The Seal Beach Pier repair project progressed this week when the City Council unanimously approved several contracts related to the management and support of the reconstruction project. District Two Councilman Thomas Moore was absent. The various contracts, including congingency fees, are worth almost $766,000 dollars (rounded), according to figures drawn from two different staff reports.
Associate Engineer David Spitz, the city employee in charge of the pier repair project, said the management company would run the project and provide daily inspections. He said the support services would be the design engineers.
The approvals were treated as separate items on the council agenda, even though there is only the one pier project. The votes on all of the professional service agreements were unanimous.
The actual construction contract has not yet been awarded.
At last report city staff expects the pier project to be complete in 2019. The California Coastal Commission won’t allow construction during the summer, so work is expected to start the day after Labor Day 2018. Staff expects to close the project in June 2019.
The actual construction project is still out for bid. The deadline is May 1. The current goal for the project, which has not changed since the City Council set it in 2016, is to repair the pier so that it is strong enough to hold up a restaurant building. According to a recent Sun News online poll, 88 percent of those who participated in the poll supported having a restaurant on the end of the pier.
The council authorized the city manager to hire Moffat & Nichol to provide construction support for $74,000; and AKM Consulting Engineers to provide support services for $26,060, and also authorized the city manager to hire Simplus Management Corporation to manage the pier project for $596,220.
In each case, the council authorized the city manager to approve contract changes for about 10 percent more than the existing contracts. In all, the council authorized contracts worth almost $700,000 (rounded).
The current city budget includes $3.7 million for the project.
According to the April 23 staff report prepared by Recreation Manager Tim Kelsey, the estimated cost for the project is $4.5 million (rounded). That estimate includes 10 percent contract contingency fees.
In early April, Spitz told participants in a District One Coffee Chat event that the insurance provider has stated they would cover any fire damage and so far they had.
At that same time, District One Councilwoman Ellery Deaton said the insurance company had been faithfully covering costs.
