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Home My WebLink AboutItem W AGENDA REPORT DATE: December 10, 2001 TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council THRU: John B. Bahorski, City Manager FROM: Pamela Arends-King, Director of Administrative Services/Treasurer SUBJECT: Beach Parking Fees and Renewal of the AMPCO System Parking Contract for the Management of the Beach Parking Lots SUMMARY OF REQUEST: Staff requests City Council continue with the current fees for beach parking adopted in the July 1, 2001 Comprehensive Fee Schedule. Staff also requests City Council renew the automation and beach parking revenue collection contract with AMPCO System Parking Inc. for a period of one year with the option to extend two years and authorize City Manager to execute agreement. • BACKGROUND: At the November 13, 2001 meeting, Council directed staff to provide more information regarding beach parking rates and postponed the renewal of AMPCO System Parking Inc. contract. The beach parking lot fees approved through the Comprehensive Fee Resolution for FY 2001/02 reflect $6.00 as the maximum daily amount for automobiles and $20.00 for busses, motor homes and other vehicles over 25 feet. Rates for automobiles parking after 6:00 p.m. is $2.00 and $10 for vehicles over 25 feet. The Comprehensive Fee Resolution also states beach parking lot rates may fluctuate seasonally and may vary with times of the day but cannot exceed the $6.00 or $20.00 daily rates. Currently the beach parking lots offer several different options. For both the summer and winter season, the lots offer an "early bird" special from 6:00 am to 10:00 am at the reduced rate of $2.00. Parking lot rates for both summer and winter are $2.00 for automobiles and$10.00 for vehicles over 25 feet after 6:00 p.m. The summer rates for Agenda Item Y� • December 10,2001 Beach Parking Fees and Renewal of the AMPCO System Parking Contract for the Beach Parking Lots Lots are $6.00 a day for automobiles, and $20.00 a day for vehicles over 25 feet. The winter rate is $1.50 per hour up to two hours for automobiles. For more than two hours, the rate is $6.00 for the day. (See attached schedule) The City of Huntington Beach charges $9.00 a day for its beach lot and $1.50 per hour for the parking lots located next to the pier and shops. The City of Newport Beach charges $7.00 a day for its beach lots. It appears the current beach parking rates the City is charging is comparable with the • neighboring beach communities. The current rates are consistent with what the City was charging for beach parking in previous years. The City did try an hourly rate for the beach lots during the summer of 1997 at $1.00 per hour but it was discontinued after the first month because of the serious loss in revenue. It was determined the average amount of time spent at the beach is 2 1/2 hours, therefore the City was losing half of it's beach parking revenue during the peak summer hours by charging an hourly rate of $1.00 versus a flat rate of $6.00. This finding is consistent with what AMPCO Parking Systems Inc. has concluded as the average amount of time spent at the beach. If the beach parking rate was $1.50 per hour with no maximum daily rate, based on the average stay of 2 1/2 hours for both the summer and winter season, the maximum amount of revenue the patron would pay is $4.50. This rate structure would represent a potential loss in revenues of 25%. If the parking rate was $2.00 per hour for both the summer and winter season and patrons only stayed two hours, the City could lose up to 30% in revenues. An option to maximize revenue earnings and give patrons some flexibility during the summer season is to charge $3.00 for 11/2 hours between 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and $6.00 for all day parking between 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. This option could be implemented under the current Comprehensive Fee Resolution. Last fall the City contracted with AMPCO System Parking Inc. to manage the collection of the beach parking revenues through a"park and pay" turnkey system. The reasons for automating the beach parking was to establish control and accountability of the funds collected and to provide a means to eliminate potential liability issues due to automobiles driving under the pier to get to the 10t street parking lot. The "park and pay" turnkey system was chosen because it is the most cost-effective solution. Alternative automated gates with booth ticketing systems would have required capital outlay of $65,000 to $85,000 for each parking lot and labor costs for attendants, lifeguard and finance personnel would run $105,000 annually. The "park and pay" system has worked very well. The liability issue with automobiles driving under the pier next to the playground has been eliminated and the entrance/exit of the 10th street lot was moved to eliminate interference with the apartment residents next to the lot. The control and accountability over the collection of the cash received from beach parking was established. AMPCO has been very responsive to the City needs such as increasing signage, maintenance of the machines, audibility of revenues collected and timely payments to the City. December 10,2001 Beach Parking Fees and Renewal of the AMPCO System Parking Contract for the Beach Parking Lots FISCAL IMPACT: Annual earnings from beach parking with the current rate schedule. adopted in the Comprehensive Fee Resolution ranges from$330,000 to $400,000 annually depending on the weather and beach closures. Readopting the beach rates to $1.50 per hour with no daily maximum rate would lower the annual earnings range from $247,500 to $300,000 and at$2.00 per hour the annual earnings would range from$231,000 to $280,000. AMPCO's contract guarantees the City will receive a minimum of $200,000 in beach parking revenue and revenues above $300,000 will be divided between the City and AMPCO System Parking Inc. The City will receive 65% of the revenues over $300,000 and AMPCO System Parking Inc will receive 35% of the revenues over $300,000. The guaranteed minimum beach parking revenue reflects the revenue received last fiscal year. The beach parking revenue received last fiscal year was $330,000 or 20% lower than the average revenue received of$370,205 over the past four years. The decrease in revenue is due to the coolest summer southern California had in the past ten years, the two-week pier closure, and twenty eight days of beach closure due to high levels of bacteria. RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends Council adopt no changes to the current beach rates approved with the Comprehensive Fee Resolution. Staff also recommends Council renew the contract with AMPCO System Parking Inc. for the term of one year with the option to extend two years and authorizes City Manager to execute the agreement. ó2ZZ%t _Pamela Arends-King Director o Administrative Services/Treasurer i 1 /4 i C.Jo -1B. Bahorski Manager I Schedule of Beach Parking Lot Fees Current Fees Summer Season 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. $2.00 All day until 6:00 p.m. (automobliles) $6.00 All day until 6:00 p.m. (vehicles over 25 ft.) $20.00 After 6:00 p.m. (automobiles) $2.00 After 6:00 p.m. (vehicles over 25 ft) $10.00 Winter Season 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. $2.00 All day until 6:00 p.m. (automobiles) $6.00 All day until 6:00 p.m. (vehicles over 25 ft) $20.00 Hourly rate up to two hours 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. $1.50/hr. After 6:00 p.m. (automobiles) $2.00 After 6:00 p.m. (vehicles over 25 ft.) $2.00 City of Seal Beach FILE REFERENCE FORM / 7_O� DATE: -� Initials: Full file — Created New Folder: Older file exists: Related topic: see below File contains records — NOT PUBLIC (Public Records Act) Other: Comments: LA / ' ,fGf /li� rLO� U OA-