Oxnard Public Works committee recommends contracts, vehicle purchases and adopts 2025 water design standards

Oxnard — The City of Oxnard Public Works and Transportation Committee on Sept. 29, 2025, voted unanimously to recommend that City Council approve a suite of on-call professional service contracts, accept a homeowners association donation to a waterways maintenance fund, authorize two heavy-equipment purchases for the Water Division and adopt updated water system design and construction standards.

The committee approved the recommendations by roll-call votes of 3-0 on each agenda item. Chair MacArthur, Vice Chair Teran and Committee Member Basua voted yes on the items reported below. All recommendations will go forward to the Oxnard City Council for final action.

The decisions affect recurring contracts for right-of-way and landscape services, a small donation tied to a special assessment district, capital equipment for water operations and the city's technical water-system standards.

Votes at a glance

- Agenda Item D-1 — On-call professional real property services/right-of-way acquisition: Committee recommended City Council approve three one-year agreements (Oct. 9, 2025–Oct. 8, 2026) with four one-year extension options with Beacon Integrated Professional Resources Inc. dba Hammer Jewel and Associates; Bender Rosenthal Inc.; and Clark Land Resources Inc.; each agreement not to exceed $500,000. Vote: 3-0 to recommend approval.

- Agenda Item D-2 — On-call professional landscape architect services: Committee recommended City Council approve four three-year agreements (Oct. 8, 2025–Oct. 7, 2028) with up to two one-year extensions with David Volts Design (DBA David Volts Design), IDS Group, Inc.; Pacific Coast Land Design Inc.; and RJM Design Group Inc.; each agreement not to exceed $750,000. Vote: 3-0 to recommend approval.

- Agenda Item D-3 — Harbor Island Homeowners Association donation to Waterways Maintenance Assessment District Zone 2: Committee recommended City Council, acting as the legislative body of the Waterways Maintenance Assessment District, accept a $17,400 donation from the Harbor Island Homeowners Association to support landscape maintenance and on-call services in the Harbor Island Linear Park; approve an agreement with the HOA; and authorize the related budget appropriation within the Waterways Maintenance Assessment District Zone 2. Vote: 3-0 to recommend approval.

- Agenda Item D-4 — Purchase orders for heavy equipment for the Water Division: Committee recommended City Council authorize the purchasing agent to execute two purchase orders: Gibbs International for up to $300,000 for a 2026 International HV607 SBA 10-ton dump truck, and Charles Machine Works Inc. for up to $700,000 for a 2025 Kenworth T480 with a hydro-vacuum excavator (vac truck) W8 standard package. Vote: 3-0 to recommend approval.

- Agenda Item D-5 — Adoption of 2025 Water System Design and Construction Standards and update to the 2002 City of Oxnard standard plates and design criteria: Committee recommended City Council adopt a resolution approving the 2025 standards; delegate discretionary authority to the public works city engineer to approve future revisions; and authorize the city manager to take necessary actions to implement the resolution. Vote: 3-0 to recommend approval.

Discussion highlights and staff explanations

On the Harbor Island donation (D-3), Anthony Miller, special districts manager, described the donation as a stopgap measure tied to long-standing assessment-rate limitations for the Waterways Maintenance Assessment District. Miller said the district covers Mandalay Bay and Harbor Island in separate zones and has not increased assessments since the district's formation prior to Proposition 218 (1996). "This donation is just quite—it's just to get us by," Miller said, noting the district's assessment revenue (about $47,000) is well below the roughly $98,000 that staff said would be needed to match today's costs with inflation. Miller also confirmed the HOA has made similar donations in past years (about $5,000 in fiscal 2020–21 and just over $15,000 in fiscal 2022–23).

On the heavy-equipment purchases (D-4), Tim Beeman, assistant director of public works who oversees water and wastewater divisions, explained operational limits with the existing dump truck and the city's need for a vac truck. "I was a little surprised when I came here that we didn't have this sort of device," Beeman said of the vacuum truck, adding the previous vehicle had a tank leak and rentals were often unavailable when needed. Staff said the current dump truck does not meet CARB (California Air Resources Board) compliance and lacks sufficient hauling capacity for the trailer and equipment; replacing it with a 10-wheel dump truck will reduce extra trips and staff time by allowing crews to tow equipment and carry a full load safely.

On the water-system standards (D-5), Tai Cho, assistant director for community development and city engineer, read and cited Government Code section 830.6 when explaining "design immunity," noting a legislative approval of standards can limit liability for plan or design defects. Cho also described the need for regular updates to technical standards to reflect evolving technology and industry practice. Staff noted Oxnard City Code section 4-15 already delegates related authority to the public works director, city engineer and community development director; the committee recommendation seeks Council adoption of the updated standards and a delegation path for future technical revisions.

Procedural notes and next steps

All items were recommended to City Council by the committee and will be considered for final approval by the full council. Public comment was not received on the items at the committee meeting. Committee members asked clarifying questions on several items but there were no reported amendments, failed motions or recusals.

For items that require contract execution or purchase orders, staff indicated procurement actions will follow the city's purchasing procedures and CARB compliance requirements for vehicles where applicable.

Ending

The committee adjourned after the items were taken without further business. The recommendations will appear on an upcoming City of Oxnard City Council agenda for final action.