Tyler Shaun Evains
Daily Breeze, Torrance, Calif.
(TNS)
Redondo Beach is starting to plan what the complete overhaul of its public safety facilities will look like, using bond money that voters approved during the November election.
The City Council this week unanimously approved a contract with construction management firm Griffin Structures to serve as the bond project manager, a role that will include helping Redondo decide how Measure FP funds should be spent to build new Fire Stations No. 1 and 2, and a Main Police Station, as well as renovate the police annex facility.
Voters in the city approved Measure FP during the November election, providing $93.35 million to rebuild the fire and police stations, as well as to continue recruiting and retaining personnel for the Redondo Beach Police and Fire departments. The city will repay the bonds via residents’ property taxes.
The city will pay Griffin Structures $150,000 of that money to complete the strategic planning phase for the reconstruction projects, the city manager’s assistant, Luke Smude, said, during which the firm and the city will work together to create a vision for the new buildings, secure temporary police and fire facilities to maintain services while construction is underway, and consider regulatory and environmental factors.
Once strategic planning is done, in about 16 weeks, staff will return to the council for a briefing on the project vision, in late November or early December, before the city prepares for construction.
It’s a “quick phase, but a very meaningful one,” City Manager Mike Witzansky said, “as it’ll set the tone for how we’ll ultimately design and construct these facilities,” adding that he looks forward to seeing the plan lay out how the “real money” will be spent on the public safety building makeover.
Griffin was ultimately the top choice out of the 11 firms that expressed interest in the project once the window for proposals opened in February, Smude said, having completed similar projects throughout Southern California.
Recently, for example, the firm worked on the rebuilt Manhattan Beach Fire Station No. 2, which opened in December 2023.
Councilmember Scott Behrendt, however, said during the Tuesday, June 15, coucil meeting, that he was concerned about the delay in that city’s new fire station opening from its original move in date of July 2023 — and whether that setback resulted in additional costs from contractors.
Leonard Marshall, project management executive for Griffin Structures, explained that the cause was a building height technicality that had minimal impact on the Manhattan Beach project.
“There was a slight discrepancy between what was approved by the planning commission and what was actually built,” Marshall said, and the extension “wasn’t significantly over the budget.”
The city’s risk management deemed it a negligible issue, he added, but cross checking everything across city departments took three months, leading to the opening delay. Settlement amounts for claims from contractors for the extended work period also stayed within the 10% project cost contingency.
Even during the technical standstill, “we didn’t sit on our hands,” Marshall said. “We made sure the contractor was able to reorganize some of the work they would’ve done later on and move it in earlier.”
Redondo Beach staff, meanwhile, anticipates Griffin being a long-term partner on the project beyond strategic planning, Smude said, but the firm would still have to return to the council for approval on any further involvement.
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