8E
Date: November 19, 2024
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Craig Bilezerian, Public Works Director
By: Shin Furukawa, Deputy Public Works Director / City Engineer | [email protected]
Subject: Public Works – Adopt Categorical Exemption Under California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Sections 15269(a) and 15269(b) and Authorize Payment for Emergency Slope Repairs Between Vista Montana and Vista Largo. Expenditure:
$424,928.66 (Non-General Fund)
RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation of the Public Works Director that City Council:
1. Adopt a California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Categorical Exemption, pursuant to Guidelines Section 15269(a) and 15269(b) for emergency slope repairs between Vista Montana and Vista Largo; and
2. Authorize direct payment to Ford Foundation Drilling, Inc. of Azusa, CA in the amount of $378,543.66 for emergency retaining wall construction performed on Vista Montana in May and June 2024; and
3. Authorize direct payment to Clarke Contracting Corporation of Lawndale, CA in the amount of $46,385.00 for emergency roadway repairs performed on Vista Montana in June and July 2024.
FUNDING
Funding Source Amount
I-153 (Miscellaneous Water Main Replacement ) - Water Enterprise Funds $424,928.66
DISCUSSION
On February 5, 2024, the slope on a City-owned parcel between Vista Montana and Vista Largo (Attachment 1) was damaged by heavy precipitation which saturated the hillside. The weight of saturated soil caused the hillside to give way, in turn causing a water main breakage and deep erosion of the slope. The erosion undermined Vista Montana requiring the closure of this roadway until repairs could be made.
Staff hired the Geotechnical Engineering firm of Hamilton & Associates (Engineer) of Torrance, CA to investigate the slope and provide recommendations for repair. The repairs recommended City Council
November 19, 2024
by the Engineer include a two-step approach that would allow Vista Montana to be reopened sooner followed by restoration of the supporting slope.
The first step consisted of construction of a retaining wall at the top of the slope and restoration of street improvements on Vista Montana. Ford Foundation Drilling, Inc. constructed the retaining wall consisting of 10 steel piles driven deep into the ground with wood timbers placed between them and slurry backfill placed behind the new retaining wall (see photographs Attachment 2).
This retaining wall was completed on June 7, 2024 at a cost of $378,543.66. Following the retaining wall construction, Clarke Contracting Corporation replaced damaged curb, gutter and pavement on Vista Montana (see photographs Attachment 2) at a cost of $46,385.00. This work was completed on July 2, 2024, and Vista Montana was reopened to traffic on July 27, 2024.
The second step will be to restore and strengthen the damaged slope between Vista Montana and Vista Largo including landscaping and irrigation. The slope restoration began in September and is scheduled to be completed by the end of November 2024. The completed slope will be tarped for the winter with landscaping to be planted in Spring 2025. Staff will report costs on this effort after completion. Restoration of the waterline connection between Vista Montana and Vista Largo will be performed as a future separate effort.
Torrance Municipal Code §22.3.090 provides that in the case of emergencies, the City Manager is authorized to “contract for the immediate expenditure of public funds to safeguard life, health or property”. This code section also requires the City Manager to report emergency purchases to City Council that exceed the delegated authority set by resolution (>$250,000).
The Public Works Department received invoices from Ford Foundation Drilling, Inc. and Clarke Contracting Corporation for this emergency work and verified costs as being reasonable. It is recommended that City Council ratify payment to Ford Foundation Drilling, Inc. in the amount of $378,543.66 and ratify payment to Clarke Contracting Corporation in the amount of $46,385.00 for emergency repairs performed in May, June and July 2024 on the slope between Vista Montana and Vista Largo.
FEMA
On April 13, 2024, President Biden declared disaster DR-4769-CA making federal disaster assistance available to the State of California to supplement recovery efforts in areas affected by winter storms from January 31 to February 9, 2024. The emergency work is therefore eligible for Federal assistance. Staff is working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to secure reimbursement for all or a portion of repair costs.
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS
Pursuant to CEQA Section 15269 (a) and 15269 (b), projects to maintain, repair, restore, demolish, or replace property or facilities damaged or destroyed as a result of a disaster in a disaster stricken area in which a State of Emergency has been proclaimed by the Governor pursuant to the California Emergency Services Act, and emergency repairs to publicly or privately- owned service facilities necessary to maintain service essential to the public health, safety or welfare are categorically exempt from the provisions of CEQA. This emergency work is City Council
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categorically exempt from the provisions of CEQA because it was a result of damage that occurred during a State of Emergency as proclaimed by Governor Newsom on February 4, 2024, and the emergency repairs were necessary to maintain public health, safety and welfare.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Vicinity Map
2. Photographs – Retaining Wall & Roadway Repairs