Title
Facilities and Transportation Committee Meeting Highlights of March 3, 2015
Body
CITY OF SAN LEANDRO
CITY COUNCIL FACILITIES AND TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE
March 3, 2015
4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
San Leandro City Hall
835 East 14th Street
San Leandro, California
Sister Cities Gallery
HIGHLIGHTS
1. CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order by Mayor Cutter at 4:00 p.m.
1.A. Attendance
Committee Members: Mayor Pauline Cutter, Councilmember Corina Lopez, Councilmember Ursula Reed
City Staff Present: Cynthia Battenberg, David Baum, Keith Cooke, Debbie Pollart, Nick Thom, Chris Zapata
Outside Presenters: None
Public Present: Jim Prola
1.B. Announcements
None.
2. DISCUSSION ITEMS
The City Manager Chris Zapata reviewed the importance of the work of the Facilities and Transportation Committee in the development of the budget.
2.A. Discussion Regarding Budget Overview and Resources for CIP
Finance Director David Baum of the Finance Department gave an introduction on the resources for the Capital Improvement Projects (CIP). Finance is determining revenues and available fund balances. D. Baum explained the difference that Measure HH will make in balancing the budget over the next 5 years.
D. Baum reviewed the fact that the positive budget balance and early Measure HH revenue has allowed certain projects such as the Siempre Verde Park to be funded by the economic uncertainty reserves (or unrestricted fund balance) from FY 14-15. He also indicated that other projects may use unrestricted fund balances and therefore some of the budget information may change as it relates to surplus amounts in FY 15-16 and FY 16-17.
D. Baum talked about the Historical General Fund Reserve and said that the City has not been meeting its reserve guidelines, which is 20% unrestricted funds of what next years' operating funds are. He asked the Committee Members to consider the guidelines and as they go through the budget development, to possibly come up with a different guideline or policy for the reserves. C. Zapata talked about how staff aggressively projected sales tax revenue and the approval of the sales tax measure which will result in couple of year of surplus.
2.B. Discussion Regarding the Capital Improvement Program
Keith Cooke, Acting Director of the Engineering & Transportation Department (E&T) gave a brief overview of the CIP process. The E&T staff is looking into improving the process of aligning projects with priorities, thereby allowing staff to be more consistent, objective and strategic with ranking CIP projects.
C. Zapata commented that using criteria such as: Leverage, Exposure, Council Goals, Efficiencies and Community Balance that will be integrated into the CIP process.
The Committee expressed their confusion with the Project Ranking process. Staff responded to questions from the Committee regarding the ranking process. C. Zapata assured the Committee that every process can be made better. The election, a firm budget schedule, and Measure HH, are factors that have shaped the process this year and will help us develop a ranking program for the future.
Nick Thom, Acting City Engineer of the E&T reviewed the prioritized list of projects that are not funded by General Funds. He discussed various projects and the availability of funds for each project. C. Zapata noted that there are approximately $5M in projects. N. Thom answered questions from the Committee regarding fund assignments and placement of the projects on the list.
The Committee recommended that staff should look into the overhead utilities blight on 150th Avenue. Their feeling is that since the City is promoting the Bayfair Mall, staff should consider adding that strip of 150th Avenue to the Underground project. Undergrounding will be discussed at a future Committee meeting.
N. Thom briefly reviewed the list of projects competing for General Fund money. He explained the process of ranking the projects in relation to the funds available for each project. Staff responded to questions from the Councilmembers and discussed the following projects:
· Marina Boulevard Streetscape Improvements: Recommended to be deferred until completion of the Marina Boulevard Conceptual Design.
· Downtown Smart Parking Project: Recommended to be deferred until completion of the Downtown Parking Study.
· Main Library AV Equipment: Cost appears high and efforts are to be made to control cost and refine the design to control cost.
· Police Building Upgrade: Proposal is reduce version of larger project. Recommend to review in detail at a future Committee meeting.
· Marina Boulevard Streetscape Improvement Design: Need to complete conceptual plan to determine actual cost.
· ADA Transition Plan Construction. It is part of the City's commitment to Housing and Urban Development program. The project is partially funded by CDBG grant funds.
· Annual Public Works Services (PWS) Maintenance Project: Provides for Park Maintenance capital improvements and recommend higher ranking.
· E. 14th Street South Area Pedestrian Improvements: Project will compete well for Grant Funding.
· Annual Sidewalk Repair at City Properties: Provides the ability to maintain City properties.
· Bike and Pedestrian Improvement BayFair Center to BayFair BART: This project will be eligible for grant funding.
· E. 14th Street South Area Medians: Councilmember Lopez wanted to recommend installing bike lanes instead of medians. Bike lanes would be a better use of the space. Councilmember Reed asked if the community and Caltrans will be involved in the East 14th Street improvements to which K. Cooke responded yes. Caltrans will be involved and also noted that this project will fare well in the competitive grant funding area. Councilmember Reed also asked if the City would ever gain jurisdiction of East 14th Street from Caltrans. Her thought is that this allows the City to save money by doing the projects all at once.
· Main Library Furniture Replacement:
· Bicycle Network - West: Project is eligible for Measure B funds.
· Marina Park Play Area:
· Downtown Parking Strategy Implementation:
· Annual Repair of Walkways on City Properties: Project is to reduce tripping hazard
· Storm Water Trash Capture Phase 1: Funding for this project will allow the City to comply with regulatory requirements from the State Water Board by reducing trash 70%. Debbie Pollart, Director of Public Works said that the city has already reduced trash flow into the bay by 40% using grant money. N. Thom said that Phase 1 will not be the last project as the permit has a 100% reduction requirement as well. D. Pollart said that the 100% trash reduction is required in 2020.
· Doolittle Drive Landscape Improvement - Davis to Fairway: Potentially funded by Redevelopment funds.
· Stenzel Park Well and Irrigation System: Will need to consider water restrictions in determining the feasibility of a well.
· Pedestrian Lighting in the West Industrial Area: Study needs to be completed prior to implementation. Discussed earlier Council funding.
· Hays Street Creek Trail: RDA may provide possible funding. Councilmember Lopez expressed concern to ensure public input on this project.
· EOC Backup Communications:
· Eden Road Construction: RDA may provide possible funding.
· Lake Chabot Road Stabilization: Potential for Grant funding
· Main Library - Recarpeting: N. Thom addressed the aging carpet, adding that because of the considerable wear, it has become a hazard to the public.
The Committee expressed difficulty at ranking the projects because of the uncertainty of the cost. They suggested that projects that can get grant funding should be moved to the top of the list. The Committee asked why projects that are on an on-going maintenance basis such as the Bancroft/Callan Memorial Park are not on the list. D. Pollart responded by saying that the parks infrastructure doesn't have the funding mechanism for maintenance, which is why the City partners with companies such as KaBoom to replace park structures.
K. Cooke reviewed that we are currently budgeting for about $3.5M General Fund contribution but cautioned that the amount can change as the budget process continues. He expressed that the need is to prioritize the projects so that when a final budget number is determined, the appropriate projects would be funded. C. Zapata discussed potential funding distributions to be proposed for the budget.
Discussion ensued about the Police Building (PD) Project whereby Councilmember Reed asked for clarification on the cost and the ranking position of the project. She wants to be clear on what she is recommending, adding that the issue is what the community will see: tangible versus non-tangible.
Councilmember Lopez asked about the PD Building and South Office modifications project and wanted to know why it was so expensive. Discussion ensued. N. Thom recommended that once this project is funded, it should be funded every year until the project is completed. The conceptual design phase is complete and the next steps are to complete the design, go out to bid and do the construction.
Councilmember Lopez said she would like to see the money re-distributed to the whole town. She would like to have conversations about other assets for the community beyond public safety and not have money centered in one place such as the PD Building. A suggestion was made about "lease bid buy-back" as it relates to the PD Building.
Mayor Cutter asked about how streets are chosen for repair. K. Cooke responded by "area maintenance method" for annual street sealing, but by worst condition first for street reconstruction. K. Cooke provided a list of streets for reconstruction for the Committee Members based on Pavement Condition Index (PCI).
2.C. Discussion Regarding Street Sealing, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Program
Discussion started on the general issues regarding selecting street for sealing, rehabilitation and reconstruction. K. Cooke reviewed the PCI graph and highlighted the high cost difference between maintenance and reconstruction. K. Cooke provided a recap of the funding sources and expressed the importance of utilizing Measure BB funds ($30M or $6M for five years). Funds from Measure HH/General Fund will provide $1M, which will be used for street rehabilitation. K. Cooke said that the key plan is to maintain streets at the most cost effective way and at a cost of about $7.5M per year for sealing and rehabilitation. Any funding above the $7.5M would go towards reconstruction projects. K. Cooke reviewed slides that indicate the coverage of the work and said the map showing street work will be available on-line. A list was provided of the streets for reconstruction.
Councilmember Reed requested a listing of streets project on the web site. The Committee was in general agreement with the development of the Street Sealing, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Program. Mayor Cutter suggested additional evaluation criteria be reviewed that considers the density of residences on a particular street.
3. COMMITTEE MEMBER COMMENTS (item taken out of order)
The Committee indicated their general agreement in the prioritization of the projects including staff recommended revisions. The Committee expressed concern over the difficulty of project prioritization when the General Fund Budget is not fully known. Additionally there was concern expressed about the cost of the Audio/Video projects for the Marina Community Center and the Main Library.
D. Baum reviewed the budget process, which involves a general fund overview on March 23rd, all funds overview in April, release of the budget on May 25th 35 days before end of fiscal year and the adoption of the FY 15-16 budget in June. D. Baum will give Councilmembers a better idea of revenues at the March meeting.
C. Zapata reviewed the CIP program and then noted that he will direct E&T staff in preparing for the budget. C. Zapata noted that other factors that affect the budget such as labor negotiations, on-going programs, staff positions and studies also impact the CIP program.
2.D. Discussion Regarding Future Committee Meeting Dates and Times
Next meeting will be April 7, 2015 at 4:00 PM and scheduled as the Tuesday after the first City Council meeting
4. PUBLIC COMMENTS
None.
5. COMMITTEE MEMBER DIRECTION
None.
6. ADJOURN
The meeting adjourned.