Bluebird rocket ship project caged, for now

Mike Swanson

The City Council approved the second-lowest bid submitted for the

Bluebird Park Renovation Project Tuesday, with more than $200,000

shaved from the proposed contract to approach the amount budgeted by

the city.

The bid, submitted by 4-Con Engineering, totaled $1,266,000

against the city’s available budget of about $850,000.

United Contractors Company Inc., the lowest bidder at $1,113,000,

was dismissed by the City Council and city staff because of

inconsistencies among its five references, Director of Public Works

Steve May said.

Deletions from 4-Con’s contract included $118,000 for a

replacement rocket ship and $72,480 to replace the chain link fence.

The rocket ship was the hottest issue Tuesday.

“This is the rocket ship park,” Mayor Toni Iseman said, “not the

Bluebird Park. When you’re taking a look at where a city spends its

money, you recognize that we’re putting on a short track $4.5 million

to move the corporate yard, which will accomplish nothing but a

parking lot that won’t be done for 10 years. This is the children’s

park, the citizens’ park, the locals’ park. It should be a priority.”

President of United Contractors Company Inc. Alexander A. Marjani

said that had the city employed his company, it wouldn’t be worrying

about deleting the rocket ship.

May said United listed the city of Laguna Beach as two of its five

references, with May as the contact person, but the company had a

different name, so it wasn’t a viable reference.

Because the references weren’t verifiable, May said, it was deemed

not responsive and denied in favor of 4-Con’s bid.

“They’re wasting more than $100,000 because I have a new partner,”

Marjani said. “I’ve worked for the city of Laguna Beach as Marjani

Construction in the past, and I don’t understand why I can’t use that

as a reference. It doesn’t make sense to punish someone for expanding

his business, and the city is paying for their mistake.”

Funds were taken from two storm drain projects, a street parking

structure project, a street curb ramp project and a street drain

modification project to help cover the contract. Ken Frank said

$5,000 from existing Arts Commission projects and a $1,200 donation

from Music in the Park would also be used to fund the Bluebird Park

Renovation.

“[The city] is wanting to spend 8% more for a project that its

already having to take from other projects to even do this one

project,” United Contractors Company Inc. estimator Roy Lee said. “It

just doesn’t make good fiscal sense.”

Marjani said the business expanded to become United Contractors

Company, Inc. about 18 months ago.

Baglin expressed concern that May’s and City Manager Ken Frank’s

explanation of why they were going with the second-highest bid was

well grounded, which City Atty. Philip D. Kohn affirmed.

“I believe steps taken by the staff were sufficient to reach the

determination of non-responsiveness of the [lowest] bid,” Kohn said.

The council also amended the motion, which passed unanimously, to

include the removal of $20,000 in contingency funds because of its

trust in 4-Con and landscape architect Ann Christoph.

The rocket ship and five other areas of renovation will be put on

hold until the city has the money to move forward.

Some residents weren’t happy about the deletions, but Frank said

that by approving the motion now, the park should be ready by next

spring.

“The rocket ship is a symbol to many in Laguna Beach,” said

Melinda Powers of the Laguna Beach MOMS club, “and it would be a

profound shame to see it deleted from the renovation project.”