Honorable Mayor and Members of the Hermosa Beach City Council Regular Meeting of October 27, 2020
Title
AWARD OF CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT FOR
THE DOWNTOWN HERMOSA BEACH TEMPORARY
LANE RECONFIGURATIONS PROJECT #20011
(Environmental Program Manager Doug Krauss)
Recommended Action:
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Award the construction contract for the Downtown Hermosa Beach Lane Reconfiguration to the successful bidder in the amount listed on the documents that will be sent out as a supplemental to this item on Tuesday morning, October 27th;
2. Authorize the Director of Public Works to establish a 15% project contingency;
3. Adopt the attached resolution entitled, “A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Hermosa Beach Approving the Construction of the Downtown Hermosa Beach Temporary Lane Reconfiguration Project Pursuant to Government Code Section 830.6 and Establishing a Project Payment Account;”
4. Authorize the Mayor to execute the construction contract and the City Clerk to attest, subject to approval by the City Attorney;
5. Authorize the Director of Public Works to file a Notice of Completion following final completion of the project; and
6. Authorize $19,000 be submitted to Cal OES for FEMA reimbursement to fund a construction management and inspection consultant for the project.
Body
Executive Summary:
Staff publicly advertised the Notice Inviting Bids for the Downtown Hermosa Beach Temporary Lane Reconfiguration project beginning October 15th with a bid return date of October 26th, 2020. This project would temporarily close lanes on Pier Avenue and Hermosa Avenue to add bike lanes and allow local businesses additional public right-of-way to adapt to emergency health orders limiting indoor dining, retail, and services. Staff will host a public bid opening at 3pm on October 26th and the results of that bid opening will be prepared as a supplemental to this item. Upon award of the contract, staff will work with the contractor to expedite implementation of this project.
Background:
At the May 12, 2020 City Council meeting, City staff brought before the Council an item describing a proposed Summer Streets program. The program was identified to explore opportunities to repurpose sections of public rights-of-way to improve multi-modal traffic safety and expand physical-distancing options for the public and businesses per Los Angeles County Health orders related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The program included expanding bike lanes, converting parking spaces to outdoor dining areas, traffic calming associated with enhancing multi-modal transportation, and a number of other potential measures.
At that meeting, Council provided direction to staff to work with the Economic Development Committee to explore aspects of the program that could directly benefit local businesses. At the following meeting, City Council approved an urgency ordinance to implement a temporary permit program to provide outdoor dining/seating and outdoor retail options in the public right-of-way. For both of these projects, Council approved a total of $85,000 which includes the consultant’s services for developing the plans and specifications, and for conducting traffic counts before and after the project. Council appropriated $46,000 for this project from Capital Improvement Funds on August 11, 2020 and approved an additional $39,000 to be submitted to Cal OES for FEMA reimbursement on September 8, 2020. The final cost for developing the plans and specifications is $19,740, and the traffic counts are estimated to cost $8,000. The balance of $57,260 would fund the construction of the project.
At the July 14th meeting, staff brought an item to Council seeking direction on potential closures of travel lanes on the downtown sections of Hermosa and Pier Avenues to encourage increased foot traffic and expand outdoor dining and retail opportunities in the public right-of-way. Council directed staff to secure the services of a traffic engineering consultant to develop plans for these potential lane closures. At the August 11th meeting, staff presented three lane configuration concepts for Hermosa Avenue to Council. Council chose one of the concepts, directed staff to proceed with implementation, extended the southern extent of the work to 8th Street, and directed that the reconfiguration remain in place for a minimum of six months after implementation. At the September 8 meeting, Council provided staff direction on concepts for lane reconfigurations for Pier Avenue.
Per Council’s direction, staff worked with one of the City’s on-call traffic engineering consultants to develop construction plans and specifications for the project. Input was also sought from the Economic Development Subcommittee and its Stakeholder group. The final plans reflect the direction from Council, including the closing of a lane and the addition of a class 2 bike lane in each direction.
One notable change from the original concepts is the removal of reverse angled parking throughout the project. This was done in an effort to maximize available parking spots. The final plans maintain existing parking layouts while adding five ADA-accessible parking spots including one van-accessible spot. The City will also conduct traffic counts in and around the downtown area before and after the project to assess any effects on traffic patterns in the area.
Analysis:
On October 26, 2020, bids will be received and opened by the City Clerk. Because of the timing of the bid opening, the results will be share as a supplemental to this item. Staff asks that the City Council approve the award to the bidder specified in the supplemental documents.
This project is anticipated to take approximately 10 working days to complete, or one week for each corridor. Staff scheduled the advertising and bid opening with the goal of implementing the project in early November. After receiving feedback from downtown businesses at the October 21 Economic Development Subcommittee Stakeholder Group meeting, it was suggested that the work be rescheduled to early January. Staff contacted most of the current dining deck operators in the affected areas to solicit feedback on this suggestion. Though there was no clear consensus, the majority of businesses were in support of a January implementation. This would have the benefit of avoiding any disruptions to traffic and parking during the important holiday tourist season and allow more time for project coordination and communications to the community. It would also allow the businesses to better prepare for potential expansions of current dining decks and extend the lane reconfiguration duration into the Spring and early-Summer seasons.
To help ensure the safe and expedient completion of the project, staff is requesting the approval of $19,000 to hire a construction manager and inspector to be on site full time during the project. These roles would be filled by one of the City’s on-call consultants. The City does not have the staffing ability to perform these duties and, especially due to the project’s complexities, it will be vital to have a constant presence that can coordinate the work, minimize disruption to businesses and residents, and facilitate real-time communications between staff and the community.
Staff is additionally working with the downtown businesses to communicate the short-term construction impacts, obtain community input on the temporary changes once implemented, and work with dining deck permit holders to be ready to expand their space immediately following implementation.
General Plan Consistency:
The proposed program options match the model of “living streets”, also known as “complete streets”, and a key guiding principle of the General Plan Vision is to foster a vibrant local economy. A living street combines safety and livability while supporting ground floor and outdoor economic activities. This centers on designing streets that can be safely shared by both vehicular and non-vehicular traffic. A living street should also contribute to an engaging public realm and a vibrant local economy.
Relevant Policies are listed below:
Governance
Goal 6. A broad-based and long-term economic development strategy for Hermosa Beach that supports existing businesses while attracting new business and tourism.
Policies:
• 6.4 Business support. Support the Chamber of Commerce, retailers, tourist service businesses, artists, and other agencies to develop an aggressive marketing strategy with implementation procedures.
• 6.6 Pop-up shops. Develop plans and programs for underutilized spaces, such as vacant buildings, utility corridors, parkways, etc., for temporary retail, restaurant, and community promoting uses.
Mobility
Goal 1. Complete Streets (Living Streets) that serve the diverse functions of mobility, commerce, recreation, and community engagement for all users whether they travel by walking, bicycling, transit, or driving.
Policies:
• 1.1 Consider all modes. Require the planning, design, and construction of all new and existing transportation projects to consider the needs of all modes of travel to create safe, livable and inviting environments for all users of the system.
Goal 7. A transportation system that results in zero transportation-related fatalities and which minimizes injuries.
Policies:
• 7.1 Safe public right-of-ways. Encourage that all public right-of-ways are safe for all users at all times of day where users of all ages and ability feel comfortable participating in both motorized and non-motorized travel.
Fiscal Impact:
Council appropriated $46,000 for this project from Capital Improvement Funds on August 11, 2020 and approved an additional $39,000 be submitted to Cal OES for FEMA reimbursement on September 8, 2020. Of these amounts, $8,000 is estimated to fund traffic counts and $19,740 has been spent on development of the plans and specifications. The balance is $57,260 which would fund construction. Staff recommends an additional $19,000 be submitted to Cal OES for FEMA reimbursement to fund a construction management and inspection consultant for the project.
Attachments:
1. Draft Resolution
2. Draft Agreement
Respectfully Submitted by: Doug Krauss, Environmental Programs Manager
Concur: Marnell Gibson, Public Works Director; Lucho Rodriguez, City Engineer; Andrew Nguyen, Assistant Engineer
Noted for Fiscal Impact: Viki Copeland, Finance Director
Legal Review: Mike Jenkins, City Attorney
Approved Suja Lowenthal, City Manager