CC SR 20241119 F - Landslide Emergency Contract Continuation
CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: 11/19/2024
AGENDA REPORT AGENDA HEADING: Consent Calendar
AGENDA TITLE:
Consideration and possible action to reconfirm continuing the emergency justification for
work and emergency contract for the Greater Portuguese Bend-Ancient Altamira
Landslide Emergency Project.
RECOMMENDED COUNCIL ACTION:
(1) Reconfirm, by a four-fifths vote, there is a need to continue the work on the Deep
Vertical Dewatering Emergency Project declared by Council-adopted Resolution
No. 2024-20 on May 7, 2024, finding an emergency exists requiring immediate
action in the Greater Portuguese Bend-Ancient Altamira Landslide Complex to
seek to mitigate the movement of the landslide; and
(2) Direct the City Clerk to confirm the same in the minutes of this City Council
meeting, via Minute Order, reflecting this action.
FISCAL IMPACT: There is no fiscal impact associated with the recommended Council
action as the City Council appropriated a total of $31.9 million in FY 2024-25 for
emergency work outside the normal bidding process due to the emergency declaration
as follows:
• $23.9 million for emergency response which includes the $9.6 million approved
on May 7, 2024 and $6.1 million on October 1, 2024. The $23.9 million includes,
but is not limited to, sewer repairs, fissure filling, road repairs, legal, equipment,
personnel costs, district loans, and tax assessments.
• $4 million for emergency stabilization measures for deep dewatering wells.
• $4 million for winterization.
FY 2024-25 Funding Sources $17.9M:
• $10.1 million CIP (Fund 330)
• $3.4 million General Fund
(Fund 101)
• $1.4 million Prop C (Fund 215)
• $2.9 million ARPA (Fund 333)
Additional FY 2024-25 Funding Sources $14.1M approved on October 1, 2024:
• $500,000 ARPA (Fund 333)
• $2.2 million Sup. Hahn Grant
(General Fund - Grant 101)
• $5 million CIP Emergency
Reserves (Fund 330)
• $6.4 million General Fund
Excess Reserves (Fund 101)
1
Amount Budgeted: See Fiscal Impact
Additional Appropriation: N/A
Account Number(s): Account numbers TBD based on the above
Fiscal Impact VR
ORIGINATED BY: David Copp, Deputy Public Works Director
REVIEWED BY: Ramzi Awwad, Public Works Director
APPROVED BY: Ara Mihranian, AICP, City Manager
ATTACHED SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS:
A. November 6, 2024 staff report – Emergency Hydraugers Contract
Continuation
B. October 1, 2024 staff report – Consideration and Possible Action on the
Greater Portuguese Bend-Ancient Altamira Landslide Complex
C. August 20, 2024 City Council Staff Report
D. May 7, 2024 City Council Staff Report
BACKGROUND:
On October 3, 2023, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 2023-47, declaring a state
of local emergency relating to the land movement in the landslide complex. The state of
emergency has been timely renewed and is current.
On May 7, 2024, the City Council extended the Local State of Emergency pursuant to
Resolution No. 2024-20 and approved, among other things, a Public Works Contract with
Malcolm Drilling Inc. (Malcolm) to perform the work of the Portuguese Bend Landslide
Emergency Hydraugers Project (Attachment D).
On August 20, 2024, the City Council approved expanding the scope of the emergency
hydraugers project and considering new alternatives including the installation of deep
vertical dewatering wells (Attachment C).
On October 1, 2024, the City Council approved expanding the scope of work to include
winterization work and the installation of additional vertical deep dewatering wells
(Attachment B).
DISCUSSION:
Pursuant to Public Contract Code § 22050, the City Manager and Director of Public Works
must report to the City Council at its regular meeting the reasons justifying why the
emergency continues to exist and why action outside of the normal bidding process is
necessary to respond to the emergency. Furthermore, Public Contract Code § 22050
states that the City Council shall, at every regularly scheduled meeting , consider and
reaffirm that there is a need to continue to remediate the emergency until the authorized
2
emergency repairs have been completed. Accordingly, because the work has not yet
been completed, this item is on tonight’s agenda. This item will be placed on each
subsequent agenda until all aspects of the project are completed.
Since the most recent update to the City Council on October 15, 2024, the need for the
emergency work is ongoing. The status of the project at the time of publication of this staff
report on November 12, 2024 is as follows:
Deep Dewatering Wells
• 17 instrumented vertical test boreholes to characterize subsurface conditions and
support the execution of dewatering operations have been installed.
• Six deep dewatering wells (DDWs 1-6) have been installed west of the
Portuguese Bend Beach Club community (PBBC) and are currently discharging
water at a combined rate of approximately 570 gallons per minute (GPM).
• Two DDWs (DDWs 7 & 8) have been installed near Palos Verdes Drive South -
one east of Peppertree Drive and one near the entrance to the South Bay Archery
Range, with a combined discharge rate of approximately 110 GPM.
• Two DDWs (DDWs 9 & 10) have been installed along the coast of Abalone Cove.
DDW 9 operated for approximately 2 weeks until it sheared due to land movement
and was decommissioned. A replacement well, called DDW 9A is being installed
this week approximately 600ft southwest of DDW 9. DDW 10 is discharging water
at a rate of approximately 115 GPM.
• The total combined water extraction rate of DDWs 1 through 10 is currently over
795 gallons per minute or approximately 1.15 million gallons per day.
• Since the start of the DDW program; approximately 40 million gallons, or
approximately 125 acre-feet, of water have been extracted from certain locations
of the toe of the Landslide Complex.
• Access is being developed for a third DDW (DDW 11) in the Abalone Cove area.
• Deceleration of land movement in the areas of the installed DDWs continues to
be observed, based on a sampling of points from GPS monitoring data.
• Four sample points in the Seaview and PBBC neighborhoods have shown no
movement for four consecutive surveys (October 13, 2024, October 20, 2024,
October 29, 2024, and November 5, 2024).
Winterization
• Fissure filling of Altamira Canyon and nearby areas is complete. A protective
pond liner is being installed at the base of the canyon and should be completed
by next week.
• Fissure filling and lining of Klondike canyon started last week and is anticipated
to be completed in two weeks.
• Mobilization for fissure filling and lining of Kelvin, Portuguese, Ishibashi, and
Paintbrush canyons is expected to start within the next two weeks.
• Construction crews have mobilized to the Seaview Neighborhood. Grading and
paving of sections of Exultant Drive is expected to complete this week, followed
by grading and paving of sections of Admirable Drive, which is expected to be
3
completed within a week. Winterization of the Exultant and Dauntless Drive
intersection has started and is expected to be completed by the end of November.
• All winterization work is expected to be complete by the end of December.
Environmental and cultural monitoring is being conducted in conjunction with the above
construction activities.
The emergency conditions necessitating the project continue to exist.
CONCLUSION:
The effects of the ongoing land movement continue to be felt in the Greater Portuguese
Bend-Ancient Altamira Landslide Complex. Staff recommends reconfirming that there is
a need to continue to remediate the emergency identified by City Council -adopted
Resolution No. 2024-20 (originally by Resolution No. 2023-47), and reconfirm, by a four-
fifths vote, the need for continuing the work on the Portuguese Bend Landslide
Emergency Project.
ALTERNATIVES:
In addition to Staff recommendation, the following alternative action is available for the
City Council’s consideration:
1. Take other action or provide direction, as deemed appropriate.
4