement; and
• A new contract with Wood Environment & Infrastructure Solutions (previously AMEC Foster Wheeler) in the amount of $46,990 to provide staff augmentation support on LCP preparation, coordination with Coastal Commission staff, and preparation of affordable accommodations technical memorandum.
Body
Executive Summary:
The City of Hermosa Beach received a grant from the California Coastal Commission in the amount of $135,899 to support the development of the City’s Local Coastal Program (LCP). The grant funds are intended to cover staff and consultant time to prepare technical studies and community engagement efforts to support policy recommendations contained within the LCP. To fulfill the remaining deliverables of the grant agreement within the grant timeframe of December 31, 2019, staff requests Council authorize the amendment of one contract with IBI Group (time extension only), and initiation of two new contracts with Climate Access for $30,000 and Wood Environment & Infrastructure Solutions (Wood) for $46,990.
Background:
In May 2016, the City of Hermosa Beach submitted a grant application to the California Coastal Commission to support ongoing Local Coastal Program development. The City was notified of a recommended grant award in August 2016 and the grant agreement (Attachment 1) with the Coastal Commission was formally signed in June 2017 and must conclude by December 31, 2019. The LCP grant was awarded in the amount of $135,899 and is intended to cover:
1. Technical studies on: parking, sea level rise, and overnight accommodations;
2. Land Use Plan (LUP) policy refinement coordination with Coastal Commission Staff-to be incorporated into PLAN Hermosa; and
3. Development of the Implementation Plan (IP), better known as the Coastal Zoning Ordinance.
The grant funds cover a mix of staff time reimbursement and consultant support to fulfill the deliverables of the grant. In March 2017, the City Council approved a contract with IBI Group in the amount of $50,000, plus a 10% contingency, to perform the parking study portions of the LCP grant. In November 2018, City staff executed a contract amendment with IBI group to complete additional analysis of parking inventory and occupancy counts for on- and off-street parking by neighborhood, bringing the total contract value to $54,579.
Discussion:
LCP Status Update
Since the execution of the grant, City staff has been working with the Coastal Commission staff on coordinating review of the Land Use Plan policies, overseeing the analysis and preliminary recommendations of the parking study, and engaging additional technical support for the sea level rise analysis. In September 2018, City staff received a complete set of comments from the Coastal Commission on the Land Use Plan policies and have been working since that time to review and respond to those comments on the various coastal topics. In January 2019, IBI Group provided a preliminary parking recommendations study and staff has provided feedback to the consultant who is now working on revising the recommendations and expects to provide a revised draft in late June or early July.
LCP-Related Contracts for Technical Support
To fulfill the remaining deliverables of the grant agreement within the grant timeframe of December 31, 2019, staff is requesting Council authorize the following amendments and contracts:
• An amendment to the contract with IBI group to extend the contract through December 31, 2019 (Attachment 2). At the time the amendment was processed by staff, the term of the agreement should have also been extended from December 31, 2018 to December 31, 2019 in advance of the expiration of the contract term. Since the contract term was not extended prior to the expiration of the contract, staff is now returning to Council to authorize an extension of the contract term to December 31, 2019 to coincide with the terms of the grant agreement.
• A new contract with Climate Access in the amount of $30,000 to prepare sea level rise visualizations and conduct community engagement (Attachment 3). The grant agreement calls for the development of sea level rise visualization tools to support the refinement of sea level rise policy and the engagement of the community in the identification of potential solutions. Dating back to 2016, staff has kept up with the options for engaging technical support on this task and was initially prepared to engage with a company that combined mounted binocular equipment with sea level rise visualizations and community engagement tools, similar to a project in Santa Monica. With that company no longer pursuing such projects, staff engaged in discussions earlier this year with the Bay Area based non-profit Climate Access and local United States Geological Survey staff to provide a similar sea level rise visualization and engagement tool that also utilizes mobile phone technology to allow expanded engagement opportunities. Climate Access proposes to combine funding from the City with a foundation grant from LUSH Handmade Cosmetics, Ltd. to fulfill the task of the grant agreement for the City.
• A new contract with Wood Environment & Infrastructure Solutions in the amount of $46,990 (Attachment 4). Given the short time remaining on the grant and one of our key staff members out on an extended leave, staff requests Council award a contract to Wood Environment & Infrastructure Solutions to provide staff support on LCP preparation, coordination with Coastal staff, and preparation of the affordable accommodations technical memorandum. Wood has extensive technical expertise in the preparation of Local Coastal Programs, high-caliber work product, and familiarity with Hermosa Beach through its work on the Environmental Impact Report on the Strand + Pier Hotel.
City staff continues to meet with Coastal Commission staff on a quarterly basis to discuss progress on the elements of the LCP and other coastal topics as they arise. Staff is confident that the deliverables of the grant agreement can be met within the grant timeframe utilizing the support identified above.
General Plan Consistency:
PLAN Hermosa, the City’s General Plan, was adopted by the City Council in August 2017. The pursuit of a certified Local Coastal Program is an integral concept to combining the City’s General Plan and Coastal Land Use Plan into a single cohesive document, PLAN Hermosa. This integration of the Coastal Land Use Plan is described in detail within the Introduction of PLAN Hermosa. PLAN Hermosa also identifies policies within the Governance Element and throughout each element of PLAN Hermosa related to the importance of collaboration and coordination with the Coastal Commission and maximizing public access to the coast.
Fiscal Impact:
Sufficient funds have been appropriated for Fiscal Year 2018-19 to cover the contract values provided in the two new contracts in addition to the remaining contract with IBI Group.
Attachments:
1. City of Hermosa Beach Signed Grant Agreement with California Coastal Commission
2. Proposed Contract Amendment with IBI Group
3. Proposed Contract with Climate Access
4. Proposed Contract with Wood Environment and Infrastructure Solutions
Respectfully Submitted by: Leeanne Singleton, AICP, Environmental Analyst
Concur: Ken Robertson, Community Development Director
Noted for Fiscal Impact: Charlotte Newkirk, Accounting Manager
Legal Review: Mike Jenkins, City Attorney
Approved: Suja Lowenthal, City Manager