The Weekly Newspaper of El Segundo
Herald Publications - El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lawndale & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 108, No. 44 - October 31, 2019
Inside
This Issue
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.....................11
Classifieds............................9
Community Briefs...............2
Crossword/Sudoku.............9
Entertainment......................4
Legals.............................. 8,10
Pets......................................11
Real Estate..................5-7,12
School Spotlight..................3
Ed! Represents at Pier to Pier
Supporters of the El Segundo Education Foundation came out in droves for the SKECHERS Pier to Pier Friendship Walk that took place last weekend. Photo: Ed!
Sports....................................3 Three-Year Capital Improvement
Weekend
Forecast
Program Keeping Public Works Busy
By Brian Simon
Though it seems like only yesterday when
he started here, El Segundo Public Works
Director Ken Berkman will celebrate his
three-year anniversary on the job on November
1. Asked what he feels is his most
important accomplishment so far during his
tenure, he did not hesitate in his response:
“I pushed for a Citywide facilities condition
assessment,” he said. The analysis of the City
of El Segundo’s various buildings was one of
the key components in shaping the first-ever
three-year capital improvement program (CIP).
The first batch of such projects approved in
the summer by the El Segundo City Council
will get going over the next few months.
Berkman referred to the initial campaign of
the multi-year CIP as a “big step forward”
and added that the condition assessment will
be pivotal in pinpointing future work to be
done at City Hall, the library, Recreation Park,
Park Vista and other City buildings. “Before
this, we were running blind,” Berkman noted.
The CIP for 2019/20 includes 35 projects
with a total price tag of $9.98 million, of which
nearly two-thirds will come out of the general
fund. The rest will pull from a mix of water and
sewer enterprise funds, gas tax monies, state
ballot measure allocations, grants and special
funds. Among the big-ticket items: the Indiana
Street water main replacement, lifeguard pump
station construction, annual roadway rehabilitation,
and yearly sidewalk improvement and
construction. Work on water mains, sewers,
streets, pavement and sidewalks remain the
cornerstones of Public Works, Berkman was
quick to point out. “This is the boring stuff
in the background that is nonetheless critical
to what folks use every day,” he said. “I am
proud of the effort to rehabilitate our roads
and we have made a great deal of progress
the last four years.” Berkman added that the
City hopes to reach or exceed its prescribed
five-year Pavement Condition Index goal of
73 in 2020. It rated at 65 in 2015, which was
also the average statewide.
Key general fund projects for the current
fiscal year include construction of Acacia
Park (minus a previously planned new pool
and restrooms because the Council opted to
redirect those monies elsewhere), Teen Center
upgrades, Richmond Field renovation, City Hall
windows replacement, community cameras and
fixed license plate readers, Main and Imperial
entryway beautification, and hockey rink
rehabilitation. Berkman emphasized that the
Teen Center project will first require a needs
assessment to determine desired changes to
the basketball court, skate park and building.
He described the window work at City Hall as
vital to bolster security and energy efficiency
and said the hockey rink is “a really cool
project in partnership with the LA Kings.”
The 2019/20 CIP list allocates $100,000
for The Plunge replacement scope assessment.
A Request for Proposal (RFP) will go
out to aquatic center architects, engineers
and maintenance experts to assist with the
needs assessment and get a sense of the
cost to revitalize the community’s iconic
pool that has been in frequent disrepair for
many years. The Council moved $1 million
into a Plunge rehabilitation reserve fund both
this year and in 2020/21, with $1.5 million
slotted for 2021/22. Rising construction and
materials costs will no doubt swell the price
for this project well beyond earlier estimates
in the $4 million range, Berkman indicated.
Meanwhile, the City can use monies remaining
in its aquatics fund towards this project and
also look for grants and outside stakeholder
contributions.
Next year’s biggest project by far entails
improvements to El Segundo Boulevard from
PCH to the city’s eastern border. Berkman
confirmed that Metro recently approved a
$4 million Measure M package to help cover
more than half of the $7.5 million estimated
construction cost (with the remainder from
non-general fund sources). “The El Segundo
Boulevard project includes pavement rehabilitation,
installation of curb ramps and bike
lanes, traffic signal poles, video detection,
and pedestrian countdown signal heads,”
he said. On a related note, a section of El
Segundo Boulevard near Main Street now
boasts 15 new (though temporary) parking
spaces as part of a pilot program approved
in the prior fiscal year. The long-term goal
is to find much-needed additional parking for
the growing Smoky Hollow area.
The CIP also provides more than $1.3
million over the three years to finally repair
and upgrade the plumbing at Park Vista. The
$60,000 this year will cover design costs, with
the rest of the money allocated over two phases
in 2020/21 and 2021/22 to complete the work.
See Public Works, page 10
Friday
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