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RDA MINS 20000801 MINUTES RANCHO PALOS VERDES REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY REGULAR MEETING AUGUST 1, 2000 The meeting was called to order at 7:26 P.M. by Chair Byrd at Fred Hesse Community Park, 29301 Hawthorne Boulevard. PRESENT: Ferraro, McTaggart, Stern, and Chair Byrd ABSENT: Lyon Also present were Executive Director Les Evans; Assistant Executive Director Carolynn Petru; Agency Attorney Carol Lynch; Planning, Building & Code Enforcement Director Joel Rojas; Director of Public Works Dean Allison; Finance Director Dennis McLean; Director of Administrative Services/Agency Secretary Jo Purcell; and, Recording Secretary Jackie Drasco. APPROVAL OF AGENDA: Member Ferraro moved, seconded by Member Stern, to approve the agenda as presented. Motion carried. APPROVAL OF CONSENT CALENDAR: Member Ferraro moved, seconded by Member Stern, to approve the Consent Calendar as follows: Minutes (301) Approved the minutes of July 5, 2000. June 2000 Treasurer's Report (602 x 1900) Received and filed. Resol. No RDA 2000-09 - Register of Demands (602 x 1900) ADOPTED RESOLUTION NO. RDA 2000-09, A RESOLUTION OF THE RANCHO PALOS VERDES REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY ALLOWING CERTAIN CLAIMS AND DEMANDS AND SPECIFYING FUNDS FROM WHICH THE SAME ARE TO BE PAID. The motion to approve the Consent Calendar carried on the following roll call vote: AYES: Ferraro, McTaggart, Stern and Chair Byrd NOES: None ABSENT: Lyon # # # # # # # # # # # # # Abalone Cove Sewer and Storm Drain Project (1204 x 1900 x 604) Agency Secretary Purcell announced that late correspondence had been received from Zeiser Kling, Chris & Laura Haber, Dave Ruth, Stephen W, Case, the Portuguese Bend Community Association; David N. Turner, Tim & Joan Kelly, Bill Griffin and Maureen Griffin. (Said correspondence is on file with the Agency Secretary's Office.) Director Allison presented the staff report of August 1, 2000 and the recommendation to: (1) Award a project to construct the Abalone Cove Sewer Improvements to Colich and Sons, Inc., for an amount not to exceed $4,775,926, and authorize staff to spend an additional $334,074 for anticipated extra items of work for a total authorization of$5,110,000. (2) Award a professional service contract to Harris and Associates for an amount not to exceed $200,000 for p inspection services for the Abalone Cove Sewer Improvements. (3) Award a professional service contract to SA Associates, Inc. for an amount not to exceed $40,000, for inspection services for the Abalone Cove Sewer Improvements. (4) Award a professional service contract to Consoer Townsend Environdyne for an amount not to exceed $20,000 for engineering services for the Abalone Cove Sewer Improvements. (5) Award a professional service contract to Willdan Associates for an amount not to exceed $ 10,000 for engineering services for the Abalone Cove Sewer Improvements. Director Allison reported that one of the letters received after the agenda packet was prepared was correspondence from the geologist. Board discussion focused on the funding for the sewer project and the fact that there would not be sufficient funds to complete the storm drain project. Director Allison stated that the geologist felt that the Altamira Canyon storm channel improvements would provide the most slide mitigation. He said that the road would not have to be excavated again if the project were completed some time after the sewer project was complete. Director Allison explained that contacting the contractor for the sewer project to ask for price reductions before the contract was awarded would corrupt the bid procedure. He estimated that it would take three to four months to re-advertise the job with a delay of beginning the job to spring 2001. Mr. Allison said that staff felt would be advantageous to award the contract as advertised or to re-advertise the project. RDA Minutes August 1, 2000 Page 2 City Attorney Lynch concurred. Director Allison explained that the sewer project was approximately $1.6 million short of sufficient funds and that the storm drain project would require funding of another $1.5 million. Board discussion then centered on the amount of liability insurance required and the increased amount needed because the contractor would be working on private property. Lois Larue, 3136 Barkentine Road, disagreed with the designation of Abalone Cove as the area in which the sewer project was being proposed and she disagreed that the slide is active in only some sections of Abalone Cove. She urged the Board to consider safety when making a decision about digging deep trenches. Mike Childs, 11 Figtree Road, read from a prepared statement describing past research regarding this sewer project. He urged the Board to consider the potential dangers of proceeding. He noted that installation of sewers was fourth on the list of mitigation suggested by the panel of experts and that the storm drain project was second on the list and in jeopardy of not being accomplished. He was concerned that the bid from the contractor was so much lower than the others, questioned the quality of work that would be performed, and hoped that poor quality work would not result in high maintenance costs which taxpayers would have to pay. He asked if Los Angeles County would be responsible for maintenance costs. He was concerned about the deep trenches proposed to be dug and felt that a full geological study was needed and the consideration of other landslide abatement projects. (A copy of Mr. Child's comments is on file with the Agency Secretary's Office.) Jack Downhill, 20 Vanderlip Drive, felt that the project had been well represented and that because of the time and effort expended, it should go forth. He said that the original project did not encompass the entire area but provided sewers only in areas of land movement and possibly there could be a savings in reducing the scope of the work. He felt that installation of sewers might encourage development or at least that Zone 2 would be dealt with in a different way. Marianne Hunter, 31 Narcissa Drive, asked how the decision to install the sewers was made in connection with the moratorium. She assumed there would be an incentive and/or penalty to keep the contractors working quickly so that the trenches would be open a minimum amount of time. She asked who was responsible for a system failure or damage to homes if this project caused land movement and said that she would prefer to keep her septic tank. She urged the Board to take a conservative approach to allay the fears of homeowners. Director Allison explained that a district would be created to which property owners would pay an annual maintenance fee and that the contractor had a performance bond for prompt completion of the project and a warranty to cover repairs in the first year. RDA Minutes August 1, 2000 Page 3 Alan Mendel, 10554 Wyton Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90024, said that he owned a lot on Fig Tree and was in favor on sewer installation. John Monks, 32200 Schooner Drive, said that he was a landowner in the Portuguese Bend area and that he was in favor of the sewer project. He said that the same issues have been debated many times and he thought that after the liens were removed, there would be less opposition. He felt that the longer the project was delayed the more expensive installation would become and he felt it would be good for the Santa Monica Bay to eliminate the septic tanks. Board consensus was that installing sewers for the homes in the areas where the land was stable would assure that septic tank water would not enter the landslide causing additional land movement even in the stable areas and to provide modern amenities as well. It was argued, however, that perhaps the money could be better spent on dewatering wells. Chris Haber, 11 Plumtree Road, said that he had been following the project since 1995 and had not heard of a smaller scope project. He felt the sewer system was the best way to keep water out of the slide, was aware of the years of study behind this project and funds set aside, and urged the Board to approve the contract so that the major excavation could be completed before the rainy season. He said it was his understanding that a few of the dewatering wells are doing most of the work and some are not successful. Ted Polich, 547 W. 140th Street, Gardena, CA 90248, representing Colich & Sons, the staff recommended, stated that the City could be assured of quality work because the company had been in business for over fifty years and could furnish references from many large cities and counties in California. He said that the owner lived in Rancho Palos Verdes, was familiar with the area, and had done a lot of work on the peninsula, which might have accounted for his ability to bid lower. He explained that his company would have their workers' safety and cost efficiency in mind and therefore would backfill behind the excavation to reduce the possibility of land movement. Mike Childs returned to the podium to describe his memory of how the project was expanded. He said that the entire community was to pay for the sewers for some of the homes and Sharon Hegetschweiler suggested in an audience participation portion of a February 1993 Technical Panel meeting that a larger project would benefit the whole community and be more equitable. He said that this was documented in public record. RECESS & RECONVENE: At 8:30 P.M., Chair Byrd declared a recess. The meeting reconvened at 8:42 P.M. Board discussion then focused on whether there should e a policy to use General Fund money RDA Minutes August 1, 2000 Page 4 to make up for the shortfall for this project; and, if financial assistance could be sought from the County. Reference was then made to a July 30, 1996 letter stating that dewatering wells were the first priority for slide mitigation, however, the funds from the Horan bonds were almost depleted. City Manager Evans explained that even though installation of the dewatering wells was relatively inexpensive, they had not been effective in all cases. He suggested that the contract for the sewer project should be awarded or if the Board decided not to award this contract, the design for the Altamira Canyon drainage project be completed, wait for all permits to be approved and then advertise for this contract. He advised against returning to the study mode. He said that there is no guarantee that any of these projects will improve the landslide but they probably would help. He said that in his opinion the sewer project would have a positive impact on the slide and that replacing the septic tanks would be good for health and public safety. Board discussion continued about the efficacy of the dewatering wells versus the Altamira Canyon storm drain project; how some of the wells are more effective than others; the fact that the existing septic tanks are constantly leaking into the slide; the necessity of the Altamira Canyon project in the overall landslide abatement process; the approvals from residents and state agencies required to proceed with that project; the County bonds which would pay for the sewer project; that this sewer project would enable homeowners to add a bathroom or another sink without the current requirement of having to install a holding tank; and, the fact that this project has been studied for many years resulting in increased costs. Concern, however, was expressed about the time and effort already expended on this project; the balance remaining from the Horan settlement; and, if the funds had been spent wisely. Member McTaggart moved, seconded by Member Ferraro, to (1) Awarded a project to construct the Abalone Cove Sewer Improvements to Colich and Sons, Inc., for an amount not to exceed $4,775,926, and authorize staff to spend an additional $334,074 for anticipated extra items of work for a total authorization of$5,110,000. (2) Awarded a professional service contract to Harris and Associates for an amount not to exceed $200,000 for inspection services for the Abalone Cove Sewer Improvements. (3) Awarded a professional service contract to SA Associates, Inc. for an amount not to exceed $40,000, for inspection services for the Abalone Cove Sewer Improvements. (4) Awarded a professional service contract to Consoer Townsend Environdyne for an amount not to exceed $20,000 for engineering services for the Abalone Cove Sewer Improvements. (5) Awarded a professional service contract to Willdan Associates for an amount not to exceed $10,000 for engineering services for the Abalone Cove Sewer Improvements. The motion carried on the following roll call vote: AYES: Ferraro, McTaggart, Stern, and Chair Byrd NOES: None ABSENT: Lyon RDA Minutes August 1, 2000 Page 5 Member McTaggart moved, seconded by Member Ferraro to (1) Agendize for the September 5 City Council meeting discussion of a Council policy to decide whether to use General Fund money to find a mechanism to fund drainage projects. (2) Have Chair Byrd and Member McTaggart contact Supervisor Don Knabe to inquire about financial assistance from Los Angeles County. Motion carried. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 9:20 P.M. on the motion on Chair Byrd. Chair Attest: Agency Secretary W:\2000 RDA Minutes\08012000 rda min.doc RDA Minutes August 1, 2000 Page 6