10B
Date: September 15, 2026
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Shant Megerdichian, General Services Director
Ted Stevens, Community Services Director
By: Milton Sanabria, Administrative Services Manager | [email protected] Krystle Covarrubias, Senior Business Manager | [email protected] Subject: General Services and Community Services – Discuss and Provide Direction on Construction Bid and Funding Approach, Authorize Grant Extension Request, and Approve Proposed Donation and Donor Recognition Policy for World War II Japanese American Incarceration Monument Project. Expenditure: To Be Determined.
RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation of the General Services Director and Community Services Director that City Council:
1. Discuss and provide direction on construction bid and funding approach for the World War II Japanese American Incarceration Monument Project; and
2. Authorize staff to request a formal extension from the California Natural Resources Agency of the grant performance period for the World War II Japanese American Incarceration Monument Project to February 1, 2029; and
3. Approve proposed Donation and Donor Recognition Policy for the World War II Japanese American Incarceration Monument Project.
FUNDING
To be determined pending City Council direction.
DISCUSSION
The World War II Japanese American Incarceration Monument Project (“Monument Project”) at Columbia Park was initiated following a $5 million State grant allocation secured by Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi through Senate Bill No. 170 in 2021. The grant, administered by the California Natural Resources Agency (“CNRA”), supports construction of a memorial intended to educate the public on the history and impact of the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans without due process during World War II.
On April 25, 2023, City Council accepted the $5 million State grant and approved Columbia Park as the site for the Monument Project. On January 23, 2024, City Council approved grant agreement #GF2126-0 with CNRA. Under the grant agreement, at least $4 million is restricted to costs associated with the design, planning, development, construction, and materials for the Monument Project, while up to $1 million may be used for supporting infrastructure, including 1 City Council
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lighting, walkways, parking lot improvements, and restroom facilities. The grant agreement also requires the City to consult with a five-member Advisory Committee appointed by the Speaker of the State Assembly, the President pro Tempore of the State Senate, and City Council.
On December 17, 2024, City Council awarded a consulting services agreement to Chee Salette to provide design and construction administration services for the Monument Project. Working with the Advisory Committee and City staff, Chee Salette developed a design centered on remembrance, reflection, and education. The project team also partnered with The Irei: National Monument for the WWII Japanese American Incarceration to obtain the names of more than 125,000 persons of Japanese ancestry who were forcibly incarcerated in wartime camps throughout the United States during World War II for incorporation into the Monument Project.
On April 22, 2025, City Council approved the schematic design prepared by Chee Salette and authorized staff to proceed with construction plans and specifications. At that time, the estimated project cost was approximately $10 million, exceeding the $5 million State grant allocation by approximately $5 million. In response to the anticipated shortfall, City Council approved inclusion of the Monument Project in the City’s 2025 State Legislative Advocacy Priority Projects and provided direction regarding a request for additional State funding and an extension of the grant performance period.
To address the anticipated shortfall and allow the project to continue advancing, City Council subsequently approved an additional $5 million in General Fund resources as part of the Fiscal Year 2025-26 Operating Budget and Capital Improvement Plan, pending the City’s ability to secure external funding. This brought the total project budget to $10 million, consisting of $5 million in State grant funds and $5 million from the City’s General Fund.
Following completion of the construction documents, staff advertised the project for competitive bidding on March 25, 2026. At the June 25, 2026 bid closing, the City received four bids, all of which exceeded the available project budget. Staff subsequently worked with the design consultant and bidders to better understand the factors contributing to the higher construction costs. The review identified several significant cost drivers, including the custom granite walls, specialty stone paving, supporting site infrastructure improvements, and current market conditions. Subcontractor and supplier pricing also reflected labor, material, fabrication, shipping, and procurement costs that exceeded the assumptions incorporated into the design consultant’s estimate.
CITY COUNCIL REQUEST FOR DIRECTION
Based on the bids received, anticipated project contingency, and design costs incurred to date, the project is now estimated to require approximately $7.1 million to $8.0 million beyond the currently approved $10 million project budget. As a result, additional resources or modifications to the project will be necessary to proceed.
Staff is therefore requesting City Council direction on three potential approaches to the construction bid, authorization to request an extension of the State grant performance period through February 1, 2029, and approval of the proposed Donation and Donor Recognition Policy to support external fundraising efforts and establish a framework for accepting and recognizing contributions to the Monument Project.
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Option 1: Proceed with Project as Bid
Direct staff to proceed with the project as currently designed and complete the necessary steps toward construction contract award, with an additional appropriation of General Fund resources estimated to range from $7.1 million to $8.0 million necessary to fully fund the project.
Following completion of the bid responsiveness review and identification of the lowest responsible bidder, staff would return to City Council and present the recommended contract award, final project funding requirement, and request for the necessary appropriation to proceed with construction.
Option 2: Reject Bids, Reduce Project Scope, and Rebid
Direct staff to reject all bids and re-engage the project design consultant to identify opportunities to reduce construction costs while preserving the Monument Project’s primary purpose and historical significance.
This option would require revisions to the project design and construction documents, resulting in additional design costs and schedule impacts. Staff would return to City Council with a proposed amendment to the design consultant agreement to complete the necessary design revisions.
Following completion of the revised design and construction documents, the project would be advertised for a new competitive bid. The amount of additional resources required, if any, would not be known until the design revisions are completed and new bids are received.
Option 3: Reject Bids and Defer Project
Direct staff to reject all bids and defer construction while pursuing additional funding opportunities.
If sufficient resources become available, staff could re-advertise the project using the existing design and return to City Council with the results of a future competitive bid process. Deferring construction carries additional schedule and cost uncertainty and may place the $5 million State grant at risk if the project cannot be completed within the grant performance period approved by CNRA.
Grant Performance Period Extension
Additional time will be necessary to complete the Monument Project regardless of the construction bid approach selected. The project schedule presented to City Council in March 2026 anticipated completion by December 2027. Based on the competitive bid results and the additional actions now required to address the project shortfall, that schedule is no longer achievable.
Staff therefore recommends that City Council authorize a formal request to CNRA to extend the grant performance period through February 1, 2029. The requested extension would provide additional time to implement City Council’s direction, complete any necessary design and procurement activities, construct the Monument Project, and satisfy applicable grant closeout requirements.
Proposed Donation Policy and External Fundraising Efforts To support external fundraising efforts, including the retention of a specialized consulting firm to assist with development and implementation, staff have developed the proposed Donation and Donor Recognition Policy (“Donation Policy”) to govern the acceptance, administration, expenditure, and recognition of voluntary monetary contributions to the Monument Project. 3 City Council
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Contributions may be used for costs reasonably related to the Monument Project as outlined in the proposed Donation Policy. The City Manager, or designee, would also be authorized to accept monetary donations consistent with the Policy without separate City Council approval for each contribution.
The Donation Policy also provides for a City-controlled Donor Recognition Wall for qualifying contributions. Recognition would begin at $100,000, with additional tiers for contributions of $250,000, $500,000, and $1 million or more. Anonymous donations would be accepted without recognition. The City would retain final authority over the design, wording, placement, materials, and continued display of donor recognition. Donations would not confer naming, advertising, promotional, ownership, or other rights in the Monument Project, nor would they provide donors with influence over City decisions or project procurement.
Approval of the Donation Policy would establish parameters for accepting and recognizing contributions and support implementation of external fundraising efforts consistent with City Council direction.
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS
The Monument Project was previously determined to be categorically exempt pursuant to California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) Guidelines Section 15301 (Class 1 – Existing Facilities) and Section 15323 (Class 23 – Public Gatherings). The actions under consideration by City Council, including potential modifications to the project design, remain consistent with the project evaluated under these categorical exemptions. Accordingly, no additional environmental review is required under CEQA.
ATTACHMENT
1. Proposed Donation and Donor Recognition Policy
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• (c) Acceptance of a donation does not, by itself, guarantee that a donor's name will appear on the Monument.
(d) Eligibility for physical donor recognition shall be determined according to the standards established in
this
Policy and any administrative procedures, contribution thresholds, deadlines, space limitations, or design specifications approved by the City. (f) All donations are subject to any applicable laws, regulations, rules, and/or City policies.
6. CITY-CONTROLLED DONOR RECOGNITION WALL
(a) There will be a Donor Recognition Wall ("Wall") associated with the Monument and is intended solely to acknowledge person(s), business(es), and/or organizations that financially supported the Monument project.
(b) The Monument, including all donor-recognition elements, constitutes a City-controlled commemorative display. The City retains final authority over the design, content, wording, size, typeface, location, arrangement, materials, installation, modification, and/or continued display of any donor recognition.
(c) Any donor recognition given by the City does not create or designate the Monument, the Wall, or any portion of City property as a public forum, limited public forum, or forum for private expression.
{d) Donors do not acquire any right to communicate any private message through the Monument by virtue of making a donation.
(e) The City, at all times, has the discretion to remove, alter, re-locate, and/or replace the Wall with any other appropriate permanent or semi-permanent display associated with the Monument.
(f} Donor recognition levels have been established as follows:
$1,000,000 and above
$500,000-$999,999
$250,000-$499,999
Visionary Level
Leadership Level
1 .25" lettering at top of panel
. 75" lettering in middle of panel
Ambassador Level .67" lettering in middle of panel
$100,000 -$249,999 Supporter Level
.5" le ttering at bottom of panel
(g} The City has the discretion to modify any aspect of these levels at any time and provide any changes and/or revisions to the lettering, lettering size, and/or location. (h) Anonymous donations will be accepted. Anonymous donors will receive no donor recognition.
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