Fremont City Council Meeting: 11/15/22 07:00 PM
3300 Capitol Avenue Div/Dept: Environmental Services
Fremont, CA 94538 Category: Agreements and Contracts
SCHEDULED
Sponsors:
STAFF REPORT (ID # 4749) DOC ID: 4749
Updated: 11/8/2022 11:10 AM by Alberto Quintanilla Page 1
HOMELESS ENCAMPMENT AND ILLEGAL DUMPING ABATEMENT CONTRACT AMENDMENT - Amend Contract for Homeless Encampment and Illegal Dumping Abatement Services with Art Cuevas Landscaping to Increase the Total Contract Amount from $617,120 to $1,255,120 and Find that the Project is Exempt from Review Under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) per CEQA Guidelines 15304 and 15307.
Contact Persons:
Name: Kathleen Cote-Guarnieri Suzanne Wolf
Title: Environmental Services Manager Community Services Director Div/Dept: Environmental Services Community Services
Phone: 510-494-4583 510-494-4329
E-Mail: [email protected] [email protected]
Executive Summary: Staff is recommending the City Council authorize the City Manager, or designee, to execute an amendment to the City’s contract with Art Cuevas Landscaping for homeless encampment and illegal dumping abatement services to increase the contract from $617,120 to $1,255,120. This increase is necessary to continue providing the existing level of weekly abatement services through June 30, 2024. The abatements will appropriately manage anticipated waste volumes generated, preserve public health and safety, and enable the City to meet its stormwater permit obligations.
The City’s homeless population growth has increased the need for abatement services. As a result of increasing community demand, in fiscal year 2022/23 encampment abatements were expanded from one to two days every other week to a minimum of two days per week with an enhanced cleanup scheduled at one of the City’s seven largest and continuously populated sites every six to eight weeks. Cleanups are led by the Environmental Services Division and enhanced cleanups typically also include Police Department and Mobile Evaluation Team (MET) intervention, vehicle towing, burned vehicle and illegal structure dismantling, and large quantities of debris removal.
Due to the increased need for services, an additional $638,000 is necessary to continue the existing level of service through the current contract term of June 30, 2024. This increase would be funded through the Integrated Waste Management Fund and there would be no General Fund impact. The approved 2022/23 Integrated Waste Management budget reflected this increased level of activity, so no additional budget appropriation is necessary.
BACKGROUND: Fremont’s storm drain system, like most Bay Area cities and counties, is regulated by a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit, issued by the San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board. This permit, commonly referred to as the Municipal Regional Permit (MRP), imposes requirements intended to reduce impacts to water quality from urban runoff. The MRP includes obligations to implement actions to prevent trash and debris from entering the City’s waterways and meet trash reduction targets specified in the permit. The permit also includes requirements to prevent adverse water quality impacts from illegal dumping and homeless encampments.
Staff Report (ID # 4749) Meeting of November 15, 2022
Updated: 11/8/2022 11:10 AM by Alberto Quintanilla Page 2 To preserve the public health and safety and comply with obligations the City has under the MRP, City staff monitor approximately 200 previously or currently active homeless encampment sites throughout Fremont. Approximately 25-30% of sites are active at any given time. Staff also monitors sites prone to illegal dumping. These sites are assessed and included in the weekly abatement schedule as needed.
Homeless encampment and illegal dumping abatements were initially conducted one to two days every two weeks but have increased as the City’s homeless population and need for additional abatement services has expanded.
DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS: The City’s homeless population grew approximately 68% from 2019 to 2022 increasing the number of abatement days required to manage the waste volumes generated. In response to community complaints and the assessment of field conditions, abatement was increased from 2 days every other week to 2-3 days per week.
This has increased contract costs, which include total manhours paid at prevailing wage rates, disposal costs for debris removed, and fees for specialized equipment needed for burned vehicle or illegal structure dismantling. The expenditure rate for FY 2022/23 is anticipated to be $31,000 per month. FY 2023/24 will be slightly higher at $32,500 per month due to anticipated prevailing wage adjustments.
Under the current contract terms, the City establishes the scheduling, location and scope of abatement activities. The recommended contract amendment will increase funding to continue the City’s current level of abatement activity through June 30, 2024, but it will not modify the obligations of the parties, which are described below.
The contractor duties and responsibilities would continue to include the following services on a weekly schedule:
• Clean-up duties of trash removal, dismantling of makeshift structures, and removal of inhibiting vegetation.
• Providing labor, materials, tools, equipment, personnel, transportation, and supervision of workers.
• Coordination with City on site-by-site basis to determine work order for each encampment clean-up.
• Removal of debris and self-hauled materials for disposal to the Fremont Recycling and Transfer facility.
• Work to be performed under the Agreement is subject to State prevailing wage and labor law and contractor must be registered with the California Department of Industrial Relations to perform public work under Labor Code section 1725.5.
The City’s responsibilities would continue to include:
• Surveying homeless encampment sites and illegal dumping sites to determine site conditions and schedule site(s) for clean-up.
• Tagging and posting at homeless encampment sites with the “Notice of Cleanup” notice placards that provides a minimum of a 72-hour notice. • Police MET team assistance at some locations during both postings and abatements. • Notifying contractor with clean-up project notifications that include detail and relevant information.
• Photographing posted notices, and before and after the clean-ups.
Staff Report (ID # 4749) Meeting of November 15, 2022
Updated: 11/8/2022 11:10 AM by Alberto Quintanilla Page 3 • Providing and coordinating any safety requirements for road closures in accordance with OSHA safety regulations on an as-needed basis to safely remove debris at sites. • Inspecting the homeless encampment sites on public property to determine personal property observed and removed, and follow the “Policy on Unattended Property located on Public Property or R-O-W.”
In summary, the amendment will increase the contract amount from $617,120 to $1,255,120 to provide for the continuation of homeless encampment and illegal dumping debris abatement at current levels through June 30, 2024.
FISCAL IMPACT: The increased funding is allocated from the Integrated Waste Management Fund (Fund 115). This ongoing need for abatement services was incorporated into the 2022/23 solid waste collection rates. The FY 2022/23 anticipated contract cost wa s included in the approved Integrated Waste Management budget and will be incorporated into the 2023/24 budget submittal. There is no General Fund impact.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW: The proposed abatement of homeless encampment and illegal dumping waste is exempt from further environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Section 15304 as the project consists of trash removal with possible minor alterations to land or vegetation that will result in improvement of habitat for fish and wildlife resources and Guideline 15307 as the cleanups will protect the City’s waterways from trash and other discharges in to the waterways and other water resources.
ATTACHMENTS: None.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
1. Authorize the City Manager, or designee, to execute a contract amendment with Art Cuevas Landscaping for homeless encampment and illegal dumping abatement expiring June 30, 2024, not to exceed $1,255,120.
2. Find that the project is exempt from review under the California Environmental Q uality Act (CEQA) per CEQA Guidelines Section 15304 (Minor Alterations to Land) and Guidelines Section 15307 (Actions by Regulatory Agencies for Protection of Natural Resources).