Council Approves Noise Monitoring Contract

Despite previously wanting alternatives to re-upping the contract for stadium noise monitoring, the Santa Clara City Council hired the same firm that has been performing the work from the start.

Nearly a year ago, the Council denied a five-year renewal of a contract with Wilson Irhig & Associates. Instead, the Council extended the contract a year and put the contract out to bid. Since a good portion of the cost is renting the noise monitoring equipment — located in four areas to the south and east of Levi’s Stadium — the Council also directed City employees to look into purchasing the equipment.

However, after all that, the Council opted to hire Wilson Irhig & Associates for another five years. Noise at the stadium has been on the Council radar as of late after it heard a public petition complaining about the noise from last May’s Coldplay concert. Reports from City employees revealed that the concert exceeded the allowable decibel level.

“We have a stadium. We have to make it work. This is part of our reality,” said Council Member Karen Hardy.

Andrew Crabtree, director of community development, told the Council that City employees will work with the stadium manager to mitigate noise from concerts, primarily from fireworks displays held toward the end of the show.

The City only received one other bid for the contract. The five-year contract is for $296,000. The previous contract — prior to the $70,000 one-year extension last year — was $299,840.

Crabtree said Wilson Irhig’s location distinguished them since the firm is able to have employees onsite frequently. Council Member Kathy Watanabe said she was happy that Wilson Ihrig won the bid, saying the firm brings a “lot of institutional knowledge” to the City’s northside.

Neither consultant was willing to sell the City noise monitoring equipment, Crabtree said. In agreement with the consultant, Crabtree recommended eliminating two of the four noise monitoring and using the leftover money to conduct in-person monitoring during concerts. The Council supported the idea.

Vice Mayor Kevin Park said having data is not terribly useful if that data isn’t informing future decisions.

“We would like the monitoring to affect how we have concerts,” Park said. “What are we trying to do to mitigate the problems we know about?”

The Council also approved the county weed abatement program. It also continued an item to appoint an alternate to the Cities Association of Santa Clara County until Mayor Lisa Gillmor, who missed the meeting, is present.

Consent Calendar Spending

• A $2.73 million contract with Redwood Engineering Construction for emergency generator replacement.
• A $7.95 million contract with Robert A Bothman Construction for an all-inclusive playground at Central Park.
• Five-year extensions to as-needed millwrights service contracts with Mechanical Corporation, Stephens Mechanical Corporation and Performance Mechanical Inc. totaling $15 million — $1 million per year for an additional five years for each contract. Total contract amount: $30 million for ten years.
• A $2 million, five-year contract with International Cooling Tower for maintenance and repair at the Donald Von Raesfeld Power Plant for Silicon Valley Power.
• An $8.27 million increase to a contract with Emerson Process Management Power and Water Solutions for distributed control system upgrade/replacement. Contract extended through the end of 2030; total contract amount: $12 million.

The next regularly scheduled meeting is Tuesday, March 7 in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 1500 Warburton Ave. in Santa Clara.

Members of the public can participate in the City Council meetings on Zoom at https://santaclaraca.zoom.us/j/99706759306; Meeting ID: 997-0675-9306 or call 1(669) 900-6833, via the City’s eComment (available during the meeting) or by email to PublicComment@santaclaraca.gov.