CITY OF SAN MATEO
CITY OF SAN MATEO
Agenda Report
City Hall
330 W. 20th Avenue
San Mateo CA 94403
www.cityofsanmateo.org
Agenda Number: 19 Section Name: CONSENT CALENDAR Account Number: 10-4662 File ID: 26-10913 TO: City Council
FROM: Alex Khojikian, City Manager
PREPARED BY: Public Works Department
MEETING DATE: March 16, 2026
SUBJECT:
East 41st Place and Pacific Boulevard Trash Capture Project — Contingency Increase RECOMMENDATION:
Approve an increase to the contingency reserve associated with the construction agreement with GSW Construction, Inc. for the East 41st Place (E 41st Place) and Pacific Boulevard Trash Capture Project in the amount of $36,900 and authorize the Public Works Director to issue change orders within the contingency amount.
BACKGROUND:
The E 41st Place and Pacific Boulevard Trash Capture Project (Project) was designed to install a trash capture device within an existing concrete channel located south of E 41st Place on Pacific Boulevard. The Project supports the City’s compliance with the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board’s (RWQCB) Municipal Regional Stormwater Permit (Permit). The Permit requires the City to reduce trash and litter discharge by 100 percent relative to 2009 baseline levels, and the City received a grant from Caltrans to design and construct the Project.
City Council approved a construction agreement for the Project to GSW Construction, Inc. (GSW) on April 7, 2025, in the amount of $257,240 and authorized a contingency reserve of $51,400. The contingency reserve was established and utilized to address and mitigate unknowns that arose during construction and was approximately 20 percent of the agreement value.
GSW installed the trash capture device within the channel during Fall 2025. As staff prepared to close out the project, a precipitation event exceeding the design storm occurred between November 16, 2025, and November 17, 2025, and the channel overtopped leading to minor flooding. While the minor flooding did not lead to property damage, due to the availability of remaining Caltrans grant funding, staff requested GSW and the Project design consultant (Schaaf & Wheeler Consulting Engineers) evaluate additional improvements to increase the resiliency of the trash capture and improve visibility during night operations. GSW subsequently provided a quote to add lighting and upsize existing pipes and catch basins adjacent to the channel.
In order to construct the additional improvements, additional funds are required to be added to the construction agreement with GSW as the cost for these changes exceed the available contingency reserve. Further, the Caltrans grant requires reimbursement invoices to be submitted by May 1st, 2026; therefore, there is a limited window to construct these improvements at no cost to the City.
To date, $9,328.93 of the original $51,400 contingency reserve has been used to issue negotiated change orders. A summary of the executed contract change orders is included in the table below.
CITY OF SAN MATEO
Summary of Change Orders To-Date
Original Contingency $51,400.00
Change Order No. 1
Enhance fence safety and add gates for heavy equipment
access. Upgrade hand crank to a more user-friendly
model for faster operability.
$9,328.93
Remaining Contingency $42,071.07
To mitigate risks associated with potential delays, streamline procurements, and to provide flexibility for staff to negotiate and execute contract change orders in a timely manner, staff recommends increasing the contingency reserve by $36,900 for a new contingency total of $88,300 to address the anticipated change order necessary to complete the project.
BUDGET IMPACT:
Sufficient funds are available through the Cooperative Implementation Agreement which was entered into between the City and Caltrans, in the 41st Avenue/Pacific Boulevard Trash Capture (46c007) project budget. The original contingency reserve established was $51,400 and this request increases the contingency by $36,900. This increase brings the potential total contract cost to $345,540.00.
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION:
This project is categorically exempt from CEQA as an “existing facility,” because it consists of the operation, repair, maintenance, permitting, leasing, licensing, or minor alteration of existing public or private structures, facilities, mechanical equipment, or topographical features, involving negligible or no expansion of existing or former use. (CEQA Guidelines Section 15301.)
NOTICE PROVIDED
All meeting noticing requirements were met.
ATTACHMENTS
None
STAFF CONTACT
Stephanie Piñon, Senior Engineer
[email protected]
650-522-7315