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CC - Approval of Final Plans and Specifications and Authorization to Publish a Notice Inviting Bids for the Veterans Memorial Park Age 5 - 12 Playground Equipment Replacement Project.
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Meeting Date: August 14, 2017
Contact Person/Dept: Patrick Reynolds/PRCS-Parks Division
Phone Number: (310) 253-6471
Fiscal Impact: Yes [] No [X] General Fund: Yes [] No []
Public Hearing: [] Action Item: [] Attachments: Yes [X] No []
Public Notification: (E-Mail) Meetings and Agendas - City Council (08/09/17); (Email) Parks, Recreation & Community Services Department Updates (08/08/17); (Email) Interested Parties who Previously Submitted Comments to the PRCSC on the Veterans Park Age 5 - 12 Playground Equipment Replacement Options (08/08/17)
Department Approval: Daniel Hernandez, PRCS Director (08/03/17)
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RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the City Council approve the final plans and specifications and authorize the publication of a notice inviting bids for the Veterans Memorial Park Age 5 - 12 Playground Equipment Replacement Project.
BACKGROUND
On February 13, 2017, the City Council (1) accepted $195,030.35 in Los Angeles County Proposition A Maintenance and Servicing Excess (M&SE) Funds awarded to the City of Culver City; (2) approved a budget amendment to appropriate $187,000 of the funding for Veterans Memorial Park 5 - 12 Playground Equipment Replacement Project; and, (3) approved a budget amendment to appropriate the remaining $8,030.35 to partially fund the Fiscal Year 2016-2017 Haynes Custodial Contract for the Culver City Senior Center.
At the time that this Agenda Item was presented to the City Council, staff had planned to hold at least one Community meeting in May to gather public input on the choice of playground equipment. Due to other pressing duties, that Community meeting was postponed and staff planned to hold it at a later date. In July, staff was informed by the funding Agency, the Los Angeles County Regional Park and Open Space District (the “County”), that the Veterans Memorial Park Age 5 - 12 Playground Equipment Replacement Project was time-sensitive and must be completed as soon as possible. In order to comply with the County’s directive, staff took this item directly to the Parks, Recreation and Community Services Commission (PRCSC) on August 1, 2017 to gather the community’s and the PRCSC’s input. Even with a compressed timeline, the most optimistic completion dates that staff could provide to the County are late February 2018 for the completion of the installation of the Age 5 - 12 Playground equipment and early May 2018 for the administrative closeout.
DISCUSSION
Information Regarding Why the Project is Time-Sensitive
The City applied to the County for the Proposition A Maintenance and Servicing Excess Funds for the Playground in a category called "Extraordinary Expenses." These funds are for repairs, not capital improvements. The County advanced the money for the playground repairs at the end of December 2016 with the stipulation that the repairs would begin immediately. Because the City has not completed the repairs yet, the County gave us two choices in July 2017, (1) pay the money back; or, (2) retain the funds and complete the repairs with the understanding that the County will not issue any reimbursements for other expenditures of Proposition A Maintenance and Servicing (M&S) Funds until the repairs are completed and all of the closing documentation is on file with the County.
After consulting with the Finance Department, the decision was made to keep the funds and complete the repairs as quickly as possible. One of the consequences of this decision is that the City has already incurred $116,163 in expenditures that will not be reimbursed until early May 2018. These expenditures include the repair of the Dog Park retaining wall ($15,075), partial reimbursement for the Parks Division At-Risk Youth Maintenance Worker II’s salary and benefits ($19,479), and the remainder of the Fiscal Year 2016/2017 Senior Center Custodial Services expenses ($81,608). In addition, in Fiscal Year 2017/2018, there are plans to use $244,366 in Proposition A M&S Funds for the repair of the Nature Trail Boardwalk, and there are expenditures of approximately $7,500 per month for Senior Center Custodial Services that are typically reimbursed by Proposition A M&S Funds. Therefore, staff believes that it is in the City’s best interest to complete the Project as soon as possible, especially since the County retains the option to request that the $187,000 be returned at any time if it appears to their representatives that the Project is not being completed in a timely manner.
Public Notification for the August 1, 2017 PRCSC Discussion on the Equipment Options
Veterans Memorial Park Age 5 - 12 Playground Equipment Replacement Option 1 and Option 2 were posted on the City’s website as attachments to the PRCSC staff report on July 26, 2017. Both Options were prepared by Great Western Park and Playground, a representative of GameTime, a U.S.-based commercial playground equipment manufacturer.
In addition to the standard notification process, staff did the following community outreach to encourage the public to view and comment on the two Equipment Replacement Options:
July 27, 2017 - Notice with links to the August 1, 2017 PRCSC Meeting Agenda posted on Nextdoor.
July 28, 2017 - Notice with links to Options posted on the PRCS Department homepage on the City’s website; an “In the News” article posted on the City’s homepage; links to the “In the News” article posted to the Culver City and the PRCS Department Recreation Division Facebook pages; 26 public notification signs posted at various locations within Veterans Memorial Park; 2 public notification signs posted at Carlson Park; 3 public notification signs posted at City Hall; 500 public notification flyers distributed in the Veterans Memorial Park neighborhood; a public notification slide on City TV running from July 28 through August 1 at 6:59 p.m.
Summary of Public Comment
Number of individuals who sent emails on this topic = 21
• Option #1 = 4 in favor
• Option #2 = 6 in favor
• Option 1 with the slide from Option 2 = 1 in favor
• No opinion stated for either Option (but comments on other topics related to this and/or other playgrounds were submitted) = 6
• Do not support either Option (but comments on what should be done at this and/or other playgrounds were submitted) = 4
• Expressed the need for shade and/or a shade structure at the Playground = 9
Number of individuals who made comments on this topic on Nextdoor = 4
• Option #1 = 1 in favor
• Option #2 = 0 in favor
• No opinion stated for either Option = 1
• Do not support either Option = 2
Number of individuals who made comments on this topic at the PRCSC meeting = 3
• Option #1 = 0 in favor
• Option #2 = 0 in favor
• No opinion stated for either Option = 1
• Do not support either Option = 2, to paraphrase these comments:
- One speaker expressed his support for playgrounds that have greater levels of accessibility for the disabled and more ground-level play than he perceived were provided by Option 1 or Option 2.
- One speaker stated the he prefers the type of playground equipment that is currently installed at Lindberg Park; he also commented on the need for shade at the playgrounds.
PRCSC Recommendation to the City Council
After an extended discussion, the PRCSC unanimously took the following action:
Given the choice of these two, and only these two Options, the Culver City Parks, Recreation and Community Services Commission recommends to the City Council Veterans Memorial Park Age 5 - 12 Playground Equipment Replacement Option 1, with the addition of a slide.
The attached plans reflect the PRCSC’s recommendation.
Additionally, there was consensus among the Commission that, based on the public comment received, staff should explore funding options to install shade structures at Veterans Memorial Park Playground and other City playgrounds that do not have shade over the playground equipment.
FISCAL ANALYSIS
There is no fiscal impact created by the approval of the plans and specifications for the Project. There is a nominal cost to the City to publish the Notice Inviting Bids, which has been included in the City Council Adopted Budget for Fiscal Year 2017/2018.
ATTACHMENTS
1. 2017-08-14 - ATT 1 Public Comment Received Before the August 1, 2017 PRCSC Meeting
2. 2017-08-14 - ATT 2 Plans and Specifications
MOTION
That the City Council:
Approve the final plans and specifications and authorize the publication of a notice inviting bids for the Veterans Memorial Park Age 5 - 12 Playground Equipment Replacement Project.