City of San Bernardino will present contract with Cemex for concrete stockpile removal to City Council for approval

The City of San Bernardino executed a contract on Apr. 2 with Ontario-based construction company Cemex Corporation, after obtaining an abatement warrant, to remove the concrete stockpile at the top of Palm Avenue for $1.47 million. An additional $530,000 will be allocated for project contingencies and water use, for a $2 million price tag that the City hopes to recover from the developer, Pacific Coast International, through likely litigation. The contract will be presented to City Council for approval under Item 30 on Wednesday, Apr. 7.

According to staff, a Request for Proposal (RFP) was not required per city code because the project was treated as an emergency. Cemex and North American Recycling & Crushing were asked to provide proposals, but only Cemex did so.

“It isn’t fair to the constituents to have to front millions to correct poor leadership and decision-making, but this pile has to go,” said 5^th Ward Councilman Ben Reynoso, whose ward the mass of concrete is situated. “There is no dollar amount we can place on the health and safety of our community and that’s why we’re here because we have to remove this pile and we have to do it now.”

The developer purchased the lot from Oxbow last summer with the intent to build 43 single-family homes, and agreed in December to mitigate nuisance and health issues from dust/rock particles by covering the stockpile but failed to do so.

As a result, on January 15, 2021, the City revoked the developer’s Temporary Use Permit (TUP) for code violations and obtained an abatement warrant on Mar. 4 when Pacific Coast failed to remove the concrete by the Feb. 14 deadline stipulated in the Notice of Revocation.

If City Council approves the contract, abatement efforts will commence Monday, Apr. 12 with expected completion within 50 working days.