Gateway Park updates completed, projects approved in Newport Beach

Work on Gateway Park is officially completed.

The park, created in 1999 after Lido Isle residents Helen Japenga, Gail Rosenstein and Jim Thomson raised $217,000 to buy a former gas station and turn it in to a “gateway” into the Balboa Peninsula, had long needed updates in its landscaping and lighting.

Construction started in April, after city officials approved a $540,233 contract in January. The cost went over by 5.4%, or $29,049, bringing the total to $569,283. Old vegetation was replaced with new palm trees, ground cover and accent plants in addition to new lighting and signage. A previously closed pathway between Newport Boulevard and the Lido Marina Village was repaved and opened.

The rehabilitation was substantially completed in early July, and the Newport Beach City Council approved a notice of completion on the contract at its regular meeting on Aug. 22.

During the same meeting the City Council also approved other contracts for projects, including improvements at the Ford Road Wastewater Pump Station and foundation inspection of streetlights.

Ford Road Wastewater Pump Station

The Ford Road Wastewater Pump Station is a part of the city’s sewer system and comprises a 48-inch wet well pump station, identified in 2009 as being undersized. It was built around 1975 and does not currently have any back-up power, which means city staff have to connect a temporary generator to power the pump station to prevent sewage overflow from the lift station.

The updates, as part of the project, would address those issues by expanding the 48-inch wet well to 96 inches and installing a permanent back-up generator to eliminate overflows during power outages. City staff said the project will also remove and replace existing utilities for the wet well, restore the retaining wall and landscape and maintain a temporary bypass system.

The winning bid, from Paulus Engineering, came to $799,777, about 30% below estimates by city engineers. An additional contingency cost of $80,000 and printing and incidental costs of $1,300 brought the approved contract to $881,000.

Work is expected to begin in October and take about two months to complete.

Streetlight inspections

Newport Beach owns and maintains over 6,000 streetlights. The city’s utilities department regularly inspects for irregularities and has identified 55 problem locations that need additional inspection to verify if the system is compliant with city standards. Most inspections are scheduled for Jamboree Road, MacArthur Boulevard and Newport Boulevard.

Additional inspections are scheduled for Balboa Boulevard, San Miguel Road and San Joaquin Hills Road.

The project, contracted to Servitek Electric, Inc., will include inspecting anchor bolts that connect the light poles to their foundations. The City Council approved the $378,000 contract with a contingency cost of $38,000 and incidentals and printing costs of $9,000, for a total of about $425,000.

It is unclear when the inspections will begin, but contract terms state crews have 60 working days to complete them.