HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998-04-06 City Council (34)City of Palo Alto
City Manager’s Report
TO:HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL
FROM:CITY MANAGER DEPARTMENT: PUBLIC WORKS
DATE:APRIL 6, 1998 CMR:185:98
SUBJECT: STATUS OF EMERGENCY INFRASTRUCTURE REPAIR
This is an information report and no Council action is required.
DISCUSSION
Heavy rainfall during the early part of February 1998 caused extensive infrastructure
damage. In order to perform essential repairs, sole-source contracts were established with
two construction firms and a geotechnical engineering consultant, as reported to Council on
February 23, 1998 (CMR: 143:98). The purpose of this report is to provide Council with the
current status and cost of the emergency repairs.
Completed to-date:
¯Repairs to damaged drainage culverts in the Arastradero Preserve.
¯Repairs to roadway and embankment on Los Trancos Road. One lane of traffic had
been closed due to the erosion damage.
Estimated to be completed by early May 1998:
¯ Embankment and roadway repair on Palo Alto Avenue between Tasso and Webster
Streets. The roadway was undermined when a large eucalyptus tree fell into San
Francisquito Creek. As a result, one lane of Palo Alto Avenue had been temporarily
closed to traffic.
Construction of a retaining wall along 100 linear feet of Page Mill Road, approximately
three miles above the entrance to Foothills Park to prevent further movement of a slide
occurring on the downhill side of the road. The downhill traffic lane has been badly
damaged in the slide and two-way traffic is being maintained on one through lane by
use of a temporary traffic signal.
Repair of a collapsed storm drain near the pedestrian tunnel at the University Avenue
Caltrain station, which was causing localized flooding upstream.
CMR:185:98 Page 1 of 2
RESOURCE IMPACT
.To date, $313,000 has been encumbered 0~ three emergency contracts appro;ced under the
City Manager’s authority. Under these contracts, the contractors are compensated for actual
labor, equipment, and materials costs, up to a not-to-exceed contract cap amount. Staff is
currently in the process of issuing change orders for projected expenditures beyond the initial
contract amounts. The primary source of the cost increase is the slide damage repair on Page
Mill Road, the extent of which had not been fully identified at the time of the initial funding
request.
The City Manager has authorized staff to expend up to $500,000 on emergency infrastructure
repairs. It is anticipated that the ultimate cost of the emergency repairs will be somewhere
between $500,000 and $600,000. Staffwill obtain City Manager approval prior to exceeding
the current $500,000 expenditure limit. The final cost remains difficult to estimate at this
time. Since there was insufficient time to perform normal investigations and develop design
plans, the contractors’ scopes of work sometimes must be adjusted in the field to
accommodate unforeseen conditions. Staffwill prepare a report summarizing the total costs
incurred upon the conclusion of all of the emergency repair work.
As part of the 1997-98 mid-year Financial Report, staffrequested that $1.3 million be moved
from the Reserve for Emergency. Of this, $300,000 was to be allocated to the Public Works
Department and the remaining $1.0 million be placed in the City Managers Contingent
Account to be utilized as needed. The mid-year report has been reviewed by the Finance
Committee and will be forwarded to the Council for approval on April 13, 1998. Upon
approval of the mid-year Budget Amendment Ordinance the City Manager will allocate
funds as needed to cover departments expenses incurred in responding to the storms.
POLICY IMPLICATIONS
Emergency infrastructure repairs are being accomplished through the use of emergency sole-
source contracts authorized by the City Manager.
TIMELINE
All emergency construction projects are expected to be complete by early May 1998.
PREPARED BY: Karen Bengard, Senior Engineer
DEPARTMENT HEAD:-~~
GLENN S.
’,ctor
CITY
ity Manager
CMR:185:98 Page 2 of 2