Agenda Item: 13
CITY OF SANTA CLARITA
AGENDA REPORT
CONSENT CALENDAR
CITY MANAGER APPROVAL:
DATE: June 24, 2025
SUBJECT: HASKELL CANYON BIKE PARK CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT DEPARTMENT: Neighborhood Services
PRESENTER: Amber Rodriguez
RECOMMENDED ACTION
City Council:
1. Find that the Initial Study and proposed Mitigated Negative Declaration for the Haskell Canyon Bike Park Project were prepared in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act and made available for public review for no less than 30 days following publication and circulation of a duly noticed Notice of Intent to Adopt a Mitigated Negative Declaration and find that the City of Santa Clarita, the lead agency, considered the proposed Mitigated Negative Declaration together with comments received during the public review process.
2. Find that no substantial revisions were made to the Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration after publication of the Notice of Intent to Adopt a Mitigated Negative Declaration and that recirculation is not required.
3. Find, based on the whole record, including the Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration and comments received, that there is no substantial evidence that the Haskell Canyon Bike Park Project will have a significant effect on the environment and that the Mitigated Negative Declaration reflects the lead agency’s independent judgment and analysis. The documents and other materials that constitute the record of proceedings are available from the City of Santa Clarita.
4. Adopt the Haskell Canyon Bike Park Project’s Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration and Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program, including, without limitation, the mitigation measures included with the Errata dated June 17, 2025.
5. Approve the plans and specifications for the Haskell Canyon Bike Park Project, Project P0020. and authorize the City Manager, or designee, to utilize such plans for constructing the
Project. This approval and authorization is intended to avail the City of the immunities set forth in Government Code § 830.6.
6. Award the construction contract to ARC Construction Inc., in the amount of $6,266,770, and authorize a contingency in the amount of $626,677, for a total contract amount not to exceed $6,893,447.
7. Extend the professional service contract and authorize increased expenditure authority for construction management support with Avid Trails in the amount of $201,180 for a total contract amount not to exceed $630,797.
8. Appropriate one-time funds in the amount of $4,534,941 from the Facilities Fund (Fund 723), to the Haskell Canyon Bike Park Project P0020, expenditure account P0020723- 516101.
9. Authorize the City Manager or designee to execute all contracts and associated documents, subject to City Attorney approval.
BACKGROUND
Haskell Canyon Open Space, consisting of 526 acres, was acquired by the City of Santa Clarita (City) in June 2011. In August 2022, Blue Cloud Open Space, consisting of 196 acres, was acquired, which abuts the eastern boundary of Haskell Open Space. The area, totaling over 720 acres, is adjacent to the United States Forest, the Los Angeles City Department of Water and Power, residential properties, and commercial studios. Approximately 500 acres of the combined open space land have been identified as an ideal location for a public bike park.
The Santa Clarita Haskell Canyon Bike Park (Bike Park) will provide a world-class mountain biking experience to the residents of Santa Clarita and the surrounding region. With over 15 miles of proposed classic cross-country, climbing, and downhill trails, the park will be a major draw for riders of all ability levels throughout Southern California. In addition to trails, the center of the site includes a slopestyle, downhill jump lines, a dual slalom course, beginner/intermediate and advanced pump tracks, a skills learning zone, pedestrian/event spaces, and parking. The trails and bike park will provide sustainable and unique riding opportunities tailored to rider ability levels and focused on rider progression.
This project exemplifies the City’s commitment to improving the quality of life of its residents and supports the Building and Creating Community theme of the City’s five-year strategic plan, Santa Clarita 2025. It also supports the Open Space Preservation and Outdoor Recreation theme identified in the Parks and Recreation 5-Year Plan.
Construction Contract
An invitation to bid was published and circulated via the City’s e-procurement system, BidNet, on December 13, 2024. The City transmitted the solicitation to 4,512 vendors, and 131 vendors downloaded materials. Three bids were submitted and opened on January 21, 2025. The results of the bids follow.
Company Location Bid Amount ARC Construction, Inc. Glendale, CA $6,046,770
R.C. Becker and Son, Inc. Santa Clarita, CA $6,270,304 Staples Construction Company, Inc. Ventura, CA $6,344,240
At the time of bid opening, ARC Construction, Inc. (ARC Construction), was the apparent lowest bidder with a proposed price of $6,046,770. R.C. Becker and Son, Inc. (R.C. Becker), was the second apparent lowest bidder with a proposed price of $6,270,304.
Pursuant to the bid instructions, prices proposed within the various bids must be valid for 120 days from the date of bid opening. Due to delays with the completion of the required environmental reviews, the bid prices have expired by 34 days.
To avoid unnecessary delay resulting from rebidding this project, staff asked ARC Construction whether it would honor its proposed price. ARC Construction agreed to extend its price, but added an increase of $220,000, approximately 3.6 percent, to reflect the increase in labor and material prices since January 2025. The increased bid amount of $6,266,770 still results in ARC Construction being the lowest apparent bidder, $3,534 below R.C. Becker. Consequently, there was no practical need to contact R.C. Becker or rebid the project, which would have been required if ARC Construction’s pricing increased beyond R.C. Becker’s original bid as set forth in the California Public Contract Code.
Staff recommends awarding the construction contract to ARC Construction, the lowest responsive and responsible bidder, in the amount of $6,266,770 to construct the project and authorize a contingency in the amount of $626,677, for a total amount not to exceed $6,893,447.
ARC Construction possesses a valid state contractor’s license and is in good standing with the Contractors State License Board. Staff reviewed the bid response for accuracy and conformance to the contract documents and found it to be complete. The requested contingency will cover costs associated with unforeseen site conditions such as potential utility conflicts and fees, abandoned utilities not shown in record drawings, field adjustments, change order requests made by the contractor, and additional work requested by the City.
While the City maintains a Support of Local Businesses policy that can be utilized by the City Council when warranted, the City is governed by the California Public Contract Code regarding public works project procurement. In this type of procurement, the California Public Contract Code does not permit a city to utilize a Support of Local Businesses policy and instead requires the contract to be awarded to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder.
If approved, construction is anticipated to take six months, with expected completion in December 2025.
Construction Support Services
The City Council awarded the initial design contract for this project for a total amount not to exceed $429,617 to Avid Trails at the April 11, 2023, meeting. Due to the uniqueness of this project, staff recommends retaining Avid Trails to provide management oversight throughout
construction. As the original designer of the project and a qualified expert, Avid Trails will be able to efficiently address any design issues and help ensure a high-quality final product under this contract. Therefore, it is recommended that the existing contract amount with Avid Trails be increased by a total amount of $201,180 and not to exceed $630,797, and the contract term be extended through the end of construction.
California Environmental Quality Act
Pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (Public Resources Code §§ 21000, et seq.; “CEQA”) and CEQA Guidelines (14 Cal. Code. of Regs. § 15000, et seq.), the City prepared an Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration. Based on the analysis contained in the IS/MND, the proposed Project would not have cumulatively considerable impacts with implementation of the project mitigation measures. The following areas were found to have impacts less than significant with the incorporation of mitigation measures: Biological Resources, Cultural Resources, Hazards & Hazardous Materials, Hydrology/Water Quality, Recreation, Tribal Cultural Resources, and Wildfire.
The City notified the applicable Native American tribe, Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians, regarding the proposed project. Consultation with the Tribe concluded on April 18, 2025, with mitigation measures added in the Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND). The Notice of Intent (NOI) to adopt an MND was duly noticed by filing the NOI through the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s office (File #2025094602), posting the NOI on the State Clearinghouse website (#2025050436), the City’s Planning Division’s website, The Signal newspaper, placing a copy at the City Clerk’s counter, and direct mailing to State and local agencies, local environmental groups, and interested parties.
The comment period for the IS/MND concluded on June 12, 2025. During the comment period, the City received several comment letters. Notably, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) filed a comment letter late on June 12. Because the IS/MND was already published, the errata included with this agenda item is proposed to be incorporated into the IS/MND. Under CEQA, an errata is a document used to address small errors or provide clarifying information that does not introduce new significant environmental impacts or substantially increase the severity of previously identified impacts. Here, the errata primarily responds to the CDFW comment letter. As noted in the errata, matters identified in CDFW’s comments are already considered as part of the published IS/MND.
The City is required to recirculate a CEQA document when that document must be substantially revised after public notice of its availability, but before its adoption. The existence of public controversy over the environmental effects of a project, by themselves, does not require recirculation if there is no substantial evidence before the City that the project may have a significant effect on the environment. Under the CEQA Guidelines, a “substantial revision” means:
1. A new, avoidable significant effect is identified and mitigation measures or project revisions must be added to reduce the effect to insignificance; or
2. The City determines that the proposed mitigation measures or project revisions will not
reduce potential effects to less than significance and new measures or revisions are required.
CDFW’s comments did not identify new issues, and none of the factors requiring recirculation of the IS/MND pursuant to CEQA Guidelines § 15073.5 are met. The mitigation measures included as part of the errata (in response to CDFW’s comments) are either duplicative of the draft mitigation measures already proposed in the IS/MND or simply reworded to be more effective (see, CEQA Guidelines § 15073.5(c)). These additional mitigation measures are added in an abundance of caution.
Budget Appropriation
The total construction cost for the project is $6,266,770, with a ten percent contingency of $626,677, for a total contract amount not to exceed $6,893,447. Additionally, the project includes soft costs for a total of $582,288 for 120 working days. The soft costs include labor compliance, Qualified Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan Practitioner inspections, construction support, pre-construction survey and monitoring, tribal monitoring, geotechnical compaction testing, and applicable permit fees. The total cost for the project is $7,475,735.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION
Other action as determined by the City Council.
FISCAL IMPACT
Upon approval of the recommended actions, the budget will be increased by $4,534,941 in expenditure account P0020723-516101, (Facilities Fund 723), for a total construction budget of $7,475,735 to support the recommended contracts and associated project costs.
ATTACHMENTS
Bid Proposal for ARC Construction (available in the City Clerk's Reading File) Haskell Canyon Bike Park Design Plans (available in the City Clerk's Reading File) Haskell Canyon Bike Park MMRP (available in the City Clerk's Reading File) Haskell-Canyon-Bike-Park-IS-MND (available in the City Clerk's reading file) Errata-Haskell Canyon Bike Park (available in the City Clerk's reading file)