Council Votes
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| (Dec 9, 2020, 4:25 a.m.) -- At 1:08 a.m. Dec. 9, the City Council voted 7-1 (Supernaw dissenting, Andrews exiting early in his final Council meeting) to approve spending a total project cost of $3.11 million -- roughly twice the amount publicly represented 13 months ago -- for an artificial turf soccer field in El Dorado Park West (along Studebaker Rd. between Willow St. and Parks/Rec HQs.)
City staff has twice acknowledged in its Fiscal Impact statement accompanying the agenda item that the project's total cost is $3.11 million. Councilwoman Stacy Mungo (in materials disseminated by her Council office) first contended this was a "typo," then indicated during the Dec. 8-9 Council item that the $3.11 million sum no longer applies because received bids were lower than expected. "I was glad to see that the field improvement has come in significantly under budget at $1.85 million," Councilwoman Mungo told the Council and the public on December 9 (although management's recommended bid amount on which the Council actually voted totaled a bit over $2 million because Mungo omitted management's included 10% contingency.) In addition (not mentioned by Mungo), the Council voted to spend ALL of $2.35 million it included for the artificial turf project as a line item in its Sept. 2020 FY21 City budget approval.AND approved spending roughly $760,000 from Public Works sums. This brought the project's total current estimated cost to $3.11 million. ($2.35 million + 0,760 = $3.11), the sum stated in its publicy agendized Fiscal Impact report. Mayor Garcia took multiple other agenda items out of order while declining to advance the long-controversial El Dorado Park artificial turf item. Councilmembers began their meeting by consuming over two hours for ceremonies praising two exiting incumbents: Jeannine Pearce (didn't seek a second term after 2018 Council censure) and Dee Andrews (voted out on Nov. 3 whose CD6 experiences among LB's highest number of shootings.) As a result, the Council didn't begin conducting its Dec. 8 substantive public business until after 7:00 p.m. In November 2019, Public Works staff told LB's Parks/Recreation Commission the project cost was $1.5 million (without maintenance costs) but a little over a year later, the total project cost that the Council voted on Dec. 8-9 to approve had ballooned to $3.11 million. No Council incumbents -- including speculated future Mayoral candidates Rex Richardson and Suzie Price -- spoke on the item, and none questioned the cost increases that they voted to approve. During the Council proceedings. Councilwoman Stacy Mungo misstated (as she has done in written materials from her office) that the bid amount was $1.85 million. She did this by omitting city management's 10% budgeted contingency cost of $185,347 which brings management's recommended bid approval amount (on which the Council voted on Dec. 8-9) to slightly over $2 million. In addition, Councilwoman Mungo claimed that the $3.11 million sum that city staff has stated is the project's total cost (cited in the project's agendized Fiscal Impact statement) no longer applies because bids received were lower than expected. The received bids were indeed lower than expected but that didn't lower the project's total cost of $3.11 million. [Scroll down for further.] |
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On Sept. 8, 2020, the Council voted to budget $2.35 million for the artificial turf field, included as a line item in its FY21 City Hall budget. (The $2.35 million sum already reflected a quiet increase of $850,000 added by city management in early 2020 after the costs for two other artificial turf fields [Admiral Kidd and Seaside Park] consumed sums that were supposed to also cover the El Dorado Park artificial turf field. The three artificial fields were initially budgeted in FY14 under former Councilwoman Schipske and in FY15 and beyond under Councilwoman Mungo under whom most of the increases occurred.
The Fiscal Impact text for the Dec. 8 Council item (initial and revised texts) indicates the El Dorado Park project includes a roughly $760,000 additional sum for "design, construction, construction management, labor compliance, and project oversight" bringing the total project costs to $3.11 million. "Total project costs are supported by $761,644 in FY 14 one-time funds along with $2,350,000 Measure A funds that are budgeted in the Capital Projects Fund Group in the Public Works Department. Sufficient appropriation is budgeted in the Capital Projects Fund Group in the Public Works Department for the capital costs." That text means that although the Council's Dec. 8-9 vote approved bids totaling a little over $2 million (portrayed by Councilwoman Mungo as $1.85 million), the Council's vote actually approved city staff spending the full $2.35 million that the Council voted to approve in its Sept. 8, 2020 FY21 City budget vote PLUS about $760,000 more in Public Works funds that could have funded other Public Works projects in Council districts citywide (including CD 5.) Do the math: $2.35 million plus $760,000 = the $3.11 million total project cost.
To hear Councilwoman Mungo's Dec. 8-9 Council presentation and the Council's non-response prior tor approving the item, click here. Councilwoman Mungo's Dec. 6 newsletter stated in pertinent part that she is "So glad to see this improvement has come in well under the original estimated and inflated cost of $3.1 million." Councilwoman Mungo's Dec. 6 statement added: "Please note that we did confirm with our Public Works team that the initial posted agenda item contained an error in the fiscal impact statement regarding the total cost. They have committed to correcting it before consideration Tuesday." LBREPORT.com didn't hear any "correction" by city staff, or by Councilwoman Mungo, in the Dec. 8-9 Council item (audio above.) For further details on the El Dorado Park artificial turf field's cost, see LBREPORT.com coverage here.)
City staff's agendizing memo also implicitly acknowledges that although the project as currently proposed won't include field lights (strongly opposed by neighbors), these may indeed be added in the future. The Dec. 8 agendizing memo states that the "Project will not include field lights at this time." [emphasis added.] Ms. Cantrell (who supports using El Dorado park's natural turf instead of plastic turf) has also raised an issue -- not denied by city staff to date -- that using the artificial turf field will require consuming costly potable water instead of now-reclaimed water, imposing additional fiscal (and arguably environmentally unfriendly) taxpayer costs. City staff's agendizing memo says the El Dorado Park artificial turf field can be completed by the end of FY21 (by the end of Sept. 2021.)
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