Parking was not the only topic of discussion at the Santa Monica City Council’s April 26 meeting, as the board approved several interesting measures and items with significant economic or cultural impact for local residents and visitors.
Council members approved the Emergency Interim Ordinance as well as the 18-month extension of the Interim Ordinance currently in place, allowing a development agreement (DA) process to remaining in place and allow city officials the ability to ensure development plans for Tier 2 and Tier 3 projects remain consistent with the Land Use and Circulation Element (LUCE).
With two options presented to it by city staff, the Council unanimously opted for pipeline projects to be considered under the administrative approval process with broad Transportation Demand Management restrictions, as opposed to a suggested streamlined DA approval process “with more limited community benefits.”
Among the consent calendar issues to note include the authorization for City Manager Rod Gould to “negotiate and execute a proposed License Agreement with Cirque du Soleil … for theatrical performances from January 2 through March 30, 2012” at the parking lot located just north of the Santa Monica Pier on Pacific Coast Highway.
Cirque du Soleil will present “Ovo” and will pay $981,253 in rental fees for use of the parking lot at 1550 Pacific Coast Highway.
The Council also awarded to Bike and Park, LLC, a two-year contract with two 2-year renewal options to operate the new bike transit mobility center in Parking Structures 7 and 8. Bike and Park will be paid up to $120,000 during the initial two-year term.
“The center (when complete) will serve as a bike and multi-modal ‘hub’ for the downtown community, offering secure parking, showers and lockers for regular commuters, and attended parking, bike repairs, rentals, travel information and related services for all,” Planning Director Eileen Fogarty stated.
Gould was also instructed to negotiate and execute a five-year contract worth as much as $871,766 with Irvine-based ICF International “to operate, maintain, and monitor the landfill gas extraction system currently operating at the City’s Municipal Yard.”
“Portions of the City Yard and Stewart Street Park lie over an inactive landfill. In response to the potential hazard posed by gases generated by the decomposition of the materials in the landfill, the City has installed and is operating a landfill gas extraction and treatment system to collect and treat the landfill gases,” Dean Kubani, director of Office of Sustainability and the Environment, stated. “Due to the complexity and specialized nature of the engineered system, it is necessary that these services be provided by a consultant experienced in landfill gas projects.”
Another agreement Gould was authorized to negotiate, albeit during the ordinances portion of the agenda, was cooperation agreements with the Exposition Metro Line Construction Authority and Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority with respect to the planned arrival of the light rail system in Santa Monica.
However, the agreement will not be in effect until it is presented to and approved by the Council.
Lastly, Gould was also authorized to negotiate and execute a contract of nearly $2.5 million with MNR Construction, Inc. for the Water Main Replacement Project; the potential contract includes construction management and inspection services contract to Black and Veatch for just under $250,000.
“Approximately 11,700 lineal feet of existing ductile iron water mains will be replaced with larger diameter ductile iron water pipes,” Pastucha stated. “The proposed improvements will insure continuous and reliable water supply.”
