(Editor’s note: This is part of an ongoing series tracking the city’s expenditures that appear on upcoming Santa Monica City Council consent agendas. Consent agenda items are routinely passed by the council with little or no discussion from elected officials or the public. However, many of the items have been part of public discussion in the past.) The City Council is expected to sign off on more than $8 million in expenditures tonight that will cover costs ranging from a new skate park design to retrofitting a building that will serve as a temporary library.
However, the largest expenditure is a $295,000 emergency repair bill for Ocean Park Boulevard, which was the site of a 15-foot-deep sinkhole that grew the length of two blocks during two days in December.
The street, which is expected to open again on Wednesday, has been under construction since Dec. 28 when a 12-inch water main broke and swept away sand underneath the road.
The council is expected to pay an additional $95,700 to ETZ Construction for tenant improvements to a building located at 1324 Fifth St., which will be used as the temporary main library while a new facility is built on Sixth Street. The expenditure now brings the total contract with the construction company to $600,276, which will make the building on Fifth Street adequate for public use.
When plans for the temporary library were submitted to the city’s building and safety department, officials realized the building required seismic retrofitting to comply with codes. City staff said the improvements to the building must occur in order to keep the main library project on schedule.
The main library project has been estimated to cost upwards of $56 million. One of those costs is $205,139 to re-route a sewer line behind the building so a new parking garage can be built. The council is expected to allocate $150,135 plus a $55,004 contingency to re-route the line on Sixth Court from Arizona Avenue to Santa Monica Boulevard.
The subterranean parking structure that will be built with the new library will extend from Sixth Street to Seventh Street, which requires that the sewer line be reconfigured so it flows north to Arizona Avenue then west to connect to the existing line on Sixth Street. The rerouting must happen before excavation of the parking structure, which is scheduled to begin in early June.
The council also plans to pay $46,075 to California Skateparks to design a skate park facility to be located at Memorial Park, a decision made last July.
City officials believe there is a strong demand for places to skate in Santa Monica, but kids are limited in where they can go. Skateboarders tend to congregate at Clover Park, Douglas Park, the Boys & Girls Club, Santa Monica State Beach, area schools and the Third Street Promenade, which forbids skateboarding.
To respond to the increased demand for skating opportunities, the city allocated money in the 2001-2002 capital improvement project to build a permanent skate park. The entire project is expected to cost $572,000 and construction could begin as early as this fall.
The council has been asked to modify a $230,000 contract with a consulting firm that offers specialized and technical environmental services for work to be done at the city yards. The city maintains various facilities at the maintenance yard on Michigan Avenue and as part of its ongoing operations, the city undertakes environmental assessment investigation and monitoring of the site, which is expected to cost $230,000.
While expenditures continue to mount, the City Council faces an uphill battle in its attempt to close an $11 million deficit this year.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 11, 2003. Read the original PDF.