HomeMy WebLinkAbout18 - Beach Restroom CleaningCity Council Agenda
Item No. 18
December 11, 2001
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: General Services Director
SUBJECT: Beach Restraam Cleaning
Recommendation:
Receive and File.
Backeround:
At the October 9 Council meeting, Mayor Adams requested information on the cleaning of beach
restrooms in the City. Over the past 15 years, restroom cleaning has changed from a service
completely provided by City forces to a service which is partially privatized, in order to be more
cost - effective at meeting the service needs which vary over the seasons of the year and sometimes,
over the time of day.
During the early 1980s, the public restrooms at beaches and in parks were cleaned during off -peak
times with a City staff of two permanent employees and two part-time weekend employees. During
the summer months, four summer laborers were hired to assist City staff, which provided for extra
staff and extra cleanings during the day. During the summer months, beach -area restrooms were
cleaned between 7:00am and 8:30pm, and were typically cleaned up to five times per day.
In the early 1990s, two additional restrooms were added, at Channel Park and Orange Street. The
Building Maintenance Division added a third Building Maintenance Worker position to handle the
workload, as the restroom routes became too large for two employees to handle and traffic
congestion slowed operations. During the summer months, the staff of nine employees (including
the year -round weekend personnel) was still able to clean the facilities 7 days per week, working
until 8:30pm.
For the summer of 1992, due to budget reductions, we reduced the number of student laborers from
four to two, and consequently eliminated the late afternoon and early evening cleaning of the beach
restrooms. Following these actions, the number of complaints regarding dirty restrooms began to
increase, particularly during the summer months.
Beach Restroom Cleaning
Page 2
Following an ever - increasing number of restroom complaints during the summer of 1997,
Department staff examined what could be done to cost - effectively reduce complaints. We proposed
to hire a private contractor to supplement City staff in the cleaning of beach restrooms during the
summer months for the 1998 summer season. Ed's Building Maintenance of Diamond Bar, who
already provided custodial services at City Hall and the Corporation Yard, was hired to provide
continuous cleaning at the Balboa Pier, Newport Pier, and Washington Street facilities on the
Peninsula, as well as the Corona del Mar State Beach facilities from 12 noon until 8:00pm. The
company utilized a pair of two- person crews to provide the service, one stationed on the Peninsula
and the other in Corona del Mar. Ed's Building Maintenance continues to provide this service each
summer for a 10 -week period beginning July 1 when the beach crowds start to increase. The cost of
this contract is $20,000 per year and has continued for four successful seasons. This service has
successfully kept restroom complaints to a minimum at the locations serviced.
In the fall of 1999, a decision was made to eliminate the two part-time weekend employees who
worked year- round, and turn weekend restroom cleaning over to a private contractor. At the same
time, the two student laborer positions during the summer months were eliminated. This action was
taken because we were unable to hire reliable college students who would spend a summer cleaning
restrooms. With a strong economy, college students were able to find other positions.
A contractor was hired in July 2000 to provide the weekend restroom cleaning service. The
contractor reneged on the contract the first day of work when his employees refused to work in the
difficult circumstance related to heavily soiled restrooms. Regular City staff assumed the weekend
cleaning until a new contractor could be found. Following a lengthy formal bid process, a contract
was awarded in February 2001 to A -1 Spinelli Enterprises, and they began cleaning the restrooms
on March 24, 2001. The cost of this contract is $34,000 per year. Thus far, the firm has performed
at a barely satisfactory level.
As a recap, during the summer months, the beach -area restroom cleaning schedule is as follows:
Monday through Friday, two City employees clean restrooms on the Peninsula side, and one
employee is assigned to Balboa Island and Corona del Mar restrooms between 5:00am and 1:30pm.
Ed's Building Maintenance performs restroom cleaning from 12 noon until 8:00pm at the Piers,
Washington Street, and Corona del Mar Main Beach restroom locations. During the weekends, A -1
Spinelli cleans all of the restroom sites during the morning hours and Ed's Building Maintenance
assumes the responsibility at 12 noon.
This past summer, staff received very few complaints regarding the cleanliness of beach restroom
facilities. Considering the extremely high usage of the restrooms, we believe this is a positive sign.
Staff feels that the key to reducing complaints is having attendants on site making sure the facilities
are repeatedly cleaned and stocked with paper products during periods of high usage. Another
factor is the poor design and low capacity of the beach restrooms, particularly in the Pier areas.
This issue is being addressed with a beach restroom renovation and replacement program that is
underway.
Beach Restroom Cleaning
Page 3
In October, the Department hired an additional Facilities Maintenance Worker II as authorized in
the current budget. This position was filled to perform general maintenance and carpentry tasks at
all City facilities, but will be assigned full -time to performing restroom maintenance tasks only
during the peak summer months (Memorial day through Labor Day). This person will be one of
two City staff assigned to the public restrooms and other inland City facilities in the Corona Del
Mar and Balboa Island communities. It is anticipated that this change will result in the reporting of
even fewer public complaints next summer season.
If directed, Department staff can examine the costs of increasing the frequency of the contract
cleaning of all beach restroom facilities during the summer months as well as commencing the
afternoon cleaning earlier, for instance, during the Memorial Day weekend, and continuing on
weekends through mid- September.
Very respectfully,
David E. Niederhaus
DEN /mp
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