The Seal Beach council on Monday, Sept. 14, approved a contract with Elka Construction Inc. to build the annual sand berm. The contract is for two years. Elka Construction was the lowest of the three bidders, according to the information in the staff report.
The contract is for $320,000. The council also authorized the city manager to approve additional work up to $64,000, according to the staff report.
The city manager has the option to extend the contract for one year up to four times, according to the staff report.
This was originally a Consent Calendar item, but it was pulled for separate consideration.
Recent flooding
District Three Councilwoman/Mayor Lisa Landau thanked Public Works staff for building the berm that went up prior to the stormy weather of Sept. 5 and 6. “You guys did a great job for what you had,” Landau said.
However, not everyone was unsatisfied.
“I’m here to help prevent any future flooding of the boardwalk and the 30 or so houses that always get impacted,” said John Breiding of Seal Way. He spoke during the public comment part of the council meeting. (Breiding provided the Sun with a copy of his prepared comments.)
He referred to a Letter to the Editor published in the Sept. 10 issue of the Sun: “Seal Beach was warned. Why wasn’t it prepared?” which criticized city preparations for the storm that weekend.
“I happened to be talking to a professional engineer in ocean engineering about the situation and he said that the equipment like pumps don’t get used much and many times, the personnel in municipalities aren’t trained to operate the pumps during an emergency,” Breiding said.
“For a fireman, they train on the same equipment a lot, but for instances like this, the training and the drilling aren’t always up to snuff,” Breiding said.
He called for more training and enough staff.
“We, Seal Beach, need to get active in training on these pumps,” Breiding said.
He proposed forming a community group to help.
“I am willing to help out as a volunteer in any way the city could use me for this effort,” he said.
He also suggested putting up curved seawalls. (That was not included in his prepared statement.)
City Manager Patrick Gallegos asked Public Works Director Iris Lee for a comment.
Lee said she did not disagree with some of Breiding’s comments.
“Certainly, proper training is absolutely necessary, and we’ve actually been starting training, but the training never ends, so we have to continue to have ongoing refresher for all staff, not just Public Works staff, but all of our disaster service workers, all of our city staff, to make sure that we are here and able to operate the pumps and assist each other when needed,” Lee said.
She said Deputy Public Works Director Sean Low had conducted a number of trainings. According to Lee, the training included multiple scenarios.
“Hurricane wasn’t one of them, unfortunately,” Lee said.
“Sgt. Gray has graciously offered and coordinated to help us with sandbag training,” Lee said, referring to Seal Beach Police Sgt. Brian Gray, the department’s emergency services coordinator.
Turning to the subject of El Nino, Lee said there was a discussion about whether Seal Beach has enough people to cover the city at all times.
“We’re working on that to see how we could properly rotate,” Lee said.
Lee said the city moved a pump from First Street to the parking lot as soon as possible.
Later, during council comments, District One Councilman Joe Kalmick (who has termed out) thanked staff for their work they did during the past weekend. “I know people don’t realize that as a small city, we have a small staff, and unfortunately, we have a big ocean that pretty much will do what it wants to when it wants to,” Kalmick said. He recalled the storm of 1983, when he said waves were breaking on the windows of the houses on the boardwalk.
“We can and should prepare, but we can only do so up to the ability of the people that we have here,” Kalmick said.
He said there was a need for personal responsibility. “I know that Public Works Department isn’t going to come and put sandbags in front of my house,” Kalmick said. “I’ve got to get the sandbags and fill them.”
Earlier during the meeting, climate scientist Dr. Daneil Swain gave the council a presentation on El Nino. Scientists are generally anticipating a wet winter.
Background
“Historically, the residents along the beach between the Anaheim Jetties and the pier are subject to wave inundation during storms,” according to the staff report prepared by Senior Engineer David Spitz.
“The threat of washouts or flooding is lessened by the annual construction of a sand berm. The “berm” is routinely built in late October and early November, completed prior to Thanksgiving and then removed each year prior to the end of April, except in cases where possible inclement weather and wave events would make it prudent to leave it in place for longer periods.
“As part of the Annual Winter Sand Berm Study, dated September 2003, specifications for the sand berm construction and removal were identified. Accordingly, the contract work will consist of constructing a sand berm approximately 22 feet above mean lower low water (MLLW) datum, almost 40 feet wide and the length of East Beach from the pier to the Navy Base. The report also recommended performing ‘back-passing’ operations every other year which consist of moving sand from West Beach to East Beach. This contract will include back-passing during the Fall of 2027 and every odd year afterwards for the term of the agreement,” Spitz wrote.
“The City’s existing Berm Contractor, Post Bros Construction Co., opted out of the allowable extensions in their Agreement due to rising fuel costs that they claimed would not allow them to continue at their bid price,” Spitz wrote.
“Based upon references, qualifications, work experience, and cost, staff recommends selecting Elka Construction, Inc. as the lowest responsible bidder at $320,000 for a two-year period and awarding the contract to Elka Construction Inc. The project plans are available in the City Engineer’s office,” Spitz wrote.
“Each contract term extension allows for an increase in the compensation based on the lesser of either (a) changes to the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): for Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA (1982-84=100), All Items, as most recently reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the 12-month period extending backwards from the most recent June 30th to the previous July 1st, or (b) three percent (3%) per year,” Spitz wrote.
“Contingency funding will be included into this agreement for Fiscal Year 2026-27 on an as needed basis in preparation for a projected El Nino winter. Given weather unpredictability, staff may have minimal warning to prepare for, and react to, major storms or tide swells. This contingency will allow staff to bring in a grading contractor under contract on short notice this winter,” Spitz wrote. According to his report, the Tidelands Account will cover funding this year. Future funding will be covered by future city budgets.