1 TO: City Council
FROM: Andrew Vialpando, City Manager
PREPARED BY: Lina Hernandez, Deputy City Manager/Public Works Director MEETING DATE: January 21, 2025
SUBJECT: Monthly Report for the Public Works Department
RECOMMENDATION
Receive and file the report.
BACKGROUND
Water Division Updates
The new Water System Superintendent Van Mesa began with employment with the City on January 6, 2025 and is quickly familiarizing himself with the water system and various CIP water projects. Staff and the Hazen and Sawyer teams have a meeting on January 15 to discuss updates on the status of part ordered, shipment dates, and upcoming training dates in order to begin testing. Staff will be meeting with representatives from the Division of Drinking Water on February 4 to reengage conversations to finalize the permit on schedule for Spring 2025.
Staff continues to participate in meetings with West Basin, MWD, and LA Department of Water and Power (DWP) to construct a new emergency connection with LADWP to support a request for a shutdown of a West Basin connection, WB-08A. MWD has postponed the request for shutdown, but staff is still working to finalize project details for the new emergency connection construction. Lomita staff met with representatives from Cal Water to resume discussions from 2001 about the possible installation of a new interconnection in the Harbor Hils area. A meter connection is being explored as a phased approach that would involve less time, resources and permitting to move this project along. A records search for mutual aid agreements is underway and if none exists, will be brought before the City Council in the near future.
CITY OF LOMITA
CITY COUNCIL REPORT
Item No. {{section.number}}g
2 Water Sources Update – December 2024
Well No. 5 Offline
Groundwater Pumped 0.0 acre-feet
MWD Imported Water 151.8 acre-feet
Water News: https://www.lomitawater.com/news/
Water Quality Reports: https://www.lomitawater.com/oversight/water-quality-reports/ CWPF Tours: https://www.lomitawater.com/water-tours/
Water Division Performance Measures – December 2024
Main Breaks/Leak Repairs 0
Service Connection Breaks/Leaks 0
Water Outages 0
Water Service Requests 50
USA Dig-Alert Tickets 160
Dead-end Fire Hydrant Flushing 103
Meter Maintenance 15
Inspection of Water Facilities Daily
Water Quality Complaints 0
Public Works & Engineering Division Updates
Engineering Division
Capital Improvement Projects updates are available as Exhibit 1 to this report.
Encroachment Permits Reviewed 8
Encroachment Permits Issued 10
Traffic Investigation Requests Reviewed by Technical Traffic Advisory Committee (TTAC) 4
Traffic Investigation Requests Approved for Public Safety and Traffic Commission (PSTC) Review 1
Current Grant Applications 1
Public Safety & Traffic
The Public Safety & Traffic Commission (PSTC) met in December and staff presented an item to consider instituting a parking time limit in front of Hathaway Park to address the limited availability of parking for park patrons. PSTC recommends that the City Council institute a two-hour parking limit between 9:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. consistent with two-hour parking restrictions in other areas of the City. PSTC received an update on the various CIPs and end of year community events. The Technical Traffic Advisory Committee (TTAC) met on December 3rd and reviewed one pending traffic item related to congestion at 245th Street and Narbonne. The Committee also reviewed three parking items and made a recommendation to the PSTC regarding parking at Hathaway Park. 3 City staff has continued to virtually attend the PV Peninsula Project coordination meetings to share information about the Narbonne South project and learn about any projects impacting Lomita.
External Funding
The request for Federal Community Project funding was included in the final draft of a House bill, which passed through the Transportation-HUD Appropriations Subcommittee.
Next step will be for the project is to be considered in the final spending bill which will include earmarks for many projects that help fund local government projects. It is unknown when this will occur in. If approved, these funds are earmarked for the Tom Rico Roof Replacement Project.
Staff received a $15,000 grant from the South Coast Air Quality Management District's (SCAQMD) Commercial Lawn and Garden Equipment Exchange Program. These funds will be used to purchase a new electric riding lawn mover.
Public Works Field Operations Division (Parks/Street/Trees) Updates Parks Division – December 2024
Mowed Park Grounds, number of times 32
Playground Safety Inspections 20
Raised Median/Planter Weeding 25
Park Grounds Fertilize 2
Museum/City Hall Grounds Maintenance 16
Sprinkler Repair/Replacement 22
Trimmed Hedges/Trees (City grounds) 19
Streets and Trees Division – December 2024
Trees Trimmed (by Crew) 56
Trees Trimmed (by Contractor) 0
Graffiti Locations Cleaned 67
City Drains Cleaned 31
Street Signs Replaced or Repaired 25
Potholes Filled / Patches 77
New work order requests 23
Backlog of work orders 164
Total Trees Planted 2
In addition, the Parks Team and the Street/Tree Team assisted with various holiday preparations, including Downtown holiday decorations, Tree Lighting, Tree Lighting 4 event traffic control, and curb painting in Downtown.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Capital Improvement Projects Update
2. Public Works Photo Highlights
Approved by:
_______________________
Andrew Vialpando
City Manager
Prepared by:
__________________________
Lina Hernandez
Deputy City Manager/Public Works Director