City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends the City Council:
(1) Approve amendments extending the existing professional services agreements
with Max Paetzold and Barry Kurtz with an aggregate not-to-exceed fee of
$75,000 to provide part-time support to the traffic engineering section of the
Engineering Division for regional and local development projects;
(2) Extend the contracts with Stan Scholl, P.E., and Bellur Devaraj, P.E., with a not-
to-exceed fee of $10,000 each to provide part-time general city engineering
support for the Engineering Division for a total not to exceed $20,000.
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION:
Traffic engineering support
On March 26, 2007, the City Council approved extending contracts with Max
Paetzold and Barry Kurtz, in an aggregate not-to-exceed amount of $28,000, to
provide traffic engineering support to development and regional transportation
projects. The agreements are set to expire on September 30, 2007.
Max Paetzold and Barry Kurtz continue to support the Traffic Engineering section on
regional and local projects:
Meeting Date: 08/27/07 Item Number: A-4
AGENDA ITEM: Approval of Amendments Extending the Professional Services
Agreements with Max Paetzold and Barry Kurtz to support the Traffic Engineering
section for review of Regional and Local Development projects and Stan Scholl
and Bellur Devaraj to provide General City Engineering support for the
Engineering Division.
Contact Person/Dept.: Herbertson/
Gaspar/PW
Phone Number: 310-253-5635 and
310 -253-5602
Fiscal Impact: Yes [X] No [] General Fund: Yes [X] No []
Public Hearing: [] Action Item: [X] Attachments: []
Public Notification:
Max Paetzold, Barry Kurtz, Stan Scholl, and Bellur Devaraj were notified via e-mail on
August 22, 2007, and Master Notification List emailed on August 22, 2007.
Department Approval:
Charles D. Herbertson 8/16/07
City Attorney Approval:
Carol Schwab (by H. Iker) (08/21/07)
City Controller Approval:
Marlee Chang (08/21/07)
City Manager Approval:
Jerry B. Fulwood (08/22/07) City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
These projects take considerable time to support through meetings,
correspondence, and analysis. The projects are ongoing and require the continued
support of Max Paetzold and Barry Kurtz. It has taken more hours to support these
development projects than originally anticipated. The contract amounts are nearly
exhausted.
Based on the workload of the Traffic Engineering section, staff recommends that this
arrangement, utilizing consultants to oversee traffic issues related to development
and regional projects, while freeing up the City Traffic Engineer/Traffic Engineering
Manager to focus on local neighborhood traffic concerns, continues to be the best
solution. Otherwise, the workload will be too burdensome for one person and the
ability of the Traffic Engineering section to be responsive to neighborhood concerns
and Community Development Department requests would be severely diminished.
.
To continue to support this effort, staff is recommending that the City Council
approve extending the contracts with Mr. Max Paetzold and Mr. Barry Kurtz, in the
amount of $75,000 to support the traffic engineering section on development
projects on an as needed basis, until June 30, 2008 and at an hourly rate of $90.
Max Paetzold is a retired traffic engineering manager that worked for Culver City for
7 years and worked for the City of Los Angeles for 32 years. Mr. Paetzold has a
wealth of knowledge of Culver City and grasps the importance of broad issues
affecting our community. Barry Kurtz is a retired Los Angeles County of Department
of Public Works traffic engineer that has over 40 years experience in the field of
traffic engineering with many of those years spent in the review of development
projects. Mr. Kurtz is employed part-time (two days a week) by the County of Los
Angeles Department of Public Works Beaches and Harbors Division where he
supports the division on traffic engineering issues. Mr. Kurtz is also a registered
professional engineer.
General City Engineering support
In March 2007, the Senior Civil Engineer resigned and took a position as Assistant
City Engineer in the City of El Segundo. Due to the vacancy, existing staff filled in
the void until the recruitment process was complete. However, due to the low
turnout of applicants, the recruitment was extended for several more weeks.
Meanwhile, due to capital projects beginning in the summer, staff administratively
entered into contracts with Mr. Stan Scholl, P.E. and Mr. Bellur Devaraj, P.E., to
provide part-time general engineering support to the Engineering Division at a not-
to-exceed fee of $10,000 and at an hourly rate of $90, respectively.
City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
Stan Scholl, P.E., is a retired registered civil engineer. He was the Public Works
Director for the City of Santa Monica from 1976 to his retirement in 1992. Since
retirement, he has served as interim Public Works Director to various cities
throughout Los Angeles County. Stan has over 40 years experience with city
engineering and has vast knowledge in managing capital projects.
Bellur Devaraj, P.E., is a retired registered civil engineer. He was the City Engineer
for the City of El Segundo from 1988 to 2004. Since his retirement in 2004, Mr.
Devaraj worked as a consultant for the City of El Segundo. Mr. Devaraj has
extensive experience with city engineering and has vast knowledge in managing
capital projects.
The oral and written examinations for the Senior Civil Engineer are scheduled for
Wednesday, September 5. After the second interviews of the top five candidates
with the Public Works Director/City Engineer and the Engineering Services Manager
are completed and a final selection is made, the new employee is expected to begin
employment in October 2007.
Mr. Scholl’s and Mr. Devaraj’s contracts are nearly exhausted. Staff is
recommending extending the contracts with Mr. Scholl and Mr. Devaraj at an
additional not-to-exceed fee of $10,000 for each contract and at $90 an hour
FISCAL ANALYSIS:
There are salary savings (Senior Civil Engineer) in the Engineering Division’s
operating budget, 10160500, that are sufficient to cover the contracts for Mr. Scholl
and Mr. Devaraj for total amount of $20,000. The cost of the contracts for Mr.
Paetzold and Mr. Kurtz are budgeted in the Engineering Division’s operating budget
under traffic engineering services, Account No. 101605.612800 .
MOTION:
That the City Council:
1) Approve the amendments extending the terms of the existing professional
services agreements with Max Paetzold and Barry Kurtz to provide part-time
support the Traffic Engineering section on public and private development
projects, with an aggregate not-to-exceed fee of $75,000, and expiring on June
30, 2008;
City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
2) Approve the amendments extending the terms of the existing professional
services agreements with Stan Scholl and Bellur Devaraj to provide part-time
general civil engineering support at a not-to-exceed fee of $10,000 for each
contract, for a total of $20,000, and,
3) Authorize the City Attorney to prepare the necessary amendments and authorize
the City Manager to execute the amendments on behalf of the City.