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RESOLUTION 93-20695 RESOLUTION NO. 93-20695 A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER AND FINANCE DIRECTOR TO SET UP WORK ORDERS FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF A CITY WIDE IRRIGATION AND PARKING LOT LANDSCAPING RENOVATION PROGRAM. WHEREAS, the City administration has presented a proposal to begin a program to renovate and upgrade the City's irrigation systems and parking lot landscaping; and WHEREAS, funding sources have been identified for this program; and WHEREAS, the City Commission deems it in the best interest of the City to proceed with this renovation program. NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, that the City Manager and Finance Director are authorized to establish two (2) work orders using funds from the following sources: 1. Work order for repair to park areas - $150,000 from the 1972 Park Renovation Bond fund # 322. 2. Work order for repair to parking facilities a) $135,000 from the 1989 Parking Revenue Bond Fund # 485 b) $65,000 from the Parking Department O&M Funds. PASSED and ADOPTED this 6th day of January , 1993 10 OP i rYOR ATTEST: CITY CLERK FORM APPROVED LEGAL EPARTMENT Cflai Dat- / / Z-- DK:jd REF: CITY of NAIA1v1I BEACH CITY HALL 1700 CONVENTION CENTER DRIVE MIAMI BEACH FLORIDA 33139 OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER TELEPHONE: (305) 673-7010 FAX: (305) 673-7782 COMMISSION MEMORANDUM NO. `.cis TO: Mayor Seymour Gelber and DATE: January 6 , 1993 Members of the City Commission M FROM: Roger M. Carit144( f_ City Manager SUBJECT: REQUEST FOR AUTHORIZATION TO ESTABLISH WORK ORDERS ADMINISTRATION RECOMMENDATION: The Administration recommends that the City Commission authorize the City Manager and the Finance Director to establish two work orders using funds from the 1972 Parks Renovation Bond Fund 322, the 1989 Parking Revenue Bond Fund 485 and Parking Department O&M funds. These funds will be used to implement a two year city-wide irrigation renovation program and parking lot landscaping improvement program. BACKGROUND: In May 1992 the Parks & Recreation Department outlined the problems associated with the deteriorating condition of the city's irrigation systems (see attached memo). A survey at that time discovered that 40% of the systems city-wide were in need of repair or replacement. There are 260 separate locations and nearly 7000 irrigation heads throughout the city. Most of these systems are operated manually. The difficulties in managing repairs to and operating this system within the confines of the County water conservation ordinance were also outlined. ANALYSIS:. The memo concluded with the recommendation to initiate a 5 year irrigation system renovation repair and automation program. By using sub surface irrigation, installing automation equipment and redesigning systems with fewer heads, it was determined that many of our present difficulties would be alleviated. Several large projects are planned at a minimum for the 1992-93 fiscal year. They are Lummus Park, City Hall and the Bayshore Golf Course area of Alton Road. In anticipation of these improvements, made possible by the elimination of the night watering crew, a savings of$38,308.00 was taken into consideration during the recent budget process. These irrigation improvements will make possible the improvement of the landscaping in approximately 20 high visibility parking lots. The funding for the landscape materials are provided for as well from the proposed work order. Project design will be accomplished by three landscape architectural firms on a rotating basis. Contracts with the firms are expected to be awarded in approximately 60 days. FUNDI A--ROVED 96 Manag- !j and Budget AGENDA I TEM DATE 1 - R A total of $350,000.00 is required in order to fund the entire two year program. An analysis of existing funding sources has identified $150,000 in the 1972 Park Renovation Bond Fund # 322. These funds will be used for work in parks and park areas. To fund $200,000 in improvements to Parking facilities, $135,000 from the 1989 Parking Revenue Bond Fund #485,and $65,000 from the Parking Department O&M account will be used. Additional right-of-way landscape upgrades will be funded from other sources. These include governmental grants, private sources and contributions from an "adopt-a-street" program suggested by Commissioner Gottlieb. These projects will be recommended in the near future. CONCLUSION: Pursuant to the City Manager's instructions to proceed with the program as outlined in the May 11, 1992 memo, the Administration requests that the City Manager and the Finance Director be authorized to establish two work orders from which funds can be drawn for the specified expenditures. RMC:DK:ah 9P CITY OF MIAMI BEACH TO: ROGER CARLTON DATE: MAY 11, 1992 CITY MANAGER FROM: WILLIAM N. IRVINE PARKS AND RECREATION DIRECTOR SUBJECT: CITY WIDE IRRIGATION SYSTEM ANALYSIS Pursuant to Commissioner Pearlson's request for information regarding the City's irrigation systems, the following report was prepared. RECOMMENDATION 1. Implement a five (5) year renovation/replacement program for all City irrigation systems. a) Convert appropriate locations to subsurface, low pressure irrigation systems (Leaky Pipe). This involves the replacement of 6" of top soil and re-sodding in most areas. This is due to the need to have a uniform soil particle size to allow the root zone to be uniformly watered. b) Convert all large turf areas to automatically operated pop up sprinklers using the largest size heads possible. c) Automate as many systems as possible, changing heads to pop-ups or Leaky Pipe and piping to PVC. The expertise required to renovate the systems is available in the Parks p Maintenance Division; however, the work load simply maintaining the present system exceeds the capacity of the available staff currently assigned to the function, thus the following staffing recommendation is made. 2. Provide adequate staff to provide for the long term maintenance of the improved systems. a) Assign all irrigation maintenance responsibilities (Parks, Recreation and Parking) to the Parks Maintenance Division. 99 b) Transfer one (1) Utility Worker from the Recreation Division to the Parks Maintenance Division. Two (2) Utility Workers could manage to maintain all of the irrigation systems g y s i n the city, assuming the recommendations outlined in #1 above are carried out. Combining the repair functions of Parks, Recreation and Parking will provide some efficiencies with regard to purchasing as well as increased quality of this service. Additionally, as will be outlined in the potential cost savings portion of this memorandum, other quality of service increases can be achieved as a result of the reallocation of resources or a reduction in personnel costs. As a result of these changes, the Parking Department's maintenance function would benefit from better supervision of its maintenance crews since the new system would free up much of the Park Supervisor l's time which is now used to fix sprinklers. Centralized supervision of this function will also insure that proper repair procedures are followed, which will aid in avoiding deterioration of system quality over time. Taking into consideration the information provided in #1 and #2 above, it is recommended that the additional Utility Worker be initially assigned to the renovation/replacement program. Also, an allocation sufficient to purchase the services of temporary materials for the improvements would be required. This would provide for the same level of service currently provided, in addition to providing the resources to renovate 20% of the City's system each year with in- house crews. The yearly cost associated with the proposal is as follows: One additional Utility Worker (reassigned) 24,995 Estimated Temporary Laborer Cost 23,000 Estimated Material Cost 40,000 TOTAL $ 87,995 TOTAL PROJECT COSTS (five (5) year program) $439,975 FUNDING PROPOSAL It is recommended that this five (5) year project be funded and financed through two (2) bond issues and the Parking Department O&M Account. The reassigned Utility Worker would continue to be paid out of the General fund with the exception of those occasions when he is performing work on Parking Department facilities. 100 A work order will be established to account for all costs of the project using $150,000 from Bond fund 322 (1972 Parks renovation Bond) and $200,000 from the 1989 Parking Revenue Bond and O&M Funds. Service costs associated with parking lot rehabilitation will not be restricted to personnel and material expenses for irrigation system renovations alone, but will also include substantial enhancement of improved landscaping and related refurbishment. The above steps should restore our ability to maintain the city's irrigation systems in good working order. An additional suggestion, that would help insure the systems integrity, is to publicize a telephone number that the public could call when problems are noticed. With this added assistance from the public some of the difficulties associated with operating automatic systems could be greatly reduced. BACKGROUND . EVALUATION OF SYSTEM UNDER THE PARKS MAINTENANCE CONTROL The Parks Maintenance division has conducted a comprehensive survey of the City's irrigation systems. We have been able to derive some useful fact from this survey as illustrated below. # of locations (individual:medians,parkways,landscaped areas,parks etc. 260 # of heads of all types 6935 # of valves of all types 1705 # of leaky pipe locations 78 # of broken heads 2830 # of broken valves 179 Age of systems Seventy five percent of the systems are 25 years old or older. The newer PVC systems are less than 10 years old and make up approximately 15% of the total. Leaky pipe installations are no more than five years old and they make up approximately 10% of the total. % of broken heads compared to total 40% % of broken valves compared to total 10% All damage identified requires a Utility Worker to undertake repairs. EVALUATION OF SYSTEM UNDER THE CONTROL OF THE PARKING DEPARTMENT In 1988, a general survey of the physical condition of all parking facilities was made. This survey recognized that the irrigation systems in these areas were in uniformly poor condition and recommended that leaky pipe be installed wherever possible. Since that report, three (3) locations have been converted to leaky pipe by in-house landscape maintenance crews. However, this would still leave most of the system in poor condition. 101 • CURRENT PROCEDURE FOR FIXING DAMAGE IN PARKS MAINTENANCE One (1) Utility Worker responds alone to all repair locations at the request of Run Supervisors, or his own knowledge of damage. Run Supervisors and all Park Attendants are responsible for cleaning and replacing heads when it does not require the significant use of tools. The general operating condition of many systems has declined over thep ast two years due to the water restrictions that are in effect. These restrictions, which are now mandated by County- ordinance, have changed the way that we water. Previously all Run crews were required to water their areas, whereby systems would get cleaned, adjusted and repaired by them on a regular basis. Now, at best, the crews have 1 1/2 hours a day, between 7:30 a.m. and 9:00 a.m., to accomplish this task. A night watering crew of two can manage to water only the high visibility locations, and is at a disadvantage when it comes to doing any repairs due to the limited amount of light available at night. The previous system was further negatively affected by the budgetary reduction in the number of supervisors two years ago. In 1989, the Parks Division had twice the number of supervisors, all of whom had the mobility, time and knowledge necessary for minor sprinkler system maintenance. In order to partially remedy this situation, we have recently reorganized the Division so that one supervisor will have the time to check out, clean and to some extent, operate all of the irrigation systems city-wide. This should ensure that most systems remain in somewhat better condition so that Run crews can operate them effectively during the time permitted by the County ordinance. The problem of more involved repairs, which is what is identified to the aforementioned survey, still remains. We are very fortunate to have an effective, conscientious and productive Utility Worker on staff at this time. He has, since transferring from the Convention Center six months ago, been systematically and comprehensively fixing problems that have been overlooked for years. This has been in addition to trying to keep the overall system in operating condition. The quality of his repairs reduces, or eliminates, return visits. His productivity is exemplary. Regardless of this employee's performance, the sheer volume of work is beyond his ability to keep up with the demand for service. IN THE PARKING DEPARTMENT The Parking Department is in a similar, yet more difficult, position in that it does not have a Utility Worker available to perform repairs or system upgrades. The Park Supervisor I assigned to the area is performing these duties, which naturally takes him from his supervisory and landscape maintenance responsibilities. 102 SYSTEM AGE AND GENERAL DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS AFFECTING SYSTEM REPAIR AND OPERATION Many of the city's irrigation systems, being over 25 years old, are galvanized pipe construction. These systems are clogged with rust and are prone to springing leaks due to corrosion. Many threaded locations have been repaired so many times that they now must be replaced in order for a long lasting repair to be made. The newer systems are constructed with PVC pipe which is easier to repair. Virtually all of our installations are operated manually, either by turning on a valve or connecting a sprinkler in to an underground piping system. This makes the process of watering the city's landscapes very labor intensive. Most systems are in serviceable condition; however, there is not adequate staff available to keep the systems in operating condition at all times. Many of the city's older systems are of the typical spray head type that are characterized by many heads which individually cover only a small area. Leaky pipe has been successfully used to eliminate this type of head from median strips. When new systems are designed for larger turf areas (only very recently) we recommend that heads which individually cover larger areas be used. Leaky pipe is most cost effective when used on small or irregularly shaped parcels. Systems using self contained sprinklers that cover large areas, as opposed to quick coupler systems that use a limited number of movable heads, are more expensive to install. Self contained sprinklers are certainly more cost effective, especially over the long run when operated automatically. POTENTIAL COST SAVINGS irri irrigation systems were automatically operated, it would not be If all ofthecity's g y necessary to have crews watering at night. Further, if in the first six (6) months of the renovation replacement project six (6) of the City's high visibility areas could be converted and this crew could be eliminated. These resources could then be redirected to improve the City's overall appearance as it relates to landscaping or could be eliminated achieving a first year savings to the general fund of $19,154 and an annual savings thereafter of $38,308, not including fringes. Assuming a five-(5) year renovation program,that the Utility Worker represents the reassignment of an existing expense and only $35,000 of his time is charged to parkingfacilities, and in addition the total general fund savings is taken, the additional cost (using today's cost figures) and payoff periods are as follows: Five year cost of Utility Worker 5 x $ 7,000 = $ 35,000 Five year cost of temporary labor 5 x $23,000 = $115.000. 103 Five year cost of materials 5 x $40,000 = $200,000 TOTAL COST $350,000 Net yearly savings $ 38,308 Years to recover renovation program costs $350,000/$38,308 = 9.14 years From a strict financially based-cost benefit viewpoint, it is obvious that it will take a very short time to realize a return on the proposed investment. Additionally, the spin-off benefits from the improved appearance of the City's public areas, made possible by better irrigation, could further be construed to accelerate the economic benefit of implementing the renovations. In a tourist oriented community such as ours, there is certainly an economic impact made by attractive landscaping. There are also savings to be realized when you consider that valuable landscape materials will not need to be replaced if they are watered properly. In the case of parking facilities, additional revenues are probable based on an improved user perception of quality and value that can be created with the maintenance of healthy attractive landscaping. There are additional benefits specifically related to the installation of Leaky Pipe. As a low volume type of system, it has been estimated that approximately 50% less water is used to water any given area. We have also benefitted from improved public perception, as evidenced by fewer complaints, in that we no longer water the street with overspray in the areas where Leaky Pipe has been installed. Should you occur with our general proposal, we will take the necessary steps to establish the required work order and initiate the program. WNI:jd cc: Stuart Rogel, Assistant City Manager Jim Borgmann, Director of Parking Daniel Keys, Superintendent of Parks 104 xibuLu'L' Uri NO. 92-20695 Authorizing the City Manager and Finance Director to set up work orders for the implementation of a City wide irrigation and parking lot landscaping renovation rogram.