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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 meldrdige /Council- Res=omMaintdoc