MINUTES
MALIBU ADMINISTRATION & FINANCE SUBCOMMITTEE
SPECIAL MEETING
OCTOBER 10, 2023
TELECONFERENCED - VARIOUS LOCATIONS
10:00 A.M.
The following meeting was held pursuant to AB 361 and fully teleconferenced from various locations during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Pro Tem Stewart called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m.
ROLL CALL
The following persons were recorded in attendance:
PRESENT: Mayor Pro Tem Doug Stewart and Councilmember Bruce Silverstein ALSO PRESENT: Steve McClary, City Manager; Joseph Toney, Assistant City Manager; Alexis Brown; Deputy City Manager; Renée Neermann, Finance Manager; Rob DuBoux, Public Works Director; Parker Davis, Media Technician; Brandie Ayala, Administrative Analyst; and Kathleen Stecko, Deputy City Clerk
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
MOTION Mayor Pro Tem Stewart moved, and Councilmember Silverstein seconded a motion to approve the agenda. The question was called, and the motion carried unanimously.
REPORT ON POSTING OF AGENDA
Deputy City Clerk Stecko reported that the agenda for the meeting was properly posted on posted on October 6, 2023.
ITEM 1 PRESENTATIONS
None.
ITEM 2 OLD BUSINESS
None.
ITEM 3 NEW BUSINESS
A. Approval of Minutes – June 14, 2023
Recommended Action: Approve the minutes for the Administration and Finance Subcommittee Special meeting of June 14, 2023.
Malibu Administration and Finance Subcommittee
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Minutes of October 10, 2023
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MOTION Mayor Pro Tem Stewart moved, and Councilmember Silverstein seconded a motion to approve the minutes for the Administration and Finance Subcommittee Special meeting of June 14, 2023. The question was called, and the motion carried unanimously.
B. Funding For Trancas Canyon Park Upper and Lower Slopes Repair Project Recommended Action: Provide a recommendation to the City Council to increase the appropriation an additional $1,117,665 for the Trancas Canyon Park Upper and Lower Slope Repairs Project, reallocate $254,105 from the fund balance of the Broad Beach Road Water Quality Improvements Project, and allocate $863,550 from the General Fund Undesignated Reserve to the project, for a total revised budget of $1,974,626.
Public Works Director DuBoux presented the staff report.
Mayor Pro Tem Stewart opened the floor to public comment. As there were no speakers present, he closed public comment.
In response to Councilmember Silverstein, Public Works Director DuBoux stated that the contractor had worked on four projects for the City since 2012. He stated that timing and how busy contractors were impacted the quantity of bids received.
He stated that they had conducted research to check that the one bid received was comparable to other bids for similar projects and it was found to be the case. He stated another option was to reject the bid, and start the bidding process over, but in his experience the bids tended to not be any less than the one that was originally received.
Mayor Pro Tem Stewart stated that he was also troubled by having only received one bid.
In response to Mayor Pro Tem Stewart, Public Works Director DuBoux stated that a claim for the estimated amount of the repair was submitted to the City’s insurance company but was rejected.
Administrative Analyst Ayala further elaborated that she was informed by the insurance claim adjuster, that the 2018 Woolsey Fire claim was closed, and they were unable to reopen the claim.
In response to Mayor Pro Tem Stewart, Public Works Director DuBoux stated that an extensive process was followed to complete the necessary steps for the project to be ready to send out to bid. He stated that repairs to the cracked drain swales were necessary to prevent further erosion, and ultimate failure of the slope, which could cause flooding in the Malibu Park area. He stated the location made it difficult to repair, and that the work would take approximately one month. He stated that there was some initial repair of the sprinkler system, but there were more irrigation repairs needed.
Malibu Administration and Finance Subcommittee
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In response to Councilmember Silverstein, Public Works Director DuBoux stated that the contractor was based in Woodland Hills and had worked with Malibu in the past, but beyond that, he was not aware of any further relationship.
Councilmember Silverstein stated that he was disturbed that the work was not included in the insurance claim. He stated that he was critical of the rush to settle with Southern California Edison, that deprived the City of tens of millions of dollars for the fee waivers, this matter, and others. He stated that he was the only person who stood up as a resident at the time and said that the City was settling too quickly, that they were serving the contingency interests of the lawyers who represented the City, and that they should have taken their time and done it right and the City was now paying the costs of a rush to judgement. He stated that they did not have any choice but to authorize the repair expenditure, since they were being told that this was a disaster ready to happen, and that there was potential liability if it was not repaired and it caused flooding, damaged homes, or impacted the water system.
In response to Councilmember Silverstein, Public Works Director DuBoux stated that attempts at cost reduction and inviting new bids could be explored.
Councilmember Silverstein stated that he trusted Public Works Director DuBoux’s assessment that it was doubtful lower bids would be submitted.
Mayor Pro Tem Stewart stated that a copy of the contract, as well as the projected start and end date of the repair work should be included in the report to Council.
MOTION Councilmember Silverstein moved, and Mayor Pro Tem Stewart seconded a motion to recommend to the City Council to increase the appropriation an additional $1,117,665 for the Trancas Canyon Park Upper and Lower Slope Repairs Project, reallocate $254,105 from the fund balance of the Broad Beach Road Water Quality Improvements Project, and allocate $863,550 from the General Fund Undesignated Reserve to the project, for a total revised budget of $1,974,626. The question was called, and the motion carried unanimously.
C. Funding for Video Broadcasting Services for City Meetings and Events Recommended Action: Provide a recommendation to the City Council on the appropriation of an additional $115,500 from the General Fund Undesignated Reserve for Video Broadcast Services.
Deputy City Manager Brown presented the report.
Mayor Pro Tem Stewart opened the floor to public comment. As there were no speakers present, he closed public comment.
In response to Mayor Pro Tem Stewart, Deputy City Manager Brown stated that the requested funds were for the purchase of broadcast services and an engineering team to develop a projected timeline for replacement of equipment. She stated that Malibu Administration and Finance Subcommittee
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the broadcast management included contract technicians working at City Council and Planning Commission meetings and other City events in addition to troubleshooting services and equipment repair. She stated that $95,000 was for broadcast services, and the remainder of the amount requested would be one-time monies. She stated that the requested funds were for the recommendation phase that would provide the end-of-life term of the equipment and moving forward they would know what amount needed to be budgeted. She stated that the City would go out for bid as a separate project for the actual phase out and implementation and purchase of new equipment. She stated staff would have to return to the subcommittee for additional funds in the next budget cycle.
In response to Mayor Pro Tem Stewart, Deputy City Manager Brown stated that the City had worked with Pegasus Studios, which was based in Moorpark, in an interim capacity over the past three months. She stated that they were highly recommended and had worked with the cities of Simi Valley, Moorpark, and Camarillo. She stated that Media Technician Parker Davis had acted as the project manager since the departure of previous media staff. She stated that they were creating continuity of services documents to cross-train City personnel to work the meetings internally and in conjunction with Pegasus personnel who stepped in to fill the void left by the departure of the City’s media analyst.
In response to Councilmember Silverstein, Assistant Manager Toney stated that there would never be zero costs associated with in-house run meetings, as there would be compensation and benefits expenses. He stated that he thought in-house run meetings cost more than contracting out for services. He stated that although sometimes overtime pay was involved, the City tried to flex schedules to avoid that added expense, but salary and benefits were the main contributing factors to the expense.
Councilmember Silverstein stated that the whole dais needed to be revamped and that it would be a better use of money to do it right once. He stated that having the Council up on a stage created undue separation from the residents. He stated that having the Councilmembers seated in a semicircle was a better configuration than how they were currently seated next to each other in a line where they could not see each other.
In response to Councilmember Silverstein, Assistant City Manager Toney stated that the block in the middle of the audience seats was leftover audio-visual equipment from the room’s prior use as an auditorium. He stated that there was another project initiative that involved removal of the old equipment and replacing it with a walkway.
Deputy City Manager Brown added that although the equipment in the middle of the room was not in use for the City’s meetings, it may be wired into the City’s equipment, and it was not a matter of just equipment removal.
Malibu Administration and Finance Subcommittee
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Councilmember Silverstein stated that the cameras were not always centered properly on the person speaking and it was not possible to look at the live audience and remote viewers simultaneously. He stated that he did not like the idea of spending $200,000 and throwing that away because there would need to be subsequent work done to provide a state of the art, appropriate, and residentfriendly forum.
Assistant City Manager Toney stated that it would always be an awkward set-up until a more permanent chamber for Council meetings was provided. He stated that it was a repurposed theater with removable components, so for the time being equipment replacement was the best option until an entire revamp of the space could be contemplated, which was a much longer-term project. He stated that equipment needed to be replaced every five or so years because as technology improved, equipment became outdated and incompatible with the City’s systems and software.
Councilmember Silverstein acknowledged that the City had a lot on its plate, and it was already agreed upon to reduce the number of projects, but he inquired when it was anticipated that the City would have a state-of-the-art room for the City’s business that the residents could be proud of.
In response to Councilmember Silverstein, Assistant City Manager Toney stated that the City had already started the process by beginning to determine the use of currently vacant land in the Civic Center area, but there were no immediate plans to rebuild the current room.
Councilmember Silverstein stated that if the goal was to improve the current situation and get it back into a better operational mode, this sounded like a reasonable proposal. He stated that he preferred to have this done in-house, since people were already being paid for the hours.
In response to Councilmember Silverstein, Assistant City Manager Toney stated that there was plenty of work for City staff, and Deputy City Manager Brown concurred. He confirmed that there would be fewer in-house employees required during the meeting with contract workers in the audio-visual room providing support, as was currently being done.
Mayor Pro Tem Stewart stated that it was more efficient to contract with people who were experts in the field who did that type of work on a regular basis, rather than having in-house staff complete the work. He concurred with Councilmember Silverstein that the Council Chamber was a cold statement to the people who visited and stated other City’s had facilities which were much more intimate. He stated that the current set-up was not ideal, and he did not want to divert any projects, but in the long term the matter should be addressed.
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MOTION Mayor Pro Tem Stewart moved to recommend to the City Council the appropriation of an additional $115,500 from the General Fund Undesignated Reserve for Video Broadcast Services and to include more detail in the report to Council.
FRIENDLY AMENDMENT
Councilmember Silverstein seconded the motion and moved to amend the motion to direct staff to come back to the Subcommittee and request additional funding, if necessary.
The amendment was accepted by the maker of the motion.
The question was called, and the amended motion carried unanimously.
ADJOURNMENT
At 10:42 a.m., Mayor Pro Tem Stewart adjourned the meeting.
Approved and adopted by the Administration and Finance
Subcommittee of the City of Malibu on November 06, 2023. _______________________________
DOUG STEWART, Mayor Pro Tem
ATTEST:
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CYNTHIA ALBA, Executive Assistant