Council OKs contract to plan repairs of concrete portion of iconic structure
City officials have begun planning work to repair the concreate area of the Seal Beach Pier. The City Council this week voted 4-0 to authorize the city manager to enter into a professional services agreement with Anser Advisory, LLC, for the upcoming “Pier Base Evaluations Project.” Mayor Tom Moore was absent due to illness.
In related news, Assistant City Manager Patrick Gallegos told the Sun Monday morning, Oct. 28, that staff was actively working on planning workshops concerning the other end of the pier, where Ruby’s Diner once stood. Gallegos said more information would be forthcoming when staff had the details worked out. “I’m hoping to have that worked out fairly soon,” Gallegos said.
The project would be to upgrade the foot of the Seal Beach pier. The city would pay a maximum of $38,244. In an email to staff, District Four Councilwoman Schelly Sustarsic asked, “Will work identified in addition to rehab of the pier base be listed as separate tasks, making it easier for us to see potential for phasing work and grant opportunities?”
In an Oct. 28 email, Gallegos provided city staff’s reply, “Yes, identified work will be itemized and group(ed) accordingly.”
The proposal was a Consent Calendar item. Consent Calendar items are voted on collectively, without discussion, unless removed from the calendar for separate consideration. Nothing was removed from the Consent Calendar Monday night, which resulted in a short meeting
Work on the base of the pier will probably have to be done in phases, according to the staff report by Seal Beach Associate Engineer David Spitz. This will be necessary “to minimize the drain of available City funds on any one repair item,” according to the Spitz report.
“Therefore, the City is seeking the assistance of a consultant firm to investigate the structural condition of the pier base as well as the surrounding infrastructure and draft a budgetary report that will be the basis for future structural, utility, and aesthetic improvements to the Pier’s Pavilion Area adjacent to Eisenhower Park,” according to the report.
City staff recommended contracting with Anser Advisory, formerly known as Simplus Management, because of their work on the management of the work done to repair fire damage and other repairs on the Seal Beach Pier, according to the Spitz report.
The end of the Seal Beach re-opened on May 24, 2019, three years and four days after a massive fire damaged the end of the pier. The city held a formal celebration of the pier’s reopening on July 22.
“Anser Advisory, formerly Simplus Management, has submitted a proposal to provide the evaluation and report for the subject project. Staff recommends contracting with Anser Advisory due to their recent project management of the Pier Improvements Project BP1002 and their corresponding knowledge of the continued repair and upgrade needs of the Pier Pavilion Area,” according to the Oct. 28 staff report to the City Council.
Anser Advisory’s work will include researching cost effective recommendations for repairing the base area of the pier, plan the phases of the repair work, estimate the budget for each phase and research available grant money, according to the staff report.
The agreement between Anser Advisory and the city would end Dec. 31,2020.
