01-20-2015 - Item 6 - Delegation of Authority to Approve Plan and Designs for Construction of Public Property to Public Works DirectorCity of'West Covina
Memorandum
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Tom Mauk
Interim City Manager
BY: Kimberly [-Tall Barlow
City Attorney
L
ITEM NO. 6
DATE January 20, 2015
SUBJECT: DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY TO APPROVE PLANS AND DESIGNS
FOR THE CONSTRUCTION AND/OR IMPROVEMENT OF PUBLIC
PROPERTY TO THE PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the City Council adopt the proposed Resolution delegating authority to
approve plans and designs for the construction and/or improvement of public property to the
Public Works Director and/or City Engineer because this would lessen the administrative burden
on the City Council without compromising the City's design immunity from liability for injuries
caused by the design of public property.
i
RESOLUTION NO.
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WEST
COVINA, CALIFORNIA, DELEGATING AUTHORITY TO APPROVE
PLANS AND DESIGNS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION AND/OR
IMPROVEMENT OF PUBLIC PROPERTY TO THE PUBLIC WORKS
DIRECTOR OR CITY ENGINEER.
DISCUSSION:
The City Council bears a significant administrative burden in terms of the action items that it is
required by law to address. To alleviate a portion of this burden, plans for the construction and
improvement of public property need not be approved by the City Council. Rather, the Council
may delegate authority to approve construction and improvement plans to some other body'or
City employee. This delegation of authority may be accomplished by resolution and will preserve
the City's immunity from liability for injuries caused by the design or plan of the public property
because the statute that affords cities "design immunity" expressly applies when approval is
made by a city employee. Gov't Code § 830.6. Previous construction improvements include;
Amar and Azusa intersection widening project, major and residential street rehabilitation, Puente
Avenue traffic signal modification project and city wide curb and gutter replacement projects.
"Design immunity" is a statutory protection that affords public entities immunity from liability
for injuries caused by a plan or design of public property. Its purpose is to prevent lawsuits that
have the effect of re-examining the reasonableness of a particular design after a legislative body
or authorized public official has already done so. Mikkelsen v. State of California, 59 Cal. App.
3d 621, 630 (1976).
To qualify for design immunity under Section 830.6, the approval of the design must come from
either "the legislative body of the public entity or by some other body or employee exercising
discretionary authority," before construction takes place. If there is a causal relationship between
the design and the igjury, and substantial evidence that a city employee with discretionary
authority reasonably approved the design prior to construction, the city will not be liable.
Because Section 830.6 expressly provides
immunity when the approval comes from a
city
employee
with discretionary authority, the
City will not lose its design immunity due
to a
delegation
of approval authority from the
City Council to the Public Works Director.
As
delegation of design approvals will reduce the administrative burden on the City Council without
increasing the City's exposure to liability, while simultaneously ensuring that the City will be
entitled to design immunity, it is recommended that the City Council adopt the proposed
resolution.
Adopting this Resolution will not change the manner in which public works projects are included
in the CIP or budget, the way they are authorized by Council, or the way bids are prepared or
awarded. It will simply allow professional staff to review and approve designs for approved
projects to ensure the City retains appropriate design immunity.
LEGAL REVIEW:
The City Attorney has prepared the proposed resolution and this report.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The resolution, if adopted, will cause no foreseeable negative fiscal impact. A potential positive
impact will result from reduced staff time in preparing reports and/or from reduction in claims
relating to claimed design defects.
Prepared by:
Kimberly Hall Barlow
Kimberly Hall Barlow
City Attorney
E
RESOLUTION NO.
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WEST
COVINA, CALIFORNIA, DELEGATING AUTHORITY TO APPROVE
PLANS AND DESIGNS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION AND/OR
IMPROVEMENT OF PUBLIC PROPERTY TO THE PUBLIC WORKS
DIRECTOR OR CITY ENGINEER.
WHEREAS, the City of West Covina regularly contracts with constriction companies to
construct and improve public property in the City; and
WHEREAS, under certain circumstances, Government Code Section 830.6 provides
cities with immunity from liability for injuries caused by the plan or design of public property
when the plan or design was reasonably approved in advance of construction; and
WHEREAS, Government Code Section 830.6 provides that this advanced approval can
come from the City Council or from an employee exercising discretionary authority; and
WHEREAS, approval of plans and designs of public property constitute discretionary
approvals by the City of West Covina under its police power; and
WHEREAS, to lessen its administrative burden, the West Covina City Council desires to
delegate discretionary authority to approve plans and designs for the construction and/or
improvement of public property to the Public Works Director, an employee of the City of West
Covina, or to the City Engineer.
NOW, THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of West Covina does resolve as
follows:
Section 1. The Public Works Director or City Engineer for the City of West Covina
shall have discretionary authority to approve plans and designs for the construction and/or
improvement of public property.
Section 2. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this resolution, which shall
go into effect immediately upon its adoption.
APPROVED AND ADOPTED on this _ day of_ 2015.
Mayor Fredrick Sykes
ATTEST:
City Clerk Nickolas S. Lewis
I, NICKOLAS S. LEWIS, CITY CLERIC of the City of West Covina, California, do hereby
certify that the foregoing resolution was duly adopted by the City Council of the City of West
Covina, California, at a regular meeting held thereof on the _ day of 2015 by the
following vote of the City Council:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTAIN:
City Clerk Nickolas S. Lewis
Resolution No. 2015- •
Page 2
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
Kimberly Hall Barlow
City Attorney