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CC - CONSENT ITEM: (1) Approval of a Professional Services Agreement with Michael Baker International to Prepare Documents in Compliance with SB99 and AB747 and to Prepare a Five-Year Update to the Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan for the City and the Culver City Unified School District in an Amount Not-to-Exceed $96,130; (2) Adoption of a Resolution (California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services Form 130) Designating the Public Works Director/City Engineer as an Authorized Agent for FEMA Grant No. DR4407; and (3) FOURTH-FIFTHS VOTE REQUIREMENT: Approval of a Budget Amendment Appropriating the Remaining FEMA Grant Funds.
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Meeting Date: February 27, 2023
Contact Person/Dept.: Joe Susca/Public Works Department-Administration
Phone Number: 310-253-5636
Fiscal Impact: Yes [X] No [] General Fund: Yes [X] No []
Attachments: Yes [X] No []
Commission Action Required: Yes [] No [X]
Public Notification: (E-Mail) Meetings and Agendas - City Council (02/22/2023); Michael Baker International (02/15/2023); Atlas Planning Solutions (02/15/2023); H20 Partners (02/15/2023); Nebula Safety & Environmental (02/15/2023); APetrow Consulting (02/15/2023); Robert Quinn, CCUSD Assistant Superintendent, Business Services (02/13/2023)
Department Approval: Yanni Demitri, Director of Public Works/City Engineer (02/15/2023)
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RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends the City Council (1) approve a professional services agreement with Michael Baker International for the preparation of documents to comply with California SB99 and AB747 and to prepare a five-year update to the Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan for the City and the Culver City Unified School District (CCUSD), CIP No. PO012 - Five-Year Update to Hazard Mitigation Plan, in an amount not-to-exceed $96,130; and (2) adopt a resolution (California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services Form 130) designating the Public Works Director/City Engineer as an authorized agent for FEMA Grant No. DR4407; OES Project No. PL-0099; and (3) approve a budget amendment appropriating the remaining FEMA grant funds (requires a four-fifths vote).
BACKGROUND:
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) provides grants to state and local governments to plan and implement long-term hazard mitigation measures. The purpose of the HMGP is to reduce the loss of life and property due to natural disasters and to enable the implementation of mitigation measures prior to and during the immediate recovery from a disaster.
In order to be eligible to receive post-disaster funding and to apply to implement pre-disaster mitigation projects, the City is required to have a California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (OES) and FEMA approved Hazard Mitigation Plan in place. In July 2014, the City, in conjunction with the CCUSD, applied for funding from the HMGP to hire a firm to develop their first Multi-Jurisdiction Hazard Mitigation Plan (MJHMP). In December 2014, the City received notification that the grant was awarded, and after completion of a competitive bidding process, on March 23, 2015, the City Council approved a $100,430 agreement with Michael Baker International (MBI) to prepare the MJHMP. On April 11, 2017, the City Council adopted a Resolution accepting the final MJHMP <http://www.culvercity.org/hazardmitigationplan> (https://www.culvercity.org/hazardmitigationplan), which was subsequently approved by FEMA on June 1, 2017.
Since adoption of the MJHMP, the City has implemented many of its mitigation measures, including creation of a citywide soft story inventory of its built environment. The soft story inventory was used to prepare an ordinance that was adopted in 2022 containing regulations requiring property owners to retrofit these vulnerable buildings within five years to reduce the impacts that seismic events will have upon them. The soft story inventory contains 400 buildings that are required to be retrofitted, and so far, 12 of them have applied for building permits to do so. The average cost to retrofit a building is $45,000 to $135,000, depending on its size and existing configuration. Property owners may be eligible to apply for a grant from Senate Bill 189, which was passed in June 2022 and established a soft story retrofit grant program, or they can obtain funding from the California Capital Access Program to offset the cost of retrofitting.
DISCUSSION:
FEMA requires the MJHMP to be updated every five years for the City/CCUSD to remain eligible to receive disaster relief funding and to submit grant applications to implement its pre-disaster mitigation projects (the “Plan Update”). Staff reached out to the CCUSD and confirmed their desire to partner with the City once again to prepare the required Plan Update.
In 2020, the City received a $261,600 HMGP FEMA grant to prepare the Plan Update and subsequently hired Blue Ocean at a cost of $138,033 to create detailed plans and cost estimates to build large cisterns beneath several City/CCUSD parks and school playgrounds that are designed to capture stormwater, partially treat, and reuse the gray water to irrigate the expansive landscaping located just above them. These projects also reduce the impact of droughts by creating a source of gray water to irrigate with, reduce flooding by capturing heavy stormwater flows, and reduce the spread of wildfires by keeping the landscape hydrated.
In recognition that in April 2023, FEMA will adopt significant changes to the makeup of Plan Updates and to complete the remaining tasks contained in a typical Plan Update (such as providing updates on the status of implementing other measures contained in the MJHMP including earthquake fault ruptures, liquefaction, severe weather, mudslides, landslides and pandemics), staff released a Request for Proposals (RFP) to competing firms and received the following five responses:
All of the firms that submitted proposals are qualified to complete the remaining tasks contained in a typical Plan Update. However, MBI stood out from the others not only because they are the lowest cost, but because they prepared the existing MJHMP that was approved by OES and FEMA without requiring alteration, which is a rare achievement in the industry.
MBI has prepared 41 other Plan Updates for their other clients, and since they prepared the existing MJHMP, they are familiar with its content and maintain digital copies of its maps, tables and narrative, providing them the ability to prepare the Plan Update in an economical and expeditious fashion.
Supplemental California Requirements
California Assembly Bill 747, passed in August of 2019, requires cities to identify evacuation routes and to assess the capacity, safety, and viability of those routes under a range of emergency scenarios. California Senate Bill 99, passed in 2020, similarly requires cities to identify residential developments in hazard areas that do not have at least two emergency evacuation routes. These supplemental analyses are not required by FEMA; nor will FEMA’s grant cover the cost to create them. They are however, required by the State to be prepared for inclusion when a city’s Safety Element to their General Plan, Emergency Operations Plan, or Plan Update is being revised. Staff asked MBI to prepare a cost estimate to complete this additional work since it is directly related to the FEMA Plan Update, and they replied with a $20,000 proposal to do so, which proposal staff finds to be reasonable.
FISCAL ANALYSIS:
The total amount of the agreement with MBI is $96,130. Of that amount, $20,000 is ineligible to be paid by the FEMA grant, and it will be funded by the City. The remaining amount of $76,130 will be split into two portions. FEMA will fund 75% which equals $57,097.50. The City is required to provide a 25% match which equals $19,032.50. The Adopted Budget for Fiscal Year 2022-2023 includes sufficient funding for the $20,000 not eligible under FEMA and the City’s match of $19,032.50 in Account #42080000.730100.PO012 (CIP - Five Year Update to Hazard Mitigation Plan). The $57,097.50 will be paid out of Account #42380000.730100.PR004 (CIP - Storm Quality Master Plan).
The City Council is asked to approve a budget amendment to appropriate the $92,675 of remaining HMGP FEMA funds from the 2020 grant award (requires a four-fifths vote). The revenue will be appropriated to Account #42380000.341320.PR004, and the corresponding expenditures will be appropriated to Account #43280000.730100.PR004.
ATTACHMENT:
1. 2023-01-23 ATT Cal OES 130 Form for FEMA Grant No DR4407
MOTIONS:
That the City Council:
1. Approve a Professional Services Agreement with Michael Baker International to prepare documents in compliance with California SB99 and AB747 and to prepare a five-year update to the Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan for the City and the Culver City Unified School District in an amount not-to-exceed $96,130; and
2. Adopt a Resolution (OES Form 130) designating the Public Works Director/City Engineer as an authorized agent to modify, approve, and submit all documents related to FEMA Grant No. DR4407; OES Project No. PL0099; and
3. Approve a budget amendment to appropriate the remaining FEMA grant funds (requires a four-fifths vote); and
4. Authorize the City Attorney to review/prepare the necessary documents; and
5. Authorize the City Manager to execute such documents on behalf of the City