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CC - CONSENT ITEM: (1) Award of a Construction Contract to Toro Enterprises, Inc. as the Lowest Responsive and Responsible Bidder, in the Amount of $4,402,836 for the Citywide Bioretention Basin Project, PW006; (2) Authorization to the Public Works Director/City Engineer to Approve Change Orders to the Contract in an Amount Not-to-Exceed $440,283 (10%) to Cover Contingency Costs; (3) FOUR-FIFTHS VOTE REQUIREMENT: Approval of a Related Budget Amendment Appropriating $500,000 from Clean Water/Clean Beach (Fund 434) Fund Balance to PW006; and (4) FOUR-FIFTHS VOTE REQUIREMENT: Approval of a Related Budget Amendment to Accept an Additional $800,000 in Grant Funds and Allocate them to CIP Project PW006.
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Meeting Date: August 10, 2026
Contact/Dept: Sean Singletary/Public Works - EPO Division
Phone Number: (310) 253-6457
Fiscal Impact: Yes [X] No [ ] General Fund: Yes [ ] No [X]
Attachments: Yes [ ] No [X]
Public Notification: Email via GovDelivery Meetings and Agendas - City Council (08/05/2026)
Dept Approval: Yanni Demitri, Director of Public Works/City Engineer (07/31/2026)
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RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the City Council (1) award a construction contract to Toro Enterprises Inc. as the lowest responsive and responsible bidder, in the amount of $4,402,836 for the Citywide Bioretention Basin Project, PW006; (2) authorize the Public Works Director/City Engineer to approve change orders to the contract in an amount not-to-exceed $440,283 (10%) to cover contingency costs; (3) approve a related budget amendment to appropriate $500,000 from Clean Water/Clean Beach (Fund 434) Fund Balance to CIP Project PW006 (requires a four-fifths vote); and (4) approve of a related budget amendment to accept an additional $800,000 in grant funds and allocate them to CIP Project PW006 (requires a four-fifths vote).
BACKGROUND
On December 28, 2012, the Los Angeles County Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System Permit (MS4 Permit) became effective in accordance with the Clean Water Act. The Los Angeles MS4 Permit covers unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County, the Los Angeles County Flood Control District, and 84 cities within Los Angeles County, including the City of Culver City. Various milestones were set for the treatment of pollutants in stormwater. To comply with the MS4 Permit, the City Council approved the development and implementation of an Enhanced Watershed Management Program (EWMP). The EWMP reviews the watershed as a whole and proposes Best Management Practices (BMPs) for responsible jurisdictions to complete.
On August 23, 2021, the City Council adopted the City’s Stormwater Quality Master Plan (SWQMP). The objective of the SWQMP is to provide a planning tool to identify potential regional, green street and Low Impact Development (LID) projects to collectively meet the City’s water quality compliance goals. The primary measure of MS4 compliance implementation is the volume of stormwater managed by the BMPs. The Ballona Creek EWMP determined that a combined BMP capacity of 99 acre-feet (ac-ft) for the prescribed set of BMPs would provide reasonable assurance that water quality goals are met in the City. The SWQMP identified 441 BMPs or projects Citywide, with the bulk of compliance to be achieved through green street projects.
Eight of the green street segments recommended by the SWQMP were selected and packaged as the Citywide Bioretention Basin Project. The proposed stormwater BMPs implemented are some combination of bioretention (passive irrigation rain gardens), pervious pavement, dry wells and surface infiltration at the following eight locations:
• Berryman Avenue (near the Washington Boulevard intersection)
• Pickford Way (near the Cota Street intersection)
• Segrell Way (near the Slauson Avenue intersection)
• Jasmine Avenue (near the Le Bourget Avenue intersection)
• Revere Place (near the Ballona Creek Bike Path)
• Wesley Street (near the Higuera Street intersection)
• Northgate Street (near the Overland Avenue intersection)
• Galvin Street (near the Overland Avenue intersection)
During the design and preconstruction phases, staff reached out to impacted property owners both with letters and virtual community meetings to explain the project scope. Construction will begin in autumn 2026 and will last for sixty working days.
Additionally, the City was awarded a Proposition 50 grant to develop the project in 2022 in the amount of $800,000. On February 28, 2022, the City Council adopted a resolution to enter into a grant agreement with the State Water Resources Control Board to receive Prop 50 grant funds.
DISCUSSION
On June 4, 2026, the City released a Notice Inviting Bids No. #2678 for construction of the project. A total of six bids were received by the City’s Purchasing Division on July 9, 2026. A summary of the bids is below:
The apparent low bidder, Environmental Construction, Inc., withdrew their bid due to a tabulation error, making Toro Enterprises, Inc. the next lowest responsive bid. Staff reviewed the bid proposal and found the bid documents responsive and complete. The company’s bond, contractor’s license, and worker’s compensation insurance were reviewed and determined to meet City requirements. Toro Enterprises, Inc. is a well-established full-service contractor and has completed many similar projects in Culver City with satisfactory performance.
There was overlap with the City’s paving schedule in Fiscal Year 2026-2027 for the project location on Berryman Avenue. Since the bids came in above the project budget, staff asked Toro Enterprises, Inc. if they would agree to removing of the scope of work on Berryman Avenue from the bid, reducing their bid by $581,770.50. Toro was amenable to this change and submitted a letter stating their understanding. If the scope on Berryman is removed from all submitted bids, Toro’s bid would still be the lowest responsive bid.
Staff will utilize the services of a construction management contract to administer construction and inspection services on this project. The selection of that consultant will be from the City’s On-Call list of qualified firms and will be awarded under a separate action.
FISCAL ANALYSIS
The total funding required for the construction phase of the project consists of the construction contract base bid in the amount of $4,402,836 and a contingency of $440,283 for a total of $4,843,119. The Adopted Budget for Fiscal Year 2026-2027 includes $3,822,122 for the construction phase of the project in CIP Account No. PW006 (Citywide Stormwater Quality Implementation Phase I). Grant funding in the amount of $800,000 was never appropriated into the City’s Capital Grants (423) fund for project PW006 and shall be done under this action (requires a four-fifths vote). To close the gap between project budgeted funding and required funding, an additional $500,000 from the City’s Clean Water/Clean Beach (Fund 434) fund shall be placed into PW006 (requires a four-fifths vote).
ATTACHMENTS
None.
recommended action
MOTIONS
That the City Council:
1. Award the construction contract to Toro Enterprises, Inc., as the lowest responsive and responsible bidder, in the amount of $4,402,836 for the Citywide Bioretention Basin Project, PW006;
2. Authorize the Public Works Director to approve change orders to the contract in an amount not-to-exceed $440,283 to cover contingency;
3. Approve a Related Budget Amendment to accept $800,000 in grant funds and allocate them to CIP Project PW006 (requires a four-fifths vote);
4. Approve a Related Budget Amendment Appropriating $500,000 from Clean Water/Clean Beach (Fund 434) Fund Balance to PW006 (requires four-fifths vote);
5. Authorize the City Attorney to review/prepare the necessary documents; and
6. Authorize the City Manager to execute such documents on behalf of the City.