To: MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
From: TED SEMAAN, PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR
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DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING A STATUS REPORT ON THE CONDITION OF RESTROOMS IN THE PIER/HARBOR AREA
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The City Council has expressed concern about the condition of restrooms in the Pier and Harbor area. Per the Council’s request, attached is an overview of the Public Works Department’s maintenance program for the Pier and Harbor area, as well as a description of on-going and planned efforts to upgrade the restrooms.
BACKGROUND
The City Council recently requested a status report on the condition of the restrooms in the Pier/Harbor area. The seven sets of restrooms are located in the following areas:
- Base of Pier, near food court area
- Monstad Pier, adjacent to Redondo Cafe
- Pad 10, adjacent to future skate park area
- International Boardwalk, south end near Quality Seafood
- International Boardwalk, middle area near Slip Bar
- Plaza Parking Structure, above Naja’s Place
- Parking Structure 1, center area of structure
Concern has been expressed that the overall condition of the restrooms needs to be improved to adequately accommodate Pier visitors and merchants. Per the Council’s request, the following is an overview of the Public Works Department’s maintenance program for the entire Pier and Harbor area, as well as a description of efforts to enhance the restrooms.
Maintenance Operations
The Public Works Department’s Pier/Harbor Maintenance Division has a personnel budget of $1.6 million and an operations budget of $1 million. The Division has 17.25 full-time employees and also utilizes six to ten part-time employees, depending on the season.
The 11 full-time custodial staff members and the part-time custodial workers are assigned to shifts as follows:
Day Shift Night Shift
Monday 7 4
Tuesday 4 2
Wednesday 6 2
Thursday 7 3
Friday 7 3
Saturday 7 6
Sunday 7 6
The typical schedule for the 3 Building Maintenance Workers and 1 Painter is Monday-Friday from 7:00am to 4:30pm. The Building Maintenance staff as well as the supervisory staff are on-call during weekends.
Maintenance services provided are divided into five segments:
- Restrooms
- Area 1 - Pier
- Area 2 - International Boardwalk
- Area 3 - Parking Structures
- Area 4 - Harbor (including Seaside lagoon)
Details of the on-going and special services provided in each segment are as follows:
Restroom Maintenance
The seven sets of restrooms in the Pier/Harbor area are extremely highly utilized, particularly during the busy summer season. Unfortunately, the restrooms are also occasionally the subject of vandalism. Operational and maintenance tasks performed at each restroom on a daily basis are as follows:
- Restrooms are opened at 5:00am
- Restrooms are typically given one thorough service and three to four refresh/restock services each day
- A thorough restroom service is comprised of the following:
o All surfaces cleaned and disinfected
o Toilets and urinals cleaned and disinfected
o Sinks and faucets cleaned and disinfected
o Mirrors, partitions & doors cleaned and disinfected
o Soap dispensers, paper towels, toilet tissue & toilet seat covers re-filled/replenished
o Trash receptacles emptied
o Chrome cleaned and polished
o Floors washed/mopped
o Graffiti reported/removed
o Broken/damaged fixtures reported
- A refresh/restock service includes:
o Replenishing soap and paper products
o Sweeping
o Mopping
o Emptying trash receptacles
- Maintenance and repair services, such as plumbing, electrical, painting and carpentry, are provided for restrooms on an as-needed basis.
- Restrooms are locked at 9:45pm in winter and 11:15pm in summer
During the summer concert series, the restrooms located within the Pier and Pad 10 areas were getting heavily used from 5:00pm to 9:30pm. Due to the current staffing level and work load at the time, complaints were received related to the conditions of the restrooms.
In response to the need, staff from Public Works, Waterfront & Economic Development and the City Manager’s office discussed potential options to address the added demand. This resulted in contracting supplemental custodial services in August to assist during the time impact window of the events.
The success of the supplemental services provided immediate care of cleaning in the specific restrooms during the events and allowed city staff to continue addressing routine work assignments, as well as additional services such as event set-up and tear-downs of staging, barriers, power and shade structures. Because of the positive feedback on restroom cleanliness, the program has been extended to the end of October.
Area 1 - Pier Maintenance
Standard maintenance services performed at the Pier, fishing areas and pier entrances are as follows:
- Emptying trash cans - two to eight times per day, depending on season
- Removing trash and debris from walkways, stairways and benches - on on-going basis
- Rinsing and wiping down the fish cleaning sink daily
- Steam cleaning the fish cleaning sink twice per week
- Wiping down benches and tables daily
- Steam cleaning benches and tables every two weeks
- Manually sweeping Pier deck surfaces daily
- Watering plants and removing weeds from planters twice per week
- Scrubbing deck surfaces twice per week, typically on Saturdays and Sundays
Additional services provided on an as-needed basis include:
- Cleaning and replacing damaged/rusted trash cans
- Steam cleaning sails, typically twice per year
Area 2 - International Boardwalk Maintenance
Standard maintenance services performed at the Boardwalk, Parcel 10, Plaza Park and Turtle Park are as follows:
- Emptying trash cans - two to eight times per day, depending on season
- Removing trash and debris from walkways and, stairways and benches - on on-going basis
- Wiping down benches and tables daily
- Steam cleaning benches and tables every two weeks
- Removing trash from Harbor Basin 3 monthly
Additional services provided on an as-needed basis include:
- Cleaning and replacing damaged/rusted trash cans
- Steam cleaning around wooden bollards on bike path
Area 3 - Parking Structure Maintenance
Standard maintenance services performed at the Pier Parking Structure, which includes the North and South segments, the Plaza Parking Structure, which is accessed from Harbor Drive, Torrance Circle turnaround, the area adjacent to Kincaid’s and the Pier maintenance/delivery area are as follows:
- Emptying trash cans - two to eight times per day, depending on season
- Removing trash and debris from walkways and benches - on on-going basis
- Removing debris from planters as observed
- Steam cleaning and deodorizing the trash compactor area once per week
- Manually sweeping parking surfaces daily
- Mechanically Sweeping, Steam cleaning and deodorizing parking areas once per week
- Collecting cardboard boxes from businesses, break them down and disposing of them
- Cleaning and maintaining sweeping equipment three times per week
Additional services provided on an as-needed basis include:
- Identifying and reporting potholes and concrete damage
- Painting and stenciling parking stall numbers, typically twice per year
Area 4 - Harbor Area Maintenance
Standard maintenance services performed at Dedication Park, the Harbor Patrol facility, Moonstone Park, Portofino Way, Harbor/Gateway Parkette the Harbor Drive frontage and Seaside Lagoon include:
- Emptying trash cans - two to eight times per day, depending on season
- Removing trash and debris from walkways, stairways and planters - on on-going basis
- Removing trash and debris daily from rock areas adjacent to Seaside Lagoon and Portofino Way
- Inspecting Seaside Lagoon slides and play equipment daily during the summer season from May to October
- Removing trash from Harbor Basin 2 monthly
Additional services provided on an as-needed basis include:
- Cleaning and removing debris from medians, typically three times per week
- Clearing area drains along the bike path twice per year to avoid clogging and as needed during storms
In addition to the custodial-type services described above, a variety of other services are provided by Pier/Harbor area staff, as follows;
Building/Facility Maintenance and Enhancements - Public Works staff provides a variety of skilled plumbing, electrical, painting and carpentry tasks as well as other types of repairs as-needed.
Special Event Set-Up and Clean-Up - the Pier and Harbor area hosts numerous special events each year, such as concerts, movies, car shows, kite shows, Lobsterfest, fireworks show and the BeachLife Festival. Public Works staff provides a variety services to help set up and run events as well as cleaning up sites after events have concluded. Tasks performed include setting up staging, fencing and barricades, providing seating and trash receptacles, restroom servicing, trash and litter removal and steam cleaning surfaces.
Seaside Lagoon Maintenance - day to day custodial services at Seaside Lagoon are performed by the Community Services Department. Public Works staff inspects the water slides and play equipment each day during the summer season and also performs the following to prepare the facility for opening in May:
- Cleaning, prepping and testing the barbecue
- Replacing chemical lines annually and as needed
- Repainting the deck and fountains
- Servicing chemical pumps
- Replacing hardware under deck
Contract Services - a variety of maintenance services performed in the Pier/Harbor area are contracted out, typically when Public Works staff does not have either the expertise or resources to provide them in-house. The supervisory staff oversees contracts for the following:
- Vessel mooring maintenance
- Sewer line cleaning
- Emergency generator servicing
- Pier structural repairs
- Water quality testing at Seaside Lagoon
- Tree pruning
- Landscape maintenance
- Elevator maintenance
- HVAC maintenance
Restroom Upgrades
The Public Works Department has recently implemented several restroom upgrades, is in the process of implementing several others and has several more planned in the coming months. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic there are long lead times, typically 4-6 months, for obtaining new materials such as sinks, toilets and partitions. Recent and upcoming upgrade projects are as follows:
Base of Pier Restrooms - a plan of enhancements, which will include replacement of 15 partitions, 13 sinks, 15 toilets, 8 lights, 4 doors and new paint, is scheduled to begin once the replacement materials are received, which is expected to be mid-November.
Monstad Pier Restrooms - a CIP project to completely renovate the restrooms is in progress. Plans and specifications were approved by the Council on August 17, 2021, and construction bids were due on October 15, 2021.
Pad 10 Restrooms - Public Works staff installed 2 new entrance doors and repainted the restrooms in March 2020.
Boardwalk/Quality Seafood Restrooms - Public Works staff installed 6 new entrance doors and repainted the restrooms in March 2020. The Council set aside $200,000 in the FY 2021/22 budget to develop a plan to bring these restrooms or construct new to meet current ADA requirements. Additional space or an alternate location will need to be identified as the current footprint is spatially restricted to accommodate current ADA requirements.
International Boardwalk Restrooms - the exterior of these restrooms was repainted earlier this month. Staff is scheduled to repaint the interiors in November.
Plaza Parking Restrooms - these restrooms were repainted in September 2021. Staff plans to replace the 6 entrance doors, 6 sinks and 6 toilets by June 2022.
Parking Structure 1 Restrooms - staff plans to replace the 2 entrance doors, 5 toilets, 2 urinals and 5 sinks prior to the end of 2022.
COORDINATION
The Public Works Department coordinated this item.
FISCAL IMPACT
There are no fiscal impacts associated with this item.
APPROVED BY:
Joe Hoefgen, City Manager
ATTACHMENTS
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