City Council
Staff Report
From: City Manager
Report Type: CONSENT CALENDAR
Lead Department: Community Services
Meeting Date: April 6, 2026
Report #:2602-5909
TITLE
Approval of Amendment Number 2 to Contract Number S20178516 with Hohbach-Lewin Inc. to Increase Compensation by $10,000, Revising the Amount Not-to-Exceed to $70,000 and Extend the Contract Term Through March 30, 2029, for On-Call Structural Engineering Services for Public Art Installations; CEQA Status – exempt under regulation 15061(b)(3).
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that City Council approve and authorize the City Manager or their designee to execute Amendment No. 2 to Contract No. S20178516 with Hohbach-Lewin, Inc. (Attachment A) to approve additional funds in the amount of $10,000, and extend the contract term through March 30, 2029 to provide on-call structural engineering services for various public art installations. This amendment results in a revised total not-to-exceed $70,000.
BACKGROUND
The City of Palo Alto’s Public Art Program manages the public art in municipal project funds transferred annually as part of the budget cycle in accordance with Municipal Code section
2.26.070 (Public Art for Municipal Projects). The Public Art Program oversees the implementation of expanded public art programming, including permanent projects in the Capital Improvement Program (CIP), temporary public art installations, Cubberley Artist Studio Program, and the Code:ART interactive media festival. Engineered stamped drawings and calculations are required for many temporary and all permanent public art installations. Costs associated with structural engineering services are often prohibitive for artists creating temporary public art installations as their overall budgets are limited.
Therefore, an informal solicitation took place inviting five vendors to apply and Hohbach-Lewin Inc. was the only firm to submit a proposal. In April 2020 the Public Art Program entered into the initial professional services agreement S20178516 with Hohbach-Lewin Inc. to provide on- call structural engineering services for various public art projects, in the amount of $50,000
with a term through April 30, 20231. In May 2023, Amendment No. 1 to extend the term through April 30, 2026, and add funds in the amount of $10,000 to account for higher hourly wages and various project costs was approved by City Council2.
ANALYSIS
Per Palo Alto Municipal Code (PAMC § 2.30.2503), although the Professional Services Agreement No. S20178516 with Hohbach-Lewin Inc. is within the City Manager’s signature authority approval level, it requires City Council approval due to the overall duration of the agreement. Under this agreement, the consultant has been providing a range of structural engineering services that has been instrumental in implementing temporary public art installations for a variety of projects, including King Artist-in-Residence program, Code:ART festival, as well as integration of a permanent mounting support system to display rotating large-scale temporary murals on a façade wall of the new Sherman Avenue public parking garage.
Public Art Program staff rely on the services provided by Hohbach-Lewin, Inc. to create impactful installations of high artistic value designed and fabricated to provide the safety and protection of the project, the public, City staff, surrounding structures and elements due to wind, seismic, or other typical potential hazards.
In FY2027-28, Public Art program staff anticipate completing a number of temporary public art installations and special projects, including temporary public art installations for the King Artist- in-Residence Program, the Code:ART 2027 interactive media festival, and installation of large- scale digitally printed temporary murals for the Sherman Ave parking garage. Due to the scale, complexity, and public-facing nature of these installations, the projects are not feasible to complete without professional structural engineering support.
FISCAL/RESOURCE IMPACT
1 Professional Services Agreement No. S20178516 with Hohbach-Lewin Inc for On-Call Structural Engineering Services for Public Art; https://www.paloalto.gov/files/assets/public/v/1/community-services/public-art- program/staff-reports-and-docs-for-pac/s20178516-psa-with-hohbach-lewin-for-on-call-s.e.-services-for-public- art-projects.pdf
2 City Council, May 22, 2023; Agenda Item # 7; SR # 2304-1318, https://recordsportal.paloalto.gov/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=82391&dbid=0&repo=PaloAlto 3 Palo Alto Municipal Code, Chapter 2.30, Contracts and Purchasing Procedures, https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/paloalto/latest/paloalto_ca/0-0-0-61721 Sufficient funds to support the contract amendment recommended in this report are available in the Art in Public Spaces CIP Project (AC-86017) associated with the Public Art for Municipal Projects Ordinance. The Ordinance Number 5301, Municipal Code 2.26.070 (Public Art for Municipal Projects) requires that 1% of the CIP budget for municipal projects is allocated for the commission of public art. Funding for future years is subject to City Council approval through the annual budget process.
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
Feedback collected from public artists commissioned by the City’s Public Art Program between 2020 and 2026 indicates that structural engineering support has been instrumental to the successful realization of their temporary installations. The Public Art Commission approved the allocation of funds for the original agreement on February 20, 20207 as well as for the subsequent amendments April 20, 20238, and December 18, 20259.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
City Council approval of the attached agreement amendment described in this staff report is exempt under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) regulation 15061(b)(3), because it is not an activity that will have a significant effect on the environment.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A: Amendment No. 2 to agreement S20178516 with Hohbach-Lewin Inc.
APPROVED BY:
Kristen O'Kane, Community Services Director
7 Public Art Commission, February 20, 2020; Agenda Item #1, https://recordsportal.paloalto.gov/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=34960&dbid=0&repo=PaloAlto 8 Public Art Commission, April 20, 2023; Agenda Item #2, https://recordsportal.paloalto.gov/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=35058&dbid=0&repo=PaloAlto 9 Public Art Commission, December 18, 2025; Agenda Item #5, https://recordsportal.paloalto.gov/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=84096&dbid=0&repo=PaloAlto