SR 03-09-2021 3A
City Council Report
City Council Meeting: March 9, 2021
Agenda Item: 3.A
1 of 3
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Rick Valte, Acting Public Works Director, Public Works, Engineering and
Street Services
Subject: Adoption of Resolution Authorizing the Director of Public Works, City
Engineer, and Capital Program Manager to sign Notices of Completion for
Capital Projects
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that City Council:
1. Repeal Resolution 3728 (Attachment A) which authorizes the Director of
Public Works to sign notices of completion in addition to the City Manager.
2. Adopt the attached resolution (Attachment B) to authorize the Director of
Public Works, City Engineer, and Capital Program Manager to sign Notices of
Completion in addition to the City Manager.
Summary
To streamline internal administrative processes, staff recommend authorizing the City
Engineer and the Capital Program Manager, as well as the Public Works Director and
City Manager, to execute Notices of Completion for City Capital Projects. The City must
withhold five percent of all payments until the Notice of Completion is filed with the
County. Currently, only the Public Works Director and City Manager are authorized to
execute such notices. Allowing these two additional division heads the authority to
execute Notices of Completion would significantly decrease internal administrative
processes involved in routing documents for signatures and facilitate the return of
retention withholds to contractors within the 60-day time limit from project completion.
Discussion
When City staff remit construction contract payments, five percent of each payment is
held by the City in a retention account. The five percent retention cannot be fully
released to the contractor until construction is completed and the Notice of Completion
has been recorded with Los Angeles County for at least 30 days per Civil Code Section
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9356(a). In addition, California Public Contract Code Section 7107(c) states that the
retention should be released within 60 days of date of the completion of the work.
Under current City processes, a Notice of Completion takes roughly a month to be
routed internally and sent to the County for recording. A Notice of Completion is
reviewed by staff with a quality control checklist before it is reviewed and approved by
the Director of Public Works. It then takes approximately two additional weeks for the
Notice of Completion to be processed and recorded by County staff, which initiates the
30-day waiting period where stop notice claimants (such as suppliers and
subcontractors) can file a stop notice against the prime contractor for underpayment or
failure to pay. In total, the recordation of a Notice of Completion takes approximately
two and a half months, which exceeds the 60-day time limit mandated by California
Public Contract Code for retention release.
Allowing the City Engineer and Capital Program Manager to sign and execute the
Notice of Completion would significantly reduce internal processing time and increase
overall efficiency. This would also bring the City closer to the 60-day time limit for
retention release. In addition, it would provide time for the Director of Public Works to
address other, more pressing responsibilities. The Notice of Completion itself is a one-
page document that confirms the project was completed in accordance with the date
provided within the document. The City Engineer and Capital Program Manager are
qualified to confirm and execute this document.
Allowing the City Engineer and Capital Program Manager to execute Notices of
Completion would reduce staff time required for document routing, decrease overall
project close-out times, and facilitate compliance with the 60-day retention release
statute.
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Past Council Actions
Meeting Date Description
04/23/1968 (Attachment A) Resolution No. 3728 authorizing the Director of Public
Works to sign notices of completion in addition to the
City Manager.
Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
There is no financial impact or budget action necessary as a result of the recommended
action.
Prepared By: Zach Pollard, Prinicipal Civil Engineer
Approved
Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. Resolution 3728
B. Proposed Resolution
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RESOLUTION NO. 372
CITY COUNCIL SERIES)
A RESOLUTION OF THE CT.TY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
SANTA MONTCA AUTHORIZING THE pIRECTOR OF PUBLIC
WORIGS TO SIGN NOTICES OF COMPLETION IN ADDITION
TO THE CITY MANAGER
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA DOES HEREBY
RESOLVE AS FOLLOGdS o
SECTION 1. The Director of Public taorlcs is herewith
authorized to sign notices of completion in addition to the City
Managero
SECTION 2. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption
of this resolution, and thenceforth and thereafter the same shall
be in full force and effect
ADOPTED and APPROVED this 23rd day of April, 196.
x. ~
ATTESTo May
I hereby certify that the foregoing resolution was duly
adopted by the City Council of the City of Santa Monica at a
regular meeting thereof,held on the 23rd day
of April 1966,by the following vote of the
Councilo
AYESe Councilrnens Corey, Dituri, Hoover,
Reidy, Vlamsley, Spurgin
NOESo Councilmeno
ABSENTa ~ouncilmene
APPPOVED AS T_O FORM o
i'~ ~~ ~ -~fT ~~_ ,
r ,--~
City Attorney
None
Sorensen / ,,~.
Ci C1erI:
z .,
3.A.a
Packet Pg. 13 Attachment: Resolution 3728 (4394 : Resolution to Delegate Authority for NOCs)
1
City Council Meeting March 9, 2021 Santa Monica, California
RESOLUTION NUMBER (CCS)
(City Council Series)
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL
OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA AUTHORIZING THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC
WORKS, THE CITY ENGINEER, AND THE CAPITAL PROGRAM MANAGER TO SIGN
NOTICES OF COMPLETION IN ADDITION TO THE CITY MANAGER
WHEREAS, in accordance with state law, a notice of completion must be filed in a
timely manner upon completion of a public works project to notify potential stop notice
claimants that a specific public works project has been completed and to shorten the period
in which stop notices may be filed; and
WHEREAS, City Council Resolution Number 3728, which was adopted in 1968,
authorizes the Director of Public Works to execute notices of completion in addition to the
City Manager; and
WHEREAS, due to the large volume of contracts handled by the City’s Department
of Public Works in the years since Resolution Number 3728 was adopted, it has become
necessary to authorize additional individuals to execute notices of completion in order to
increase the efficiency of contract administration and ensure the timely filing of notices of
completion; and
WHEREAS, the Director of Public Works, City Engineer, and Capital Program
Managers are equally competent to execute notices of completion in addition to the City
Manager;
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Packet Pg. 14 Attachment: Proposed Resolution (4394 : Resolution to Delegate Authority for NOCs)
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NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
DOES HEREBY RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Resolution Number 3728 is hereby repealed.
SECTION 2. The Director of Public Works, the City Engineer, and the Capital
Program Manager are herewith authorized to sign notices of completion in addition to the
City Manager.
SECTION 3. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this Resolution, and
thenceforth and thereafter the same shall be in full force and effect.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
GEORGE S. CARDONA
Interim City Attorney
3.A.b
Packet Pg. 15 Attachment: Proposed Resolution (4394 : Resolution to Delegate Authority for NOCs)
3
Adopted and approved this ________________________.
Mayor
I hereby certify that the foregoing Resolution No. was duly and regularly
introduced and approved at a meeting of the City Council on the _________________ by
the following vote:
Ayes:
Noes:
Abstain:
Absent:
3.A.b
Packet Pg. 16 Attachment: Proposed Resolution (4394 : Resolution to Delegate Authority for NOCs)