Recommendation to adopt Plans and Specifications No. R-7063 for the Willow Springs Park Wetlands Restoration Project; award the contract to BiTech Construction Co., Inc., of Buena Park, CA, in the amount of $1,371,926, authorize a 15 percent contingency in the amount of $205,789, for a total contract amount not to exceed $1,577,715; and authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute all documents necessary to enter into the contract, including any necessary amendments thereto; Increase appropriations in the Capital Projects Fund (CP) in the Parks, Recreation and Marine Department (PR) by $924,000, offset by grant revenue from an award of funding under the Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality and Supply, Flood Control, River and Coastal Protection Act of 2006 (Proposition 84) Urban Greening for Sustainable Communities Grant Program; and Accept Categorical Exemption No. 16-194. (District 7)
Motion carries. Thank you. So we'll move along to the regular agenda. Clerk Please read item number 12. Item 12. Report from Parks, Recreation and Marine Recommendation to award a contract to buy construction for the Willow Springs Park Wetlands Restoration Project. For a total contract amount not to exceed 1 million 101,577,000. District seven. Councilmember U ranga. Yeah. Thank you, Vice Mayor. I'd like to have some public comment first before I make my comments though. They're here to support some individuals who are here to support this project. So like to hear from them first. Sure thing. Let's go ahead and hear from staff. Vice mayor, councilmembers, Parks, Recreation and Marine Development Officer Meredith Reynolds will walk us through this great project. Thank you, Mr. West. Good evening, Mayor. Member City Council. Tonight will provide a brief presentation on the Wetlands Restoration Project at Willis Springs Park. Willis Springs is a 48 acre undeveloped park bounded by Springs to the North, California to the West, Orange Avenue to the east and the municipal and Sunnyside cemeteries to the south. The project is in the direct result of the Willow Springs Master Plan adopted by the City Council in January 2013 after a substantial community engagement effort. The master plan included such natural elements as bio swales, a water treatment, wetland, public trails and sustainable planting areas. To start the planning process for these natural elements. The city applied and was awarded $50,000 from the Southern California Association of Governments for the development of a habitat creation plan. The Habitat Creation Plan was completed in August 2015 and was the basis for the design of the Willow Springs Wetland Restoration Project. The city also applied for and was awarded 924,000 Urban Greening Grant for the project in June 2014. The Urban Greening for Sustainable Communities Grant program was funded by the State of California Natural Resource Agency through Proposition 84, which provided funds to preserve, enhance, increase or establish urban forests, open space, wetlands and community spaces in the built out urban areas of California. The Wetlands Project is now ready for construction and is planned to be substantially complete by May 2017 when the grant funds expire. The Willow Springs Wetlands Restoration Project is an 11.5 acre project with the larger 48 acre Willow Springs Park. The project implements key components from the master plan, including removing non-native trees and exposed damaged piping. Planting approximately 200 native drought tolerant trees in approximately 6000 native drought tolerant plants. Installing 209,000 square feet of irrigation and mulch. Constructing approximately 43,000 square feet of ponding areas. 1700 square feet of bio swales and a connection to the flood basin. Constructing an outdoor classroom seating area and installing interpretive signage. And finally, converting the existing dirt access road to 2400 foot public pedestrian trail. The site playing on the left on the slide behind you shows the overall layout of the Wetlands Project. On the right or a few of the conceptual images used as inspiration for the design. The final design that depicts the design intent of the project is accessible from the long view point parking lot. Visitors will walk west down the baseline trail to the wetlands basin below, where interpretive signage will share the story of the arches that provided the Long Beach first water source. The history of past railroad, water and oil uses of the property and highlight important information about the site's restored seasonal wetlands. From the beginning, the project's philosophy was focused on sustainability, both to use the natural environment of the site as well to reuse as much as possible to maximize the project's funds. The project design uses the existing site topography to create a unique open space unlike any other in the city system. And as a result, the construction will exhibit a light touch on the land with the uses. Over the years, there are many interesting things found on the property, including large chunks of concrete, wood and pipe which have been incorporated into the design of the project to reuse as much on site as possible. The total project budget is $2,089,832, which is funded by a variety of sources, including the Urban Greening Grant and one time funds set aside for the park and A14. The project cost is listed on the side behind you and includes a construction which is part of your recommended actions this evening. Staff is recommending the City Council adopt plans and specifications and award a contract to biotech construction company Inc for the Willow Springs Wetlands Project and authorize the city manager to execute on necessary documents to also authorize the city manager to appropriate 924,000 and the Urban Greening Grant for sustainable communities to fund the project. And finally accept the categorical exemption. 16. Dash 194. That concludes my staff report, and I'm available to answer any questions. Thank you for that report. And as requested, we're going to take public comment before council remarks. Is there any public comment on this item? Okay. As in every other public coming in to line up, we should probably just line up now. Oh. Okay. Okay. Sir, you have 3 minutes. Please give us your name and receipt. Okay. My name is Leif Fukui. I'm a resident of sixth district. I'm also founder of Wrigley's Going Green and the Clean Team. And I also sit on the city's tree advisory committee. I just want to say thank you for all the hard work that city staff, the city manager's office and Sustainability Office, and particularly Councilmember Suranga and his staff for keeping this project alive and keeping it going. It's advice. It's vitally important for this for our area because we're very park deprived. And so I think this is a first step to getting this park established and getting it running. My one concern is about the security going forward. As you may have known that the the train station was that was moved there was, you know, destroyed in the fire. And also, I think last month, Sasha's farm locked, 59, was vandalized. So my concern is that we have adequate security there either. And also from the neighboring properties there. There's holes in the fences. There's a lot of homeless activity going in and out of there. So my concern is that going forward, the the the the new materials that are being utilized in this park get protected and safeguarded. But having said that, this is a great project, and I really hope you support this. It's important for Long Beach and it's important for all the residents. So thank you very much. Thank you for your comments. So we'll take it back behind the rail. Councilmember, your anger. Thank you. And I do want to thank the Parks Recreation Department, the Office of Sustainability, Public Works and Department Development Services for their efforts in making this happen. I know that the Will Springs Park has gone. Site has gone through many iterations and plans and changes. And I think that this is one that is going to be one of the best workable ones that we be adequate for that park. It's a natural habitat and it will be an opportunity to activate it as a as a place where people can go and enjoy the the natural scenery and the quietness and enjoy the the the biosphere that will be restored there in that area. In regards to the depot, it was a very sad day, obviously, when it when it went under the flames. But I'm hoping that we can be able to either through restoring it or having some kind of other building there, that will provide information for visitors to learn about the history of Willow Springs, to learn about the history of Long Beach, and if not a deep oil restoration at all, but at least something that we can have there to provide visitors with with a place to to visit and learn more about the Little Springs Park area and Long Beach as a whole. We are going to be addressing the public safety issues I've spoken with with our city and city staff in regard to that raised. I raised the same questions in regard to those opportunities that people have to enter the site where there are holes in the fencing. We will be addressing that. So I'm hoping that once this project is completed that those areas of concern will be addressed. We're looking at possibly activating the site right around. August, September. And then taking it forward from there. So I want to thank everybody who has assisted with this project and of course, for the support of the community for having them come forward. And so I asked my contact. Colleagues, support the motion. Thank you. Thank you. Next, we have Councilwoman Mongo. I want to thank the. Staff and the community for the work that they put into this. I think this is a project that. We will all be very proud of and a a good use of a step forward for Parks and Rec to the community. So thank you for your work on this. Thank you. Councilmember Pearce. Yes. I, too, wanted to congratulate everybody that's worked on this, putting together the funding, the design and everything. I know that for a while we've had folks from the West Side or North Long Beach go and see our wetlands over on the east side of town. And so I think it's really fantastic that we're creating more spaces for people to walk and enjoy nature. And so congratulations. Thank you. Councilman Austin. Thank you. And I just want to add my congratulations to Councilmember Urunga, but I also want to know salute our hardworking parks and rec staff who have done a remarkable job of, you know, making Long Beach a really green and cool city. Councilmember Pearce mentioned the wetlands on the east side of town, but there's wetlands now being under development on the west side of town, along the DeForest Wetlands, along with our our Dominguez Gap and Willow Springs will just be an addition to natural greenspace that that will provide great serenity and awesome views up there. So congratulations again. Thank you. Councilman Andrew. Yes. Also, I'd like to congratulate Councilman Durango for this magnificent park that we put in. And I just also like to give kudos to our Parks and Rec director, because, in fact, it seems like any place that there's a green or no green, they finding a place to do something for our city. Because the fact that you guys have to understand that, you know, we know that Park. Park is something that we all need and our kids and our families and everyone else, especially that would next to the sixth district. And we have a tree planters up here. They're going to make sure that everything goes well. And I want to thank you guys for coming out and supporting this. Thank you again and congratulations. See you later. Thank you, Councilwoman Gonzalez. Yes. Great job to our city staff as well as Councilmember Muranga and the community for this amazing project. I look forward to seeing more similar to this. And just again, congratulations. Thank you. Thank you, Councilmember Super. Now I'll add my congratulations to the councilmember from the seventh District. And I also in particular want to mention Larry Rich, who's in the audience up there. But you can waived his Larry. Larry and I go back on this project a lot of years. I can't remember what year you brought forward, but I don't think it would have happened without Larry's efforts. So. Thank you, Larry. Thank you. Thank you. Congratulations. And I would just add that, you know, I remember following this and correct me if I'm wrong, Meredith, but is this one of the largest park expansions, you know, in recent history? Could you just elaborate just a moment for that? So will the Springs Park is a 40 acre parcel. This is about 12 acres, just under 12 acres. So some of the other comparable ones across the city include the Divorce Wetlands and Drake, Chavez, Greenbelt and some of the other green belts that are coming up here are comparable, but certainly one of the largest. Thank you and councilmember you Ranga as as we're pretty built out city these these interesting creative ways to develop and expand you know along rivers and rights of way that's how we're going to really change some of the inequities in terms of open space. So congratulations to you for bringing this forward and congratulations to Parks and Rec members. Please cast your vote.