Agenda Item
City Council
Item #: 3.4. 7/12/2022 File #: 22-0234
TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THRU: Rob Houston, City Manager
FROM: Leslie Hardy, Community Services Director
1. SUBJECT
First Amendment to the Agreement with Nieves Landscape, Inc. for landscape maintenance services for the Santiago Hills Landscape Maintenance Assessment District.
2. SUMMARY
An amendment to the agreement with Nieves Landscape, Inc. for turf replacement on medians with California Friendly plants in the Santiago Hills Landscape Maintenance Assessment District as part of a turf rebate program offered through the Municipal Water District of Orange County. The rebate program is offered to qualified applicants as an incentive to replace turf in order to meet State drought regulations.
3. RECOMMENDED ACTION
1. Approve the first amendment to the Agreement with Nieves Landscape, Inc. in the amount of $262,735 for necessary median landscape maintenance within the Santiago Hills Landscape Maintenance Assessment District; and authorize the Mayor and City Clerk to execute on behalf of the City.
2. Approve transfer of $262,735 from account 291.7024.56015.20255 - Santiago Hills LAD General Renovations to account 291.7024.51431.00000 - Landscape Maintenance - City Property.
4. FISCAL IMPACT
The total expenditure for this amendment $262,735 and will be funded through Santiago Hills Landscape Maintenance (291).
5. STRATEGIC PLAN GOALS
Goal 3: Enhance and promote quality of life in the community a: Renovate, maintain, develop, and/or expand public use places and spaces.
6. DISCUSSION AND BACKGROUND
Background
Landscaping in the common areas in the Santiago Hills Landscape Maintenance Assessment District (District) is managed and maintained by the Community Services Department and paid for by the property owners within the District through two annual assessments on each property, Landscape Maintenance District No. 86-2 (LMD 86-2) and Landscape Maintenance District No. 15-1 (LMD 15-1).
City of Orange Printed on 7/7/2022Page 1 of 3
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Item #: 3.4. 7/12/2022 File #: 22-0234
Maintenance District No. 86-2 (LMD 86-2) and Landscape Maintenance District No. 15-1 (LMD 15-1).
The City utilizes contract services to maintain landscape for the District, including the landscaped medians throughout.
On January 2, the State Water Board adopted an emergency regulation to conserve water, which became effective on January 18. In late March, Governor Newsom announced that future water restrictions were forthcoming as the state moved into a Stage 2 water shortage. As part of the water restrictions, the use of potable water for irrigation of turf on street medians was prohibited. Although adjustments were made to the irrigation systems in order to provide sufficient water to median trees for their health and safety, the turf is no longer viable under the current water regulations.
Discussion
The Municipal Water District of Orange County (MWDOC) is offering a rebate of $1- $3 per square foot for turf replacement with California Friendly plants for qualified applicants. The medians in the District are eligible for this rebate which include the medians on Chapman Ave. between Newport Blvd. and Jamboree Rd., on Newport Blvd. between Chapman Ave. and Santiago Canyon Rd, on Santiago Canyon Rd. between Newport and Jamboree, and the small median on White Oak Ridge near Newport Blvd.
As the City is a qualified applicant for the rebate program, staff is recommending that the turf within the medians identified be removed and replaced with Myoporum Parvifolium, the low growing ground cover which has been installed on other medians throughout the District. By completing the turf replacement, the medians will be watered within current restrictions, thus allowing the medians to maintain a consistent green appearance to meet community standards while utilizing outside funding to offset the replacement cost.
Nieves Landscape Inc. (Nieves), the City’scurrent landscape contractor, submitted a proposal of $238,850 to complete the maintenance effort. Staff is requesting that the City Council approve the proposed first amendment to the Agreement with Nieves to complete the necessary landscape maintenance. In addition, the amendment includes a 10% contingency of $23,885, bringing the total not-to-exceed amount to $262,735.
The total expenditure will be funded through the Santiago Hills Landscape Maintenance District (291). Depending on the amount awarded by MWDOC, the rebate could range between $58,000 and $174,000 for the turf replacement. With this rebate, the impact to the District’sfund would range between $88,735 to $204,735.
In order to fund this this maintenance, staff is recommending putting on hold the District’sexisting Capital Improvement Project (CIP 20255), which included the renovation of the corners at White Oak Ridge and Newport Blvd and re-appropriating funding for the District’sexisting CIP to the Santiago Hills Landscape Maintenance operating budget to cover the remaining costs for the turf replacement.
Pending the City Council’sapproval, staff will submit an application for the rebate to MWDOC by the end of July. Work will begin once the application and project are approved by MWDOC. In the event that the City’sapplication is not approved, the proposed maintenance effort would not move forward.
Should there be remaining funds after the completion of the turf replacement, the existing CIP will be revisited.
Staff sent an email in June updating homeowners and residents on the turf replacement project to the email distribution list, posted on the City’swebsite, and posted a message on Nextdoor notifying City of Orange Printed on 7/7/2022Page 2 of 3
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Item #: 3.4. 7/12/2022 File #: 22-0234
email distribution list, posted on the City’swebsite, and posted a message on Nextdoor notifying followers that the website had been updated. As of the writing of this report, staff received one positive comment in response.
7. ATTACHMENTS
· First Amendment to the Agreement with Nieves Landscape City of Orange Printed on 7/7/2022Page 3 of 3
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