Fremont City Council Meeting: 04/16/24 07:00 PM
3300 Capitol Avenue Div/Dept: Environmental Services
Fremont, CA 94538 Category: Agreements and Contracts
SCHEDULED
Sponsors:
COUNCIL STAFF REPORT (ID # 5136) DOC ID: 5136
Updated: 4/11/2024 4:13 PM by Dina Lewis 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 by $150,000 from $1,255,120 to $1,405,120 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
Title: Environmental Services Manager
Div/Dept: Environmental Services
Phone: 510-494-4583
E-Mail: [email protected]
Executive Summary: The City contracts with Art Cuevas Landscaping services for weekly homeless encampment abatement services. The City determines the abatement schedule and has the flexibility to adjust abatement days and sites based on field conditions. In response to increasing community demand, effective October 2023, encampment abatements were expanded from two days per week to 2.5 days per week with an enhanced cleanup scheduled at one of the City’s seven largest and continuously populated sites approximately every seven weeks. Staff is recommending increasing the not-to-exceed contract amount to reflect the increase in abatement days.
This contract has been in place for nearly five years and is set to expire June 30, 2024.
Consistent with City purchasing policy, staff will be initiating an RFP process to ensure abatement services continue after the current contract expires. Staff is recommending the amendment include a contingency for July and August 2024 cleanups that can be used at the City’s discretion. This would ensure there is no interruption in abatement cleanups even if a new contract is not in place prior to July 1.
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 $150,000 from $1,255,120 to $1,404,120. This increase is necessary to continue providing the existing level of weekly abatement services of 2.5 days per week through June 30, 2024 and provides a contingency for July and August 2024 cleanups to safeguard against any disruption in service.
This increase would be funded through the Integrated Waste Management Fund and there would be no General Fund impact. There is adequate Integrated Waste Management budget, 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 Council Staff Report (ID # 5136) Meeting of April 16, 2024 Updated: 4/11/2024 4:13 PM by Dina Lewis Page 2
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.
To preserve the public health and safety and comply with obligations the City has under the MRP, City staff monitor over 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 on average 25-30 locations are addressed in each week’s abatement schedule.
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: In response to evolving field conditions and community complaints, encampment abatement was increased from 2 days per week to 2.5 days per week starting October 2023. Enhanced cleanups have also been scheduled approximately every 7 weeks and 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.
The increased abatement activity 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.
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, with a City option to extend through August 2024 if needed. The total recommended increase is $150,000, which would increase the contract not-to-exceed from $1,255,120 to $1,404,120.
The amendment would 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; and
• 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.
Council Staff Report (ID # 5136) Meeting of April 16, 2024 Updated: 4/11/2024 4:13 PM by Dina Lewis Page 3
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; • 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; and
• 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.”
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 2024/25 solid waste collection rates. There is adequate funding available in the approved 2023/24 Integrated Waste Management budget and anticipated abatement costs have been incorporated into the 2024/25 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 services to increase the not-to-exceed contract amount from $1,255,120 to $1,404,120 and include a City option to extend the agreement from June 30, 2024 to August 31, 2024.
2. Find that the project is exempt from review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) per CEQA Guidelines Section 15304 (Minor Alterations to Land) and Guidelines Section 15307 (Actions by Regulatory Agencies for Protection of Natural Resources).