Staff Report
PREPARED BY: STEVE REGAN
Parks and Public Works Superintendent
Reviewed by: Town Manager, Assistant Town Manager, Town Attorney, Finance Director, and Parks and
Public Works Director
110 E. Main Street Los Gatos, CA 95030 ● 406-354-6832
www.losgatosca.gov
TOWN OF LOS GATOS
COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
MEETING DATE: 04/16/19
ITEM NO: 10
DATE: APRIL 9, 2019
TO: MAYOR AND TOWN COUNCIL
FROM: LAUREL PREVETTI, TOWN MANAGER
SUBJECT: ACCEPT A REPORT ON DOWNTOWN MAINTENANCE AND BEAUTIFICATION
ACTIVITIES
RECOMMENDATION:
Accept a report on downtown maintenance and beautification activities.
BACKGROUND:
Downtown remains a vital contributor to the Town’s charming character and receives specific
attention through enhanced maintenance services. Over time, the Council has added
significant funding to the maintenance and beautification of the downtown. These enhanced
services are generally above typical infrastructure maintenance efforts as described in this
report. For the purpose of this report, the downtown reflects the business area along North
Santa Cruz Avenue and Main Street from Highway 9 to Pageant Way.
DISCUSSION:
Power Washing of Sidewalks and Sweeping of Municipal Parking Lots
In 2015, the Town hired a contractor to provide ongoing downtown power washing services,
including the sweeping of ten municipal parking lots. The power washing of downtown
sidewalks is performed five times per year during the months of August, October, December,
April, and June. The contractor sweeps all municipal parking lots once a month. The cleaning
and sweeping operations are scheduled in the late evening or early morning hours to avoid
inconveniencing businesses and shoppers downtown.
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SUBJECT: ACCEPT A REPORT ON DOWNTOWN MAINTENANCE AND BEAUTIFICATION
ACTIVITIES
DATE: APRIL 9, 2019
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DISCUSSION (continued):
The current agreement for power washing services expires this fiscal year. Through the
procurement process to renew the agreement, staff will obtain pricing for the current level of
service as well as pricing for additional service months to allow for an increase in service levels
if Council chooses to enhance existing services. The current contract amount is $20,000. An
increase to eight cleanings per year would require an estimated $12,000 in additional funding.
Trash and Recycling Collection
Trash collection in downtown is performed Monday through Friday by the Town’s franchise
waste hauler as part of the franchise agreement. The costs for this service are covered through
the franchise rates. In 2015, the Town signed a contract with a service provider to collect trash
and recycling based on needs above and beyond what the franchise waste hauler can provide.
This service collects trash and recycling on Saturday and Sunday, and recycling only on
Wednesday. The contract also includes monthly surface cleaning of receptacles. These
additional services cost the Town $45,000 per year. Through this contract, and by increasing
the number of recycling receptacles in downtown, the Town has resolved most issues
associated with overflowing trash receptacles.
Over the last several years, recycling receptacles have increased by 12, to a total of 38. Each
recycling receptacle is paired with a trash receptacle to enhance the success for waste
diversion. An additional 26 trash receptacles are in place without paired recycling receptacles.
Staff continues to adjust the ratio of trash and recycling receptacles to meet the needs of
downtown with a goal of reaching one-to-one receptacle pairings. This increase in recycling
containers also helps to move towards State requirements for diversion of trash from local
landfills.
Tree Trimming
On June 5, 2018, the Town Council authorized staff to enter into a five-year agreement for tree
trimming services with BrightView Tree Company. These services allow for basic ongoing tree
clearance Town wide that includes tree trimming in downtown. Staff has taken a proactive
approach to ensure that trees in downtown are pruned frequently to ensure heathy growth
habits and reduce limb failures within the tree canopies. A thriving and healthy urban forest is
known to have many community benefits, including positive impacts on maintenance of urban
habitats, urban heat island effects, air quality, aesthetics, public health, and property values.
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SUBJECT: ACCEPT A REPORT ON DOWNTOWN MAINTENANCE AND BEAUTIFICATION
ACTIVITIES
DATE: APRIL 9, 2019
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DISCUSSION (continued):
Tree Lights
Downtown tree lights are maintained on a weekly basis by contract, with the lights installed on
every mature tree on Santa Cruz Avenue and Main Street, including the most recent addition of
lights on Main Street between Highway 17 and Pageant Way. Past challenges with the tree
lights have included weekend vandalism, which was resolved through the increase to a
structured weekly maintenance service, allowing for repairs on Mondays directly following each
weekend. The contract for tree light maintenance is approximately $32,000 per year.
Planter Boxes
The Town Beautification Committee has historically led the effort to maintain the planter boxes
along North Santa Cruz Avenue by a group of volunteers. The program allowed name
recognition attached to each planter box identifying the name of the family or business that
maintained the box. Over time, participation by some adoptees waned and staff recently took
back the responsibilities of managing the planter box volunteer program. Volunteers
maintaining their box were free to continue in the program, with the Town stepping in where
ongoing maintenance has been deficient. Since taking over the planter boxes, Parks and Public
Works has upgraded the irrigation systems in the planters, and replanted dead or missing
vegetation. In addition, this year the Town implemented a voucher program for adoptees to
cover the cost of plant material at a local nursery. The voucher program is meant to encourage
more frequent plant updates.
The Beautification Committee continues to make great contributions to downtown. Through its
partnership with the Town, Committee volunteers conduct monthly meetups where they pick
up garbage, prune, sweep hard to reach areas, etc. In addition, the Committee has taken on
the task of repainting the planter box railings, making a big difference in the appearance of the
planters.
Staff researched the cost of a contracted maintenance service providing weekly routine
landscape maintenance, including regular monthly maintenance and quarterly changes to
annuals to keep the colors current and vibrant. The estimated annual cost for this program is
$65,000. The costs of this service have made implementation prohibitive.
Street Sweeping
Typically, all Town streets are swept once per month. Downtown streets receive the service
more often, averaging four times per month.
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SUBJECT: ACCEPT A REPORT ON DOWNTOWN MAINTENANCE AND BEAUTIFICATION
ACTIVITIES
DATE: APRIL 9, 2019
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DISCUSSION (continued):
Additional Unmet Needs
Several areas of downtown maintenance remain unaddressed. This includes landscaping areas
in many parking lots where irrigation has failed, leaking garage deck sections on parking lot #4,
and re-painting of streetlight poles.
An area of ongoing concern continues to be PG&E vaults that are in the sidewalk along Santa
Cruz Avenue. The lids on these vaults can make loud banging noises as pedestrians tread on
them. Although past efforts to work with PG&E have provided temporary relief, staff has
recently re-engaged with PG&E to identify a more permanent resolution for this ongoing issue.
Staff explored an option of adding a part time maintenance position dedicated to downtown to
proactively address minor landscape and maintenance needs and respond to calls for service
for things like spills and trash. To be most effective, the Town would need to purchase
equipment (i.e., a walk behind scrubber) that could be used to scrub the sidewalks on a much
more routine basis than a pressure washer. (The Proposed Fiscal Year 2019/20 Budget is
expected to include funds for the Town to purchase a pressure washer which would serve the
entire Town, including heavy duty spot cleaning downtown.) The estimated cost for labor and
the scrubber equipment for this part time work would be in the range of $50,000 annually
($37,000 for labor). This option has not been proposed by staff at this point.
CONCLUSION:
Staff recognizes that the Town Council might be interested in enhancing downtown
maintenance service levels. While there may be one-time funds available for next fiscal year,
ongoing funding to maintain higher service expectations may not be available in future yea rs.
Many of the enhanced maintenance items desired for downtown are typical of work that could
be incorporated in an Assessment or Business Improvement District. This may provide an
option for addressing these needs for the future.
This report highlights maintenance and beautification activities in downtown and does not
require action by the Council. The Council may wish to provide input on these activities,
suggest alternatives, or ask for specific additions that could be considered when the Council
discusses the Proposed Operating Budget for Fiscal Year 2019/20 at its meeting on May 21,
2019.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact associated with this report.
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SUBJECT: ACCEPT A REPORT ON DOWNTOWN MAINTENANCE AND BEAUTIFICATION
ACTIVITIES
DATE: APRIL 9, 2019
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ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT:
This is not a project defined under CEQA, and no further action is required.