MOUNTAIN HOUSE COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT To provide responsive service to our growing community that exceeds expectations at a fair value STAFF REPORT AGENDA TITLE: Holiday Lighting Display and Approval of Related Expenditures MEETING DATE: November 9, 2016 PREPARED BY: Doug Louie, Operations and Maintenance Superintendent Edwin Pattison, General Manager RECOMMENDATION: Discussion/action directing staff to coordinate efforts with the Mountain House Kindness Club to receive private donations toward lighting the community for the holiday period from early December through the New Year and authorizing staff to expend up to $35,482 to provide power for the holiday lights. DISCUSSION: During the October 12th Board of Directors Meeting, Mountain House resident Hari Kattana, representing the Mountain House Kindness Club, presented a vision and request to the Board to usher in the holidays with lighting throughout Mountain House to bring beauty and happiness to the community. In response to Mr. Kattana s request, the Board directed staff to work with Mr. Kattana to discuss project feasibility and s. Based on this discussion, Mr. Kattana submitted a summary to staff (Attachment A) which included lighting areas and the planting of a holiday tree at Park. ELECTRICAL RETROFIT Staff analyzed Mr. Kattana s proposal and determined that the areas proposed for lighting would require electrical work to provide power for the holiday lights. The electrical retrofit locations and costs are shown in the table below. All supporting electrical work will be done by a certified electrician with electrical parts suitable for exposure to the environment, including rain. Of the four proposed electrical retrofit projects identified in the table below, Wicklund Crossing/Mountain House and /Main Street, currently have existing electrical power for holiday lights, but trenching and the installation of conduit in the existing shrub beds is necessary. Trenching and the installation of conduit will also be necessary at the proposed Park location for the
holiday tree. Hanging LED holiday lights on the streetlights located along will require the installation of 110v electrical outlets, which will include necessary security features. Staff contacted the Modesto Irrigation District regarding the retrofit of the twenty-two streetlights on between Main Street and Mustang Way to ensure MHCSD does not violate the current streetlight power schedule for MID billing. Due to potential power theft, MID is considering the requirement for MHCSD to move the twenty-two streetlights from a flat cost per month per streetlight to a metered, commercial rate. If MID requires metering, lighting the streetlights would be impossible from a timing perspective because MID would be required to install median power meters that would not be completed in time for the holidays. Furthermore, the cost differential to move from a flat rate to a metered rate has not been calculated, but is expected to be more expensive. Staff has asked MID to reconsider the change of the flat rate proposal because the potential theft of power would be virtually impossible due to locking covers and their location along the median. Because of the uncertainty as to whether MID will maintain the flat rate billing for the 22 streetlights on, project costs are shown in the tables below with both included and excluded from the project estimates. HOLIDAY LIGHTS The Kindness Club contacted Tri-Valley Lighting (Pleasanton, CA) and provided the attached cost estimate to MHCSD. The quote represents the purchase of the lights, along with cost of labor for installation and removal. Purchase of the lights will be a one-time purchase; labor costs would be incurred each time the lighting is displayed.. The Kindness Club is committed to raising private funds to pay TriValley Holiday Lighting, however, the Kindness Club is not in a position to sign a contract with TriValley Holiday Lighting. This would require MHCSD to enter into the contract. The total cost for TriValley Holiday Lighting would be either $7,200 or $2,250, depending on whether the streetlights are included in the project. All proposed electrical improvements would be permanent improvements that could be used from this time forward if this project is approved by the Board. Likewise, the holiday lighting would be available for future events. However the District would need to pay the cost of labor for installation and removal. The following table provides cost estimates for completing the necessary electrical work, the holiday tree, and the holiday lighting:
Project cost estimates Including Excluding Electrical retrofits Holiday tree receptacle - 1 outlet, lawn area south of CCP fountain $2,620 $2,620 Wicklund Crossing/Mountain House entry - 2 outlets at base of signage 5,000 5,000 /Main Street palm trees - 16 outlets at base of palms 9,450 9,450 streetlights between Main Street and Mustang Way - 22 outlets 6,212 0 Holiday lighting - purchase, installation and removal 7,200 2,250 Holiday tree 5,000 5,000 Total $35,482 $24,320 PROJECT FUNDING The following table includes proposed funding for the two lighting s. As noted above, the Kindness Club is committed to raising funds to support this project. Charitable contributions to MHCSD for this project will be tax-deductible. However, if the fund raising efforts fall short, MHCSD will be required to pay the difference. Personnel budgetary savings due to vacancies are available to augment the fundraising effort. Projected funding sources Including Excluding Community-wide landscaping improvement program $ 5,000 $ 5,000 Amount available in road-related CIP programs 12,000 12,000 Kindness Club fundraising for holiday lighting 7,200 2,250 Re-allocation of budget for Community Meetings 2,500 2,500 Personnel budget savings due to vacancies 8,782 2,570 Total $35,482 $24,320
Due to limited time constraints, TriValley Holiday Lighting would out of necessity be required to complete the work by early December, which would preclude the MHCSD from performing an informal bid process to determine the lowest cost, responsive bid. (Note: In this case, MHCSD is not required by law to perform a formal bid, but it is good business policy that MHCSD staff observes). TriValley Holiday Lighting would be required to sign a Professional Services Agreement with MHCSD containing all the standard protection terms and insurance requirements and be licensed and certified in the State of California to perform the requested services. FISCAL IMPACT: The fiscal impact and sources of funding are described in the table above. Similar to the MHCSD gazebo electrical improvement project, staff proposes to fund the holiday lighting project as a community benefit to be funded by the General Fund. STRATEGIC PLAN IMPLEMENTATION: This project will help the District achieve the following Recreation goal: Rec-A Goal: Diversity of events that reach out to all age classes. ACTION FOLLOWING BOARD APPROVAL: The General Manager will enter into agreements as needed for the holiday light display. ATTACHMENT: Attachment A: TriValley Holiday Lighting Quote c: District Counsel
ATTACHMENT A Comments Quote from Tri-Valley Holiday Lighting (Pleasanton, CA) # Lighting Description Quantity Rate Total (Estimate) Where: (between Mustang and Main) 1 What: Street Pole Wreaths 48" wreath 22 225 $4,950.00 with bow hung on each. LED capability on wreath. Power TBD Where: "Mountain House" Stone Wall at the beginning of Wicklund Crossing 2 What: Lit Garland; Warm White LED draped across stone. LED Lighting on 2 325 $650.00 trees located behind MH stone wall Where: 4 sets of 5 Palm Trees @ Intersection of and 3 Main What: LED mini lights wrapped up the trunk Where: Palm Trees at Park around Fountain 4 What: 11 Palm Trees in circular pattern. LED mini lights wrapped up the trunks Where: Mountain House Gazebo What: Warm White C9 LED Lighting 5 around perimeter roof line with lit Garland draped across entrance. 6 Where: Tree Lighting Ceremony in Park What: Live 20-25 feet Christmas Tree so that we could use the same tree every year. Grand Total (with lighting of Palm Trees at Intersection - Item #3) Grand Total (without lighting of Palm Trees at Intersection - Item #3) 4 1850 $7,400.00 11 325 $3,575.00 1 1200 $1,200.00 1 0 $0.00 $17,775.00 $10,375.00 Total of 20 Palm Trees at the Intersection Power TBD Cost TBD - MHCSD office is exploring possibilities to have Bright View Landscaping donate a 20-25feet Christmas Tree Possible Additional Cost: 1) Plus cost to install Christmas tree in Park 2) Cost to retrofit Street lights and other power outlets with 110V if 110V outlet is not available to provide power to lights Possible Additional Cost: 1) Plus cost to install Christmas tree in Park 2) Cost to retrofit Street lights and other power outlets with 110V if 110V outlet is not available to provide power to lights