sr-051209-1dCity Council .Meeting: May 12, 2009
Agenda Item: j'-"~
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Eileen Fogarty, Director of Planning & Community Development
Subject: Ocean Park Boulevard "Complete Green Street" Improvement Project
Contract Amendment
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council authorize the City Manager to negotiate and
execute an amendment to the professional services agreement No. 8958 (CCS) with
Urban Studio, in the amount of $85,000 for a total contract. amount of $180,000 to
perform necessary geotechnical and traffic analysis and to develop a revised set of
concept plans for the Ocean Park Boulevard "Complete Green Street" Project.
Executive Summary
The Ocean Park Boulevard "Complete Green Street" Project between Lincoln Boulevard
and Nielson Way is being designed to include both functional and aesthetic
improvements to address its character as it relates to the neighborhood, sustainability,
traffic and the way it serves pedestrians, bicyclists and transit riders. The two design
concepts recently brought to City Council are being refined into a "hybrid" concept plan.
This contract amendment increases the scope of work so that Urban Studio, through -its
engineering sub-consultant, .the Mollenhauer Group, can conduct analysis necessary to
determine the permeability and other physical properties of the underlying ground layers
through a geotechnical engineering report. This information will enable the engineering
sub-consultant to make recommendations about the type and variety of sustainability
measures that will be most successfully implemented in the project areas. The
amendment also covers the necessary additional traffic analysis required in response to
direction by Council pertaining to pedestrian crossings. Finally, Urban Studio will revise
the concept drawings to incorporate the recent direction from City Council and input
from others to prepare for the next community workshop and Council adoption of a final
plan.
The Urban Studio amendment is for an amount not to exceed $85,000, bringing the total
not to exceed contract amount to $180,000. Budgeted CIP funds are available in
account #0027002.589000.
Background
The Ocean Park Boulevard "Complete Green Street" project was .initiated by City
Council at the June 12, 2007 budget adoption hearing, where staff was directed to work
with the community to prepare a streetscape plan for Ocean Park Boulevard. Urban
Studio has provided professional services for the development of the Ocean Park
Boulevard streetscape concept plans. Two concepts were presented to City Council on
January 27, 2009, for review and direction. As follow-up to direction received, staff is
working with the consultant to develop a "hybrid" concept plan that will be reviewed. by
the community through a public process, including a third community meeting, before
the plan is brought to City Council in Fall 2009 for adoption.
Discussion
The Urban Studio contract modification will provide information that is critical to the
development of a refined "hybrid" alternative. The desire to combine the best elements
of each concept design while maximizing the water retaining qualities of the proposed
sustainability measures was expressed by the City Council, the Planning Commission,
the Recreation and Parks Commission, and by the community.
The contract modification will advance the refinement of the concept design and will
include three focused efforts prior to the completion of the project's concept
development phase:
1. A geotechnical engineering analysis to answer key questions about soil
infiltration, permeability and ground characteristics. The civil engineer consultant
to Urban Studio, the Mollenhauer Group, will analyze the data for the purpose of
determining the specific type of sustainability features that can be used along the
project area and make detailed recommendations to Urban Studio. Geotechnical
analysis of this nature would usually be conducted during the detailed
engineering phase. It is recommended to proceed now, through consultation
with engineering staff, because the ground characteristics are critical to
determining the project's sustainability features. Further, conducting this work
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under direction of the design consultant will ensure an integrated planning
process.
2. Revised drawings to incorporate a "hybrid" design that will be presented to the
community at a workshop this summer.
3. Traffic analysis of proposed crosswalks and traffic circles to address concerns
raised by the community and Council.
Contractor/Consultant Selection
The procurement of Urban Studio for the Ocean Park Boulevard streetscape
improvement project was facilitated through a widely distributed Request for
Qualifications (RFQ) to develop a list of qualified urban design, planning, architecture
and community facilitation firms for specific work efforts related to the Land Use and
Circulation Element and other planning needs. Nine firms responded.
Urban Studio was selected based on its broad experience working on streetscape and
design/development .projects within Santa Monica and the larger Los Angeles region,
and because of its knowledge and expertise in community facilitation, particularly within
in the Ocean Park neighborhood. .Urban Studio's portfolio includes crosswalk studies
on Main Street and other areas, round-about designs (at 26th street, particularly), and
landscaped boulevard median projects (Wilshire Blvd.). As the design strategy for
Ocean Park Boulevard includes many of these components, Urban Studio's selection
was based on their experience and knowledge working across this range of issues.
Sub-Consultant Selection
Urban Studio's existing contract includes services from two sub-contractors. The
Mollenhauer Group has performed civil engineering analysis and cost estimating while
Fehr & Peers has performed traffic analysis on this project.
The contract modification will allow for the procurement of an additional third sub-
cohtractor to perform geotechnical engineering analysis. The Mollenhauer Group will
assist Urban Studio in requesting proposals from at least four geotechnical firms and
will obtain staff's approval of the recommended firm.
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Budget/Financial Impact
Funds are available in account number 0027002.589000 to amend the contract with
Urban Studio by $85,000 for anew total not to exceed $180,000.
Prepared by:
Peter D. James, Associate Planner, Community and Strategic Planning
Planning & Commun
Department
Forwar ed to Council:
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~-~'P. ont Ewell _
City Manager
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Approved: