Administrative
Report
H.14., File # 23-6442 Meeting Date: 8/1/2023
To: MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
From: TED SEMAAN, PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR
TITLE
APPROVE A PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES, CITY OF
EL SEGUNDO, CITY OF HAWTHORNE, CITY OF LAWNDALE, CITY OF MANHATTAN BEACH,
AND THE CITY OF REDONDO BEACH FOR THE ALONDRA PARK MULTI-BENEFIT
STORMWATER CAPTURE PROJECT IN THE ENHANCED WATERSHED MANAGEMENT
PROGRAM FOR THE DOMINGUEZ CHANNEL WATERSHED
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The City of Redondo Beach, in collaboration with the Beach Cities Watershed Management Group (Beach Cities Group) developed an Enhanced Watershed Management Program (EWMP) to comply with National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit requirements for storm water quality. The City Council approved the first EWMP on June 16, 2015, and approved an updated EWMP on June 8, 2021. The approved EWMP includes the Alondra Park Multi-Benefit Stormwater Capture Project (Project) as one of the projects by which the City will meet its water quality goals.
The City will receive “volume capture” credit for the Dominguez Channel watershed based on its share of financial contribution towards the Project.
On February 7, 2023, the City Council approved a Partnership Agreement for construction cost sharing and volume capture credit with the County of Los Angeles and the other involved cities.
However, the low bid acquired by the County for construction came back approximately 15% above the previously estimated costs.
Therefore, the Partner Agreement has to be redrafted to reflect the new construction total, changes to contributions from the participating agencies, and the reapportioned volume capture credit based on the new cost sharing formula. The new Partnership Agreement does not change the contribution from the City of Redondo Beach.
However, because of the increased overall cost being borne by other agencies, the City’s contribution percentage and volume capture credit share will be slightly reduced. The other portions of the Partnership Agreement remain the same as the Partnership Agreement approved in February 2023.
The City’s planned contribution of $500,000 was approved in February 2023 by the City Council, and is included as carry-over CIP funding in the approved capital budget for FY 2023-24. Approval of the updated Partnership Agreement will allow the City to partner in the Alondra Park Project according to the terms and requirements outlined in the Partnership Agreement and allow the County to act as the
H.14., File # 23-6442 Meeting Date: 8/1/2023
lead agency to implement the project outlined in the updated EWMP.
BACKGROUND
The County of Los Angeles is the lead agency for the Project and a Partnership Agreement for this Project was approved by City Council on February 7, 2023. The County bid out the Project and the bids received for the Project came in approximately $9 million dollars (15%) over the original engineer’s estimate. After exploring different options, the County decided to continue with the full project scope. The County was able to secure additional funding to bridge the gap and invited participating agencies to increase their commitment if they chose. The additional commitment of County funding allows the cost for the Project to remain unchanged. In the revised Partnership Agreement, Staff is recommending no increase of financial commitment for Redondo Beach due to the many demands on the EWMP Implementation CIP project. However, the Partnership Agreement needs to be updated to reflect the new overall project cost, new contribution amounts for agencies that did elect to contribute more and the associated changes to volume capture credit for each participating agency based on these changes. The remaining language in the Agreement remains unchanged.
The estimated total Project cost is seventy million dollars. The Project was awarded about $32.1M in grant funding from the Safe Clean Water (SCW) Program and Proposition 1 Stormwater Grant funding. Each party will receive water quality credits due to the grant funding in proportion to its tributary drainage area to the Project. Redondo Beach will receive 3.61 acre-feet (AF) of grant related water quality capture credit based on its tributary area. In addition, Redondo Beach will receive an additional 0.29 AF of credit for its planned contribution to the project for a total of 3.90 AF of credit to be used towards the City’s Dominguez Channel Watershed compliance targets.
The regional Project is a multi-benefit stormwater project proposed at Alondra Park, a large park located in the unincorporated County area of EI Camino Village. The park is under the jurisdiction of Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation. The project has been strategically located in the 13.5-acre park space in the northwest corner of the site.
The Project provides the opportunity to capture dry weather flows and stormwater and improve water quality by diverting flows from LACFCD storm drains into underground storage galleries totaling 34- acre-feet in total capacity. The captured flows are proposed to be diverted from the galleries into an existing sewer system (to be used for recycled/reclaimed water) because infiltration is not feasible due to soil conditions. Bioswales with native plants will replace existing turf areas along adjacent sections of Manhattan Beach Boulevard, providing new habitat and a natural way to slow and treat stormwater and dry weather runoff. The parking lots will be reconstructed with permeable pavement and bioswales, and new trees will be planted throughout the park to provide shade and bolster the performance of other green infrastructure.
The City of Redondo Beach accounts for approximately 1,068 acres (22%) of the tributary area to the Alondra Park Stormwater Capture Project. As a project partner, the City will receive credit towards compliance goals for a portion of the water quality benefits from the overall project, proportional to the drainage area. The County of Los Angeles is the lead agency for the Alondra Park Project and the estimated total project cost is seventy million dollars. To date, the County received $32,101,061 in grant funding from the SCW Program and Proposition 1 Stormwater Grant funding. Each party will receive water quality credits from the grant funding.
H.14., File # 23-6442 Meeting Date: 8/1/2023
Redondo Beach will receive 3.61 acre-feet (AF) of water quality capture credit. In addition, Redondo will contribute $500,000 additional funding from its SCW local allocation for the project and will receive an additional 0.29 AF of credit for a total of 3.90 AF of credit to be used towards the City’s Dominguez Channel Watershed compliance targets. The City’s total Dominguez Channel Watershed target includes approximately 22.5 AF of capture; therefore, the Alondra Park Project will provide approximately 17% of the City’s estimated capture target for this watershed.
COORDINATION
This Project has been coordinated by the Public Works Engineering Divisions and with the Beach Cities Group. The Partnership Agreement has been approved as to form by the City Attorney’s Office.
FISCAL IMPACT
With approval of this Partnership Agreement, the City will contribute $500,000 to the Alondra Park Project. Funding for the project was originally approved in the FY 2022-23 CIP Budget as part of the EWMP Implementation Project, Job No. 60150, and was carried over into FY 2023-24 as part of the annual budget adoption.
APPROVED BY:
Mike Witzansky, City Manager
ATTACHMENTS
· Agmt - Updated Partnership Agreement
· Agmt - Original Partnership Agreement, February 7, 2023