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HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 3466City of Palo Alto (ID # 3466) City Council Staff Report Report Type: Consent Calendar Meeting Date: 3/18/2013 City of Palo Alto Page 1 Summary Title: BAO for Infrastructure Reserve in FY 2013 Title: Adoption of a Budget Amendment Ordinance in the Amount of $2.2 Million to Utilize the Additional Funds Added to the Infrastructure Reserve in FY 2013 for Infrastructure "Keep-up" to address street and sidewalk problems and to accelerate street and sidewalk improvements From: City Manager Lead Department: Public Works Recommendation To address the recommendations of the Infrastructure Blue Ribbon Commission, Council transferred an additional $2.2 million to the Infrastructure Reserve in the current FY 2013 budget, but those funds were not allocated to specific projects. This report recommends that the $2.2 million be added primarily to the Street Maintenance and Sidewalk Repair programs, with a small amount to be used for planting and maintaining trees. Staff recommends that Council approve the following motion: “I move that the additional $2.2 million placed in the Infrastructure Reserve as part of the Fiscal Year 2013 budget be used to further accelerate the City’s progress toward excellent street conditions, to improve the City’s sidewalks, and to plant and maintain trees, as described in the attached Budget Amendment Ordinance.” Executive Summary City Council added $2.2 million to the FY 2013 Capital Budget in response to the recommendations of the Infrastructure Blue Ribbon Commission, but did not City of Palo Alto Page 2 allocate the funds to specific projects. This report recommends that the funds be used primarily for the Street Maintenance and Sidewalk Repair programs, with a small amount to be used for planting and maintaining trees. These recommendations are consistent with the IBRC recommendations and Council direction, as further described in the Policy Implications section of the report. Background Palo Alto’s Infrastructure Blue Ribbon Commission (IBRC) completed its task of analyzing and making recommendations to address the City’s unfunded infrastructure needs in late 2011. The IBRC Final Report concluded that, at FY 2012 funding rates, there was a continuing annual shortfall of $2.2 million below the funding that would be needed to “keep up” with infrastructure maintenance needs. This $2.2 million figure was estimated as $1.6 million in Operating Maintenance and $0.6 million in Planned Capital Improvement Program (CIP) Maintenance. The IBRC Final Report also pointed out that an estimated $1.5 million of the $2.2 million was needed to prevent “pop-up” projects that are typically funded during the course of each fiscal year from reducing the funding available for infrastructure maintenance. During the FY 2013 budget process, an additional $2.2 million was transferred to the Infrastructure Reserve to fund the IBRC recommendation. The additional funding was not allocated to any specific projects at that time. This staff report recommends allocating the FY 2013 funding to CIP programs and operating budget areas for uses that will help to keep up with maintenance needs and to accelerate the City’s progress toward improving the condition of City streets and sidewalks. Discussion Staff’s recommendations in this report will add funding to the following areas: Project Area Funding Level Addition to Street Maintenance Program $1,053,000 Addition to Sidewalk Repairs Program $1,000,000 Addition to Budget for Asphalt Materials Purchase $70,000 Tree Pruning and Planting $77,000 Sum:$2,200,000 City of Palo Alto Page 3 Most of the funding is proposed to be used for the City’s streets and sidewalks programs. Streets and sidewalks are the most visible and ubiquitous elements of the City’s infrastructure assets and their condition are of particular concern to the public. In FY 2011, the City Council increased the annual Street Maintenance Program budget from $1.9 million to $3.7 million to facilitate a new goal of increasing the citywide average Pavement Condition Index (PCI) score to 85, representing excellent pavement condition, by 2021. Significant progress toward the goal has been made, with the PCI increasing from 72 in 2009 to an expected 77 in 2012. The proposed addition to the Street Maintenance Program budget will bring the FY 2013 funding level to over $4.7 million, and will further accelerate progress toward the 2021 PCI goal. The proposed additional streets and sidewalks work is being recommended because it will address areas that are currently outside the scope of the Public Works Streets work group, which repairs potholes and damaged sidewalks, or by the Street Maintenance and Sidewalk Repair CIP programs. Each of the items recommended for funding is described in greater detail below. Addition of $1,053,000 to the Street Maintenance Program Budget Staff is proposing to increase the FY 2013 budget for the Street Maintenance Program by $1,053,000. The additional funding would be used to make repairs to streets that are on the list of “base failure” areas. Base failures are areas where the load bearing “base” of the roadway is compromised and can no longer support the weight of the traffic or the road structure itself. Palo Alto’s 473 lane- miles of streets include 17 lane-miles of Portland Cement Concrete (PCC) streets, and 111 lane-miles of PCC streets that have been overlaid with asphalt concrete. PCC streets are extremely durable, and many of the PCC streets in Palo Alto are 90 or more years old. PCC streets, however, are much more expensive than asphalt streets to repair and replace. For example, an asphalt street “grind and overlay” typically costs about $3.50 per square foot, while PCC street replacement may cost as much as $15 per square foot. City staff typically surveys all Palo Alto streets on a two year basis and uses the data to generate the City’s PCI score. The last survey identified a number of base failure areas, most of which are on PCC or PCC overlaid with asphalt streets. These types of street failures are some of the City of Palo Alto Page 4 most visible street problems, and can be hazards to both motorists and bicyclists. In many of these cases, the overall street PCI is relatively high, so that the streets are not prioritized for repair in the Street Maintenance Program’s 5-year plan. Staff recommends that the $1,053,000 addition to the Street Maintenance Program’s FY 2013 budget be used to augment existing funding to allow the repair of base failures on 43 blocks of PCC and PCC overlaid with asphalt streets. Public Works staff is in the process of inspecting and measuring the base failure locations to determine quantities and a cost estimate, after which a procurement process will be initiated to engage a contractor to complete the repairs. Addition of $1,000,000 to Sidewalk Repair Program Budget Staff is proposing to increase the FY 2013 budget for the Sidewalk Repairs Program by $1,000,000. The additional funding would be used for three purposes: 1.Alleviate a backlog list of “hot spot” sidewalk problems that have been temporarily repaired but are in need of replacement, while first providing an opportunity for the public to report additional problems that are not yet on the backlog list; 2.Ensure that heavily used sidewalks on streets surrounding Palo Alto schools meet the same standards that are applied in the citywide “district” sidewalk repair and replacement program; and 3.Accelerate the district-based sidewalk repair and replacement program as recommended by IBRC. The Sidewalk Repairs Program manages an annual contract for sidewalk repair and replacement in 23 districts throughout the City. The sidewalk district program was initiated in 1986, and there are six districts remaining before the program will have completed the full cycle of districts. When a sidewalk district is scheduled for work, the entire district is inspected and areas to be replaced are marked for repair. Minor sidewalk uplifts are corrected by grinding the sidewalk down.The quantities of sidewalk repairs are then assembled and packaged into an Invitation for Bid (IFB) that then becomes a contract with a firm specializing in concrete work. Because the district-based sidewalk program began 27 years ago, there are many areas of sidewalk in need of repair in districts that were City of Palo Alto Page 5 completed early in the program, typically due to tree root uplift. The Streets work group in the Public Services Division of Public Works includes a four-person team dedicated to repair of sidewalk tripping hazards that are reported by the public. Upon receiving a report of a sidewalk problem, the area is visited and assessed. Minor problems are repaired by grinding or by placement of asphalt concrete. More serious problems are temporarily repaired with asphalt concrete, and placed on a “hot spot” list of sidewalk sections in need of full replacement. Public Works has a goal of replacing hot spot sidewalk sections within three months of their temporary repair, with no replacements exceeding six months. Over the past two years, the hot spot backlog list has grown to the extent that the delay between temporary repair and replacement is currently approximately one year. The primary reason for the longer backlog list is that Public Works supervisors inspecting sidewalks in response to reports from the public have instituted a practice, to incorporate efficiency and cost effectiveness, of inspecting the entire block for additional problem areas, rather than only observing the sidewalk in front of the address or home that reported an issue. Public Works staff is in the process of inspecting and marking out the hot spot sidewalk replacement locations to determine quantities and a cost estimate, after which a procurement process will be initiated to engage a contractor to complete the repairs. Staff is also planning to engage the public in this effort by publicizing the program, providing the sidewalk locations and photos on the Sidewalk Repairs Program web page, and requesting that the public report additional “hot spot” sidewalk problems so that they can be included in the contract. The sidewalk district program that is managed by the Sidewalk Repairs Program uses more stringent criteria than the hot spot list for determining when sidewalks require replacement. Typically, about thirty percent of the sidewalk surfaces in a district are replaced. Sidewalks on streets surrounding schools are used heavily by children walking and biking to and from school. Staff proposes to use a portion of the additional FY 2013 sidewalks funding to repair and replace sidewalks around Palo Alto’s twelve elementary schools, three middle schools, and two high schools using the same criteria that are used in the district program. This approach will ensure that these heavily used sidewalks are in excellent condition. Staff has begun inspecting sidewalks in school areas in coordination with the Safe Routes to School program to determine quantities and a cost estimate. It is City of Palo Alto Page 6 envisioned that the same contractor engaged to perform sidewalk hot spot repairs will also conduct the repairs around schools. The annual base funding amount for the district-based sidewalk repair and replacement program is $725,000. The program is intended to operate on a 30 year cycle to reduce tripping hazards and achieve Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards. IBRC recommended that the current funding level for the program be increased by $287,000 (in 2012 dollars) to maintain a 30 year cycle going forward from 2012. IBRC also identified a backlog or “catch-up” estimated amount of $3.7 million that represents the funding that would be needed if the original 23 district cycle was to be completed in 2016, which is 30 years from the 1986 start of the sidewalk district program. Staff recommends that the $1,000,000 addition to the FY 2013 Sidewalk Repairs Program budget fund the hot spot and school area repair contract described above, with the balance of the funding used to accelerate the sidewalk district program work. Staff will also be proposing an increase in the Sidewalk Repairs Program in the FY 2014 Capital Budget. Addition of $70,000 to Budget for Asphalt Materials Purchase The Streets work group in the Public Services Division of Public Works is responsible for repairing potholes, resurfacing small areas of streets that are distressed, and maintaining bicycle and pedestrian pathways throughout the City. City staff performs this work and the asphalt and cement materials used are procured through an annual purchase order with a building materials supplier. Over the past several years the unit price for asphalt, which is tied to the price of oil, has increased significantly. However, the operating budget amount utilized for that annual purchase order has remained constant at $154,000 due to budget concerns. At mid-year in FY 2012 and in FY2013, the operating budget was increased by $25,000 to allow for purchase of asphalt. However, that timeframe coincided with the point at which the closed Palo Alto landfill stopped accepting concrete and asphalt demolition materials for recycling, and the budget increase of $25,000 has instead been used to pay for hauling of demolition materials to another recycling facility. This situation has resulted in the Streets work group running out of budget for asphalt and cement prior to the fiscal year end in FY 2012 and FY 2011. In FY 2012, the Streets group was unable to purchase these City of Palo Alto Page 7 materials for the last three months of the fiscal year. The budget for FY 2013 is expected to run out at the same time in the fiscal year. Insufficient budget for purchasing asphalt and cement prevents the Streets work group from keeping up with street and pathway maintenance needs. The addition of $70,000 to this budget item, which will be requested for the FY 2014 budget as well, will ensure that the group’s productivity is continued throughout the fiscal year. Public Services Streets and the Street Maintenance Program staff will continue to improve the coordination between the two groups. With the additional funding for asphalt materials, the two groups will work together to repair minor to moderate street surface failures, allowing the annual Preventive Maintenance contract managed by the Street Maintenance Program to cover a greater area and accelerating the progress toward the City’s goal of achieving “excellent” pavement condition throughout the City. Addition of $77,000 to Budget For Tree Pruning and Planting The proposed El Camino Real comprehensive tree pruning project will include 697 trees, ranging from recently planted in need of structure training to large mature trees, that require canopy cleaning and selective reduction of limbs that could pose a future risk if neglected. The work is required to keep up with the Urban Forestry group’s seven-year cycle for tree pruning. Work history differs by individual; however, each tree will benefit from an inspection followed by specifically designed pruning. Targeted specific pruning is anticipated to reduce future risk of failure, increase safety for vehicles, improve health and structure of the trees, and increase potential longevity for trees. The estimated total cost is $60,000. The proposed Page Mill Road tree planting will establish 72 new trees from Foothill Parkway to El Camino Real. The work is needed to ensure that planting of new trees keep up with tree removals occurring throughout the City. These trees will serve multiple purposes as a welcome corridor, a link between the nature of the foothills to the cosmopolitan business district, a recreational amenity for active bicycle enthusiasts, and a signature planting for naturalists. Canopy and Stanford University groups have already expressed interest in participating. The estimated cost is $17,000 using 15 gallon trees. City of Palo Alto Page 8 Timeline Following adoption of the BAO by City Council, staff will issue a notice to proceed with the El Camino Real tree pruning and Page Mill Road tree planting work. This work is expected to be completed in June 2013. Staff will continue to evaluate the sidewalk and street repair work. It is expected that the bid packages for this work will be completed in May 2013, with work to begin in June or July 2013. Resource Impact The $2.2 million for this BAO has been added to the General Fund budget base in FY 2013 and will be transferred annually to the Infrastructure Reserve. This ensures enhanced funding for “keep up” work recommended by IBRC and implemented by the Council. Policy Implications Council added the $2.2 million to the Infrastructure Reserve in FY 2013 to fund the annual gap in infrastructure maintenance “keep-up” that was identified by IBRC. In selecting the work to be completed in FY 2013 with the $2.2 million, Public Works and Community Services staff met to identify unfunded keep-up needs. Unlike “catch-up” infrastructure maintenance needs, which are detailed in the IBRC Final Report and supporting materials, unfunded keep-up needs have not been individually identified. The recommendations in this report are primarily intended to address keep-up needs, but some of the recommendations address areas that would be considered catch-up work. The IBRC recommendation to add $2.2 million annually for keep-up maintenance was also intended to account for an estimated $1.5 million in annual “pop-up” projects that are approved by Council during the fiscal year. The lack of such projects in FY 2013 to date provides further support for using some of the funding for catch-up needs. It is important to note that in many instances it is difficult to distinguish between keep-up and catch-up maintenance. For instance, the proposed repairs to base failures on concrete streets correct problems analogous to potholes on asphalt streets that are repaired by the Streets work group, but which the group has not been able to repair because of the size and/or complexity of the work. While repairing this backlog of sites could be characterized as catch-up, it also keeps up with ongoing street failures in a similar manner to the Streets work group repairs of potholes. The key difference is that potholes are repaired on an ongoing, City of Palo Alto Page 9 continuous basis, while the list of base failure repairs is proposed to be addressed through one short-term contract. Staff believes that the proposed uses of the $2.2 million are consistent with the IBRC recommendation and with Council’s intent in adding the additional funding. Environmental Review This project is categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) under Section 15301c of the CEQA guidelines as repair, maintenance and/or minor alteration of the existing facilities and no further environmental review is necessary. Attachments: ·Attachment A-Budget Amendment Ordinance (DOC) Attachment A ORDINANCE NO.xxxx ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALO ALTO AMENDING THE BUDGET FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 2013 TO PROVIDE AN APPROPRIATION OF $2,200,000 FROM THE CAPITAL PROJECTS FUND INFRASTRUCTURE RESERVE FOR INFRASTRUCTURE MAINTENANCE NEEDS The Council of the City of Palo Alto does ordain as follows: SECTION 1. The Council of the City of Palo Alto finds and determines as follows: A. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 12 of Article III of the Charter of the City of Palo Alto, the Council on June 18, 2012 did adopt a budget for fiscal year 2013; and B.In fiscal year 2013, an additional transfer of $2,200,000 from the General Fund to the Capital Projects Fund was made to address the City’s infrastructure maintenance needs as recommended by the Infrastructure Blue Ribbon Commission (IBRC). However, this additional funding was not appropriated to any specific CIP projects or operating budget areas; and C. The funding of $2,200,000 will now be added to the following CIP projects and Public Works operating budget areas; and Project Area Amount Tree Pruning on El Camino Real (operating budget) $60,000 Tree Planting on Page Mill Road (operating budget) $17,000 Asphalt Materials (operating budget)$70,000 CIP PO-89003, Sidewalk Repairs $1,000,000 CIP PE-86070, Street Maintenance $1,053,000 Total $2,200,000 Attachment A D. City Council authorization is needed to amend the 2013 budget as hereinafter set forth. SECTION 2.The sum of Sixty Thousand Dollars ($60,000) is hereby appropriated to the Public Works Department operating budget for tree pruning on El Camino Real. SECTION 3.The sum of Seventeen Thousand Dollars ($17,000) is hereby appropriated to the Public Works Department operating budget for tree planting on Page Mill Road. SECTION 4.The sum of Seventy Thousand Dollars ($70,000) is hereby appropriated to the Public Works Department operating budget for asphalt materials. SECTION 5.The sum of One Million Dollars ($1,000,000) is hereby appropriated to CIP Project PE-89003, Sidewalk Repairs. SECTION 6.The sum of One Million Fifty-Three Thousand Dollars ($1,053,000) is hereby appropriated to CIP Project PE- 86070, Street Maintenance. SECTION 7.The Capital Fund Infrastructure Reserve is hereby reduced by Two Million Two Hundred Thousand Dollars ($2,200,000) to Fourteen Million Three Thousand Five Hundred Seventy Dollars ($14,003,570). SECTION 8. As specified in Section 2.28.080(a) of the Palo Alto Municipal Code, a two-thirds vote of the City Council is required to adopt this ordinance. SECTION 9. As provided in Section 2.04.330 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code, this ordinance shall become effective upon adoption. SECTION 10.The above referenced project areas are categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)under Section 15301c of the CEQA Guidelines as repair, maintenance and/or minor alteration of the existing facilities and no further environmental review is necessary. INTRODUCED AND PASSED: Attachment A AYES: NOES: ABSTENTIONS: ABSENT: ATTEST: _________________________ City Clerk __________________________ Mayor APPROVED AS TO FORM: _________________________ Senior Assistant City Attorney __________________________ City Manager __________________________ Director of Public Works __________________________ Director of Administrative Services