HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-09-15 City Council (6)City of Palo Alto
Ci Manager’s Report
TO:HONORABLE CITY COUNC~ ~
S1FROM:CITY NANAGER DEPAR~NT: PUBLIC WORN
DATE:SEPTEMBER 15, 2003 CMR:429:03
SUBJECT:APPROVAL OF ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF PALO ALTO ADDING CHAPTER 12.10 TO TITLE 12 [PUBLIC
WORKS AND UTILITIES] TO ESTABLISH FEES TO MITIGATE
DAMAGE CAUSED BY EXCAVATION IN PUBLIC RIGHTS-OF-
WAY
RECOMMENDATIONS
Staff recommends that the City Council approve an Ordinance adding Chapter 12.10 to Title
12 [Public Works and Utilities] to establish fees to mitigate damage caused by excavation
in public rights-of-way (Attachment A).
BACKGROUND
Street deterioration is attributable to weather, traffic use, normal wear and tear, and street
cuts/excavation (trenching) in the pavement. Street cuts and trenching in the City’s streets
are a necessity when upgrading, maintaining or providing new utility infrastructure to an
area. Typically, this utility infrastructure is placed several feet deep beneath the pavement
surface. Utility infrastructure installation is performed by the City’s storm drainage, water,
gas, wastewater, electric utilities capital improvement contractors and operations crews; as
well as private telecommunication and other utility providers such as Pacific Gas & Electric
Company (PG&E) and developers. Plans submitted by the City’s Utilities Department alone
show that half of the City streets will be excavated for utility infrastructure projects in the
next five years.
Over years, long-term damage in the City’s street system occurs due to continual trenching.
The Public Works Department publishes trench standards identifying the requirements to
restore pavement and the excavated area of the trench. Trench restoration standards are
designed to replace the pavement removed, but these standards do not address long-term
damage caused by street cuts and excavations. Staff found that other cities in California and
cities throughout the country have performed studies demonstrating excavations in paved
streets shorten the service life and increase the frequency of maintenance and repair to the
pavement. These studies show that, regardless of the quality of trench restoration, the
pavement is not restored to its original condition causing additional degradation of streets
over time. Also, the degradation is magnified when a street is subjected to multiple
excavations prior to the next scheduled resurfacing. Over time, the City must bear the
CMR:429:03 Page I of 4
additional costs for maintenance of failed pavement along and adjacent to the areas outside
the boundaries of trench excavations. Pavement deterioration due to trench settlement over
time can result from alternate materials used as a replacement of the existing soil; increased
cracking and structural damage from traffic loading; water intrusion at the street cut; and no
lateral support provided at the time of excavation, undermining the undisturbed soil next to
the trench.
The City’s annual street maintenance Capital Improvement Project repairs streets and
preserves the existing surface and integrity of the street up to 20 years or more. The annual
budget of approximately $2 million allocated to the street maintenance program provides an
average maintenance of 16 lane miles of City streets per year. This budget is not sufficient
to repair all high priority streets in a timely manner, thus creating a backlog. Streets that are
postponed and in need of repair worsen with time, increasing maintenance costs and reducing
the average 20-year service life.
Currently, the Public Works Department has a policy to not allow trenching in City streets
within 5 years of paving. If trenching occurs during this 5-year period, the City evaluates
pavement restoration needed on a case-by case basis. However, the City has no instrument
in place for enforcement of this policy.
On June 16, 2003, the Council adopted the 2003-04 budget including the proposed Municipal
Fee Schedule (Attachment B). A new street cut fee was included in this schedule to recover
the cost of repairing City streets damaged by utilities and telecommunication trench cuts. The
estimated revenue was approximately $1.4 million annually, with $1.0 million paid by the
City of Palo Alto Utilities.
DISCUSSION
To address increased street maintenance costs, other cities have implemented various
methods to maintain streets damaged by trenching and have developed various mitigation
methods ranging from collecting fees and establishing moratoriums to requiring a complete
restoration of an entire street:
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission published a Guide to the Legal Aspects of
Trench Cuts that addresses the legal issues affecting mtmicipalities regulating street cuts.
Staff used this as a guide on how other agencies regulate excavations in the public fight-of-
way using various street cut fees and moratoriums. The City Attorney and the Department.
of Public Works staff determined that a fee was the best course of action considering the long
term street damage due to excavation, funds needed to restore pavement to its original
condition and the need for a fair and predictable means of cost recovery for the degradation
of City streets.
Staff found that fees range from the City of San Francisco at $1.00 square foot (sf.) to the
City of Seattle’s fee of $17.70 sf. and the methodology differed from city to city. The City
CMR:429:03 Page 2 of 4
of San Francisco charges a fee based on the age of the street and includes a 5-year
moratorium on recently paved streets. The City of Seattle charges a fee based on pavement
age, type of street cut (longitudinal or transverse) and requires an entire block be repaved if
it is cut within one year of paving. A street cut fee comparison is provided in Attachment C.
Fee Methodology and Implementation
Staff developed a street cut fee considering:
¯what other cities were charging,
¯the long term excavation cost impacts to pavement,
¯the actual square foot cost of street maintenance,
¯pavement deterioration identified in the Pavement Maintenance Management System, and
¯impacts on staff administering a fee based program.
The Public Works and the Utilities Departments reviewed together what other cities were
charging and developed a reasonable fee correlated to the City’s Pavement Maintenance
Management System (PMMS). Every two years, pavement deterioration data is updated and
entered into the PMMS. The system then computes a pavement condition score for each
street segment or block. Using this tool, staff developed a tiered fee schedule based on the
pavement categories of excellent to poor that also corresponds to a pavement condition score
range (Attachment B). For example, a street in poor condition with a score ranging from
0 to 62 will be charged $2.50 s£ while a street in excellent condition with a score ranging
from 94 to 100 will cost $10 sf. The cost of replacing a street increases for a street in
excellent condition due to increased costs associated with long-term street damage. In
addition, staff proposes a flat fee of $600 per trench for developers needing a street opening
permit for utility service connections. This flat fee of $600 is based on $10 sf. and an average
excavated surface area of 60 sf. These fees account for the additional maintenance, including
overlay and reconstruction, required to return streets to serviceable condition. Considering
the City’s costs of administering and managing the number of excavations in the paved area
and reviewing fee comparisons of other agencies, staff believes the proposed fee schedule
is reasonable.
The fee will be collected through:
¯ street opening permits for other utility providers (eg: PG&E, AT&T, Sprint, Comcast,
etc.) and private development projects,
¯interdepartmental budget transfers for City Utility Department operations maintenance
work,
¯fund transfers at the time of construction contract award for City Utility Department
capital improvement projects.
Funds collected as street cut fees are to be expended for the rehabilitation and resurfacing
of the public right-of-way as noted in the proposed ordinance.
CMR:429:03 Page 3 of 4
All planned major City Utility Department projects or trenching projects with a duration
longer than 15 days are required to submit master plans to the City to coordinate with the
City’s five year repaying plan,.on file in the Department of Public Works. This coordination
helps to reduce disruption and the premature degradation of the streets. Some utility projects
are exempt from the street cut fee including:
¯excavations on streets scheduled to be resurfaced within one year as part of the annual
street maintenance project,
¯emergency work defined as causing eminent risk to public health and safety,
¯underground utility district projects
¯utility relocations necessitated by City-funded street work projects or by street vacations
or abandonments.
Staff will continue to assess and monitor the pavement degradation, frequency of
maintenance and cost recovery needed to provide an adequate service life for streets within
Palo Alto, and the street cut fees may be adjusted from time to time.
RESOURCE IMPACT
The street cut fee may impact utility rates and will increase development fees as a result of
fee assessments that could range from $200,000 for a large utility capital improvement
project to $600 per utility service connection typical for private development projects. The
FY 03/04 budget included a total of $1.4 million in annual fees to be collected based on
collection of fees for 12 months. Due to the effective date of the ordinance on November
6, 2003, projected income from annual fees will be reduced and mid-year budget adjustment
will be needed.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A: Ordinance
Municipal Fee Schedule for Public Works EngineeringAttachment B:
Attachment C: Street Cut Fee Comparison Cost JY]
PREPARED BY: ~~
ELIZAB~H AMES
DEPARTMENT HEAD:i~-Engin~, ~
GLENN S. ROBERTS
CITY MANAGER APPROVAL:
Assistant City Manager
CMR:429:03 Page 4 of 4
ATTACHMENT A
ORDINANCE NO.
ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALO
ALTO ADDING CHAPTER 12.10 TO TITLE 12 [PUBLIC
WORKS AND UTILITIES] TO ESTABLISH FEES TO
MITIGATE DAMAGE CAUSED BY EXCAVATION IN PUBLIC
RIGHTS-OF-WAY
The Council of the City of Palo Alto does ORDAIN as
follows:
SECTION I. The City Council of the City of Palo Alto
(the "City") finds and de~erm_nes as follows:
A.The City owns and maintains over 198 miles of
streets and public rights-of-way. These streets and rights-of-way
are, pursuant to state and federa! law as wel! as grant of
franchise, subject to excavation with trench cuts {or the purpose
of installing, repairing and replacing subsurface facilities, and
utilities, such as water, sewer, gas, electric, communication, or
video signa! service. The City often cannot control when or
where such excavation occurs.
B.Experience in other cities in California including
Los Angeles, Sacramento, Santa Ana and San Francisco, as wel! as
cities in other states including the cities of: Austin, Texas;
Kansas City, Missouri; Burlington, Vermont; Cincinnati, Ohio;
and, Phoenix, Arizona has demonstrated that excavations in paved
streets degrade and shorten the life of the surface of the
streets, and this degradation increases the frequency and cost
to the public of necessary resurfacing, maintenance and repair.
Additionally, the Sacramento and Cincinnati studies concluded
that pavement degradation occurs regardless of the quality of
the workmanship in filling the excavation and restoring the
pavement.
C.The Department of Public Works has concluded that
the foregoing studies are applicable to and valid in light of
conditions in-the City of Palo Alto. The Department of Public
Works has determined that even if pavement restoration in the
trench itself is structurally adequate, excavations damage the
strength and life of the pavement located adjacent to the trench
where the excavation occurs. The potentia! for damage to the
pavement is magnified when a street is subject to multiple
excavations after the street is surfaced or resurfaced and
before the next scheduled resurfacing. Additiona! asphalt
coating is often needed to reconstruct a street if it has been
subjected to excavations in order to return it to its original
strength and quality.
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D.The City Counci! has reviewed the information
contained in the foregoing studies. The City Counci! finds and
determines that this experience and information as a factua! basis
for this Ordinance. The City Council finds that these studies are
relevant to the problems addressed by the City in enacting this
Ordinance, and more specifically finds that these studies provide
convincing evidence of the significant adverse unavoidable effects
of excavations on the City’s street system.
E.Regulating excavations in City streets will help
reduce disruption of and interference with public use of the
streets, help prevent premature degradation, and maintain the
safe condition of the streets and protects the public health,
safety and welfare. This Ordinance is necessary to establish the
City’s authority to impose certain fees that wil! reduce the
adverse effects that street excavations have upon the economic and
usefu! life of streets of the City. The public health, safety and
welfare of the City require the enactment of this Ordinance as a
municipa! affair, and as a valid and appropriate exercise of the
City’s police power.
F.The fee imposed by this Ordinance to be paid to
help offset the shortened life of the streets that are cut (the
"Street Cut Fee"), provides an incentive that wil! encourage the
minimization of excavations in city streets. The fee wil! also
promote better coordination among those entities making
excavations in City streets and between these entities and the
City (i) to minimize the number of excavations being made
wherever feasible, and (ii) to ensure that excavations are
performed, to the maximum extent possible, in streets scheduled
for resurfacing within the same or succeeding fiscal year as the
excavation.
G.When an excavation is performed where the Street
Cut Fee is applicable, the entity making and benefiting from the
excavation should be required to pay the City a fee that
reimburses to the City the value of unavoidably shortened
economic life of that street caused by the excavation and the
City’s increased costs in reconstructing the street, in addition
to any other applicable fees or charges. Because the effect of
the diminished life caused by excavations decreases with time,
the fee should be highest for excavations in newly surfaced
streets, and should decrease as the age of the street surface
being excavated increases.
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H.Requiring the payment of a fee for excavations
not undertaken in coordination with the City’s resurfacing
program will provide an important incentive for utilities to
coordinate their excavations with other utilities and with the
City’s street resurfacing schedule, to avoid excavations in
these streets wherever feasible.
I.This Ordinance does not conflict with provisions
of State law, including, but not limited to, Sections 7901 and
12808 of the Public Utilities Code related to interstate
te!eco~munication franchises because the fees hereunder are not
charged for the same right granted by State law, but, instead,
are charged to recover the costs of mitigating the degradation
that the excavation causes to the pavement over and adjacent to
the trench, and the increased cost to the City in reconstructing
a street that has been patched fol!owing an excavation.
J.Likewise, this Ordinance is consistent with the
terms of existing utility franchises, because (i) a franchise is
intended solely to authorize a utility’s use of City streets,
ways, alleys and places, (ii) franchise fees established for
franchises were not intended to recover the costs of mitigating
damage to the pavement over or adjacent to the trench; nor was
this damage known to the City when fees for the City’s existing
franchises were established, (iii) the City does not use, nor is
it required to use, franchise fee revenue to pay for street
surfac±ng, resurfacing and/or reconstruction, (iv) franchises
are subject to ordinances and regulations subsequently enacted
by the City in the exercise of its police power, and (v) the fee
authorized by this Ordinance is not related to the quality of
workmanship of the repair of the street following its
excavation, but instead relate to the shortening of the
effective life of a street and the increased cost in
reconstruction that is inherent in any excavation.
K.This Ordinance is in conformance with Section
253(C) of the Federa! Telecommunications Act of 1996 which
expressly recognizes the authority of !oca! governments to
impose reasonable nondiscriminatory fees upon telecommunications
providers using the public right-of-way, as wel! as California
Government Code 50030 which specifically authorizes the
imposition of a permit fee that do not exceed the reasonable
costs of providing the service for which the fee is charged.
SECTION 2. Chapter 12.10 is hereby added to Title 12
[Public Works and Utilities] to read as fo!lows:
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Section 12.10.010. Purpose of Street Cut Fee.
Excavations in paved streets owned and maintained by
the City degrade and shorten the life of the surface
of the streets, and this degradation increases the
frequency and cost to the public of necessary
resurfacing, maintenance, and repair,it is
appropriate that entities responsible forexcavating
into the City’s rights-of-wRy bear this burden rather
than the taxpayers of the City.in addition,
establishment of a Street Cut- Fee wil!create an
incentive for coordination of efforts in excavating
the streets to instal!, repair and replacesubsurface
facilities and utilities.
Section 12.10.020. Establishment of Street Cut Fee.
No person shall excavate in the public right-of-way
without, in addition to all other requirements of this
Code, having first paid to the City a "Street Cut
Fee." The amount of this Street Cut Fee shal! be set
from time to time by resolution, and shal! not exceed
the reasonable cost necessary to mitigate the
degradation to the public streets caused by such
excavation. Funds collected as Street Cut Fees shal!
only be expended for the rehabilitation and
resurfacing of the public right-of-way.
Section 12.10.030. Variance From Payment Of Street
Cut Fee. Any person subject to the Street Cut Fee may
request that the Director of Public Works or designee
waive the requirement of payment of the Street Cut Fee
due to individual circumstances that demonstrate, on a
case-by-case basis, that the amount of the fee is not
reasonably related to the projected impact of the
proposed excavation.
Section 12.10.040. Exceptions. (a) Excavations in
streets scheduled within one (I) year of the date
specified in the Notice to Proceed for City’s annua!
street maintenance program capita! improvement project
shal! be exempt from the Street Cut Fee. The
Department of Public Works shal! endeavor to notify
public utilities of streets so scheduled.
(b) No Street Cut Fee shall be charged for underground
utility district projects, utility line re!ocations
necessitated by City-funded street work projects or by
street vacations or abandonments.
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(c) No Street Cut Fee shall be charged with respect to
excavation in a sidewalk, driveway, curb, and gutter.
(d) No Street Cut Fee shall be charged for emergency
work as defined as causing an imminent risk to public
health and safety.
Section 12.10.050. Utility Master Plans. Any utility
owning, operating or installing in City streets,
alleys, sidewalks, or any other public places
facilities providing water, sewer, gas, electric,
communication, video or other utility services, shall
prepare and submit to the Public Works Director a
utility master plan,in a format specified by the
Director, that shows the !ocation of the utility’s
existing facilities in City streets, alleys,
sidewalks, and other public places,and shows all of
the uti!ity’s planned major utility work in City.
streets, alleys, sidewalks and other public places for
the next five years. Utilities shal! submit an
initia! utility master plan no later than one hundred
eighty (180) days after the effective date of the
ordinance adopting this section. Thereafter, each
utility shall submit annually a revised and updated
utility master plan. As used in this subsection, the
term "planned major ~uti!ity works" refers to any and
al! future excavations planned by the utility when the
utility master plan or update is submitted that will
affect any City street, alley, sidewalk, or other
public place for more than a tota! of fifteen (15)
days, provided that the utility shal! not be required
to show future excavations planned to occur more than
five (5) years after the date that the utility master
plan or update is submitted. Any and al! utility
master plans submitted pursuant to this section shal!
be confidentia! to the fullest extent provided by law
and used solely for purposes of coordination.
Section 12.10.060. Coordination with City. Before
applying for a "Permit for construction in the Public
Street" in the City’s streets, alleys, sidewalks or
other public places the City shall review on behalf of
the applicant the utility master plans and the City’s
five year repaying plan on file with the director.
The applicant shal! coordinate, to the extent
practicable, with the utility and street work shown on
030904 sm 0053218 5
such plans to minimize damage to, and avoid undue
disruption and interference with the public use of
such streets, alleys, sidewalks or other public
places. Such coordination shall include:
(i) Whenever two or more parties (i.e., the City
or any utility) have proposed a major excavation in
the same block during a five year period, they shal!
meet and confer with the City regarding whether it is
feasible to conduct a joint operation, if the
Director determines that it is feasible to conduct a
joint operation a single con~_aczor shall be selected
and a single application fee charged.
ii) Any utility aggrieved by the Director’s
decision to require a joint operation may, within
thirty (30) days of the Director’s written notice,
file an appeal pursuant to Chapter 3 of this Code. in
determining such appea!, the hearing officer or
Council shall consider the impact of the proposed
excavation on the neighborhood, the applicant’s need
to provide services to a property or area,
facilitating the dep!oyment of new techno!ogy as
directed pursuant to officia! City policy, and the
public health, safety, welfare, and convenience.
To avoid future excavations and to reduce the number
of street excavations, telecommunication companies
shall be requested, when practica!, to instal! spare
conduits.
SECTION 3.if any section, subsection, sentence,
clause, phrase or portion of this ordinance is for any reason held
to be invalid or unconstitutiona! by the decision of any court of
competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity
of the remaining portions of this ordinance. The City Counci! of
the City of Palo Alto hereby declares that it would have adopted
this ordinance and each section, subsection, sentence, clause,
phrase or portion thereof irrespective of the fact that any one or
more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses, phrases, or
portions be declared invalid or unconstitutiona!.
SECTION 4. The Council finds that this is not a project
under the California Environmenta! Quality Act and, therefore,
no environmenta! impact assessment is necessary.
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SECTION 5. This ordinance shall be effective
thirty-first day after the date of its adoption.
INTRODUCED:
PASSED:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTENTIONS:
ATTEST:
on
City Clerk
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
Mayor
APPROVED:
City Attorney City Manager
Director of Public Works
Director of Administrative
Services
the
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ATTACHMENT B
ATTACHMENT C
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