This report requests City Council approval of a Professional Services Agreement (PSA) with Environ to prepare the Public Health and Safety section of an environmental impact report (EIR) for the project applications submitted as Conditional Use Permit No. 2002-6, Sign Variance No. 2002-1, and Development Review No. 2002-12 for proposed Home Depot store located at 1200 S. Flower Street.

On October 23, 2000, Home Depot U.S.A., Inc. submitted an application for a conditional use permit and development review to construct a home improvement center on the former ITT property at 1200 S. Flower Street. The proposed project includes a 115,000 square foot Home Depot store with a 25,000 square foot outdoor garden center, 687 parking spaces in a surface parking lot, and a sign variance, added this year, for a 95-foot tall pylon sign. The soil of the project site is also known to be contaminated with various toxic substances.

On April 20, 2001, the Community Development Department circulated a Request for Proposals (RFP) to PCR Services Corporation, Environ, and Impact Sciences to prepare an environmental impact report for the proposed project. All three consulting firms submitted proposals by the April 30, 2001 deadline. Pursuant to City policy, staff from three City departments was assembled to review the proposals. Staff from the Community Development Department, Fire Department, and City Attorney�s office considered the strength of each proposal and the proposed scope of work in relation to the proposed fee structure. Based on this review, staff selected PCR Services Corporation as the consultant for this project.

On December 10, 2002, PCR submitted a revised scope of work addressing the tasks that will need to be completed prior to finishing the environmental impact report. In addition, a number of tasks related to soil contamination were identified that will require the oversight of other consultants. Separate contracts were requested with Dr. Susan Mearns, Environ, and Komex to enable them to work with PCR to address soil related concerns. Individual PSAs will be prepared for each sub-consultant and submitted to the Director of Community Development and the City Manager for the appropriate approvals. This report specifically addresses the PSA agreement with Environ.

This report requests City Council approval of a PSA with Environ to prepare the Public Health and Safety section of an EIR for the proposed Home Depot project.

Although Environ�s proposal was the only one sought for preparation of this particular section of the EIR, Environ has established significant familiarity with contaminated soil conditions in the City, and has worked with staff on other projects. The Home Depot team and PCR were very comfortable with Environ, and also wanted to expedite the process of acquiring contracts with the necessary sub-consultants.

• Hiring an additional sub-consultant with specific expertise in the area of soil contamination will allow the necessary environmental review of this specific topic to be conducted for a project with potentially significant environmental concerns. The consultant will also serve in a review capacity for all studies prepared by the applicant�s consultants to provide the City with expert assessments of such documents.
• Environ has extensive experience in conducting environmental review and preparing the necessary environmental documentation for projects proposed on contaminated sites. Although the firm has not worked directly for the City of Burbank, Environ was the oversight consultant hired to monitor soil contamination during construction of the Empire Center.
• Environ worked with both staff and Dr. Susan Mearns on the Empire Center, and again, is very familiar with soil contamination within the City.

• Although Environ has not worked directly for the City of Burbank, and other firms that have extensive experience in the area of soil contamination may have submitted proposals, the City does have a history of working with Environ on the Empire Center, and is familiar with the staff at Environ.

The City will incur no costs by entering into a PSA with Environ. The total cost of Environ�s scope of work will be $84,750.00. The City of Burbank�s Fee Resolution requires that applicants pay the full cost of the consultant fee plus an administrative fee. The administrative fee is necessary in many instances to pay for any outside legal consul needed for oversight during the process of preparing the environmental documentation. In this particular case, the City has acquired the legal assistance of Margaret Sohagi from Fox and Sohagi to review all of the environmental documents and application proceedings. For that reason an administrative fee of 20% ($16,950.00) will be added to the total cost of the contract with Environ for a total of cost of $101,700.00. The applicant has agreed to this provision, and will be required to deposit this full amount with the City before the PSA is executed.

Staff recommends that the City Council adopt a resolution approving a Professional Services Agreement with Environ to assist in the preparation of the Public Health and Safety section of the EIR for Conditional Use Permit No. 2002-6, Sign Variance No. 2002-1, and Development Review No. 2002-12, for the proposed Home Depot project.

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