LA CONSULTING WINS THREE (3) CONTRACTS IN CALIFORNIA AND FLORIDA
MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif., June 1, 2011 – LA Consulting, Inc. has been awarded three contracts in California and Florida - Orange County, CA; Hillsborough County, FL; and New Smyrna Beach, FL. Harry Lorick, P.E., LA Consulting president, made the announcement.
Orange County has a population of about 3.02 million, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County. It’s the sixth most populous county in the U.S.; county seat is Santa Ana.
According to John G. Harris, Manager, OC Public Works /O&M Section, City Contracts Unit, LA Consulting will be providing ongoing technical/administrative support for an existing Maintenance Management System, including management processes and database maintenance along with professional guidance in conducting effective operations. Harris oversees road maintenance activities for the Cities of Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, Laguna Woods, Laguna Hills, Dana Point and Fountain Valley, along with the Transportation Corridor Agency (TCA).
“Taking the ‘business like’ approach to maintenance is very innovative,” said Harris. “Benefits have included an overall savings of five to 30 percent, better tracking of budget and activity costs for senior management, faster response to residents’ concerns, improved condition of agency infrastructure, and higher levels of accountability by agency staff to governing bodies.”
Hillsborough County is the largest county (1,070 square miles) in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metropolitan statistical area, and fourth most populous in Florida. The 2010 population was 1,229,226. County seat is Tampa. While the county includes the cities of Tampa, Temple Terrace and Plant City, the Public Works Department’s responsibilities are for the unincorporated areas only. About 80 percent of the county’s population resides outside the cities.
Hillsborough County Director of Public Works John W. Lyons, PSM, PE, said LA Consulting was selected to evaluate the county’s organizational structure, work process, and scheduling. The county currently has over 250 operations personnel assigned to five locations to perform maintenance operations. There are over 3,000 miles of roadway and associated infrastructure and an annual budget of just over $70 million, about half of which is for maintenance operations.
“Local government faces continuing budgetary challenges and we’re looking for improvements in productivity and cost savings,” said Lyons. “One of the key recommendations is to standardize the work process and reporting methods.”
New Smyrna Beach, established in 1887, is approximately 38 square miles in size and is located on Florida’s east coast, in Volusia County, just north of Cape Canaveral with easy access to both Interstate 95 and Interstate 4. Population is approximately 24,000.
According to Assistant City Manager Khalid Resheidat, P.E., city assets include 198 miles of roads, 23 parks, 3,400 installed signs, 31 traffic signals and street lights, 317 vehicles and 31 buildings.
“LA Consulting is evaluating our public works operations and to date has done an excellent job in working with management staff and field employees,” said Resheidat. “They are currently developing an implementation plan and once done, we expect that by implementing various recommendations, it will result in a marked increase in productivity and result in annual savings of $250,000 to our operating budget.”
LA Consulting, established in 1993, provides a wide variety of planning, systems and technology services applied to public agencies and municipalities with an emphasis on systems implementation and technical support for public works operations and maintenance. The firm’s corporate headquarters is in Manhattan Beach, CA, about 20 miles west of Los Angeles.