CA Review GH
Meeting Date: May 7, 2024
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Scott Chadwick, City Manager
Staff Contact: Tom Frank, Transportation Director/City Engineer [email protected], 442-339-2766
Subject: Termination of Proclamation of a Storm-Related Local Emergency for Removal of Sediment and Vegetation on the Buena Vista Creek Concrete Channel Near El Camino Real
District: 1
Rec
ommended Action
Adopt a resolution terminating the proclamation of a storm-related local emergency for removal of sediment and vegetation in the Buena Vista Creek Concrete Channel near El Camino Real.
Executive Summary
Rainfall from the atmospheric river that hit California in early February and the prior one in January 2024, increased sediment and vegetation in the Buena Vista Creek, diminishing its capacity and risking significant damage to nearby property and infrastructure. Emergency removal of sediment and vegetation was necessary to ameliorate the risk. Exhibit 4 shows the area of the channel requiring emergency sediment and vegetation removal. • The Acting City Manager, in his role as Acting Director of Emergency Services, proclaimed a local emergency on Feb. 8, 2024, as shown in Exhibit 2, so that the removal can be exempted from the city’s normal bidding procedures and the necessary repairs can be completed as swiftly as possible.
• The City Council ratified the emergency proclamation on Feb. 13, 2024, and continued the emergency proclamation on Feb. 27, 2024.
• On March 12, 2024, the City Council continued the emergency proclamation again and authorized additional appropriations in the amount of $474,000. • The City Council continued the emergency proclamation again on March 19, 2024, March 26, 2024, April 9, 2024, and April 16, 2024.
• On April 23, 2024, the City Council continued the emergency proclamation again and authorized a transfer of funds in the amount of $1,427,000 from the Buena Vista Creek Concrete Channel Maintenance at El Camino Real, Capital Improvement Program, or CIP, Project No. 6619, to the Storm Drain System Rehabilitation and Repair Program, CIP Project No. 6607.
May 7, 2024
Item #5 Page 1 of 10
Construction projects that cost less than $200,000 may be awarded by the City Manager using informal bidding procedures under Carlsbad Municipal Code Section 3.28.080 - Construction Projects, subsections (B) and (H), which implement California Public Contract Code Section 22032. This emergency project is expected to cost approximately $2.47 million, including habitat mitigation costs.
California Public Contract Code Sections 22035 and 22050 and Carlsbad Municipal Code Sections 3.28.110(A) and 3.28.120 provide for an exemption from formal bidding procedures for emergency construction procurements. The emergency proclamation allowed the city to use these exemptions.
Explanation & Analysis
Background
Buena Vista Creek is situated at the northern border of the City of Carlsbad, adjacent to the City of Oceanside. The creek is located within both the City of Carlsbad and the City of Oceanside, outside the Coastal Zone, until it reaches Jefferson Street and the Buena Vista Lagoon. The creek comprises natural stream bed sections and some man-made concrete drainage channels designed to convey runoff from a large eastern watershed to the Pacific Ocean.
One segment of the Buena Vista Creek near El Camino Real, outside the Coastal Zone, was previously constructed as a concrete trapezoidal channel, starting at South Vista Way and ending approximately 230 feet east of El Camino Real, a total of approximately 900 feet. This man-made concrete segment of the creek is entirely within the City of Carlsbad.
Over time, sediment and vegetation accumulate in the creek. The city has a Capital Improvement Program project to remove the sediment and vegetation and make other repairs to the channel. The project is currently in the environmental review stage. However, the recent severe storm events have created debris flows that occur during short-duration, high-intensity rainfalls.
More specifically, the atmospheric river in early February brought an influx of heavy rain that inundated the Buena Vista Creek with material, including vegetation, debris and sediment- dominated slurry from the Buena Vista Creek Watershed, which is about 10 miles long. These rapid debris flows have significantly diminished the capacity of the channel, which is very close to the outfall of the watershed, resulting in a significant risk of the channel overflowing, with the potential to cause significant damage to nearby property and infrastructure during severe storms.
To mitigate the emergency conditions, the City Engineer recommended expedited, or emergency, removal of some of the sediment and vegetation to increase the channel’s capacity while the larger maintenance project proceeds through the environmental review and permitting process.
The emergency proclamation enabled the city to procure a contractor to perform the necessary emergency removal work and would be limited to the immediate action(s) to prevent or mitigate loss of, or damage to, life, health, property, or essential public services. The near-term scope of work – the immediate measure – is the minimum necessary to alleviate the immediate emergency.
May 7, 2024
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Timeline
• Feb. 15, 2024 - Staff submitted a permit application to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and sent a notification to the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board that the notice of intent was included in the permit application. • Feb. 27, 2024 – After coordinating its review of the project with affected agencies, including the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Regional Water Quality Control Board, the Corps of Engineers’ District Engineer coordinated issued a permit for the work..
• Feb. 28, 2024 - The San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board informed staff , that the notice of intent for the project complies with federal water quality regulations and is complete and has been recorded as required.
• March 5, 2024 - The Corps of Engineers sent a verification letter on the permit that superseded its Feb. 27, 2024, letter. The March 5 letter stated that work authorized by the permit must be underway no later than 14 calendar days from date of issuance of the letter of verification, or by March 19, 2024, and that all work must be completed no later than April 22, 2024. If the city is unable to complete the authorized work by this date, the city must request, in writing, an extension from the Corps’ Regulatory Division prior to the deadline.
• Upon the City Council’s ratification of the emergency proclamation, staff met with contractors to determine their availability to perform the work. • March 4, 2024 - Staff issued a notice to proceed to the contractor, Hazard Construction.
The work commenced four days later and was completed by the authorized date of April 22, 2024.
• March 25, 2024 - The City Manager and Hazard Construction fully executed the contract.
On April 22, 2024, the contractor completed the last of the channel clearing of the concrete section. On April 29, 2024, the Corps of Engineers indicated that they would be unable to permit the requested clearing of the earthen section of the channel as an emergency project.
Staff therefore recommend that the City Council terminate the emergency proclamation at the Buena Vista Creek concrete channel near El Camino Real.
Fiscal Analysis
The cost estimate for the emergency work in the concrete section of the channel is in the amount of $2,470,500, which will be funded from the fiscal year 2023-24 capital budget through the Storm Drain System Rehabilitation and Repair Program.
Storm Drain System Rehabilitation and Repair Program
Total appropriated funds to date $7,362,360
Total expenditures and encumbrances to date -$4,287,987 Total available funding $3,074,373
Buena Vista Creek Concrete Channel emergency work
Emergency work (sediment, vegetation removal, estimated) - Hazard Construction -$999,700
Construction management and inspection - Kleinfelder Construction Services -$108,300 May 7, 2024
Item #5 Page 3 of 10
There may be outside funding that could cover some or all of these emergency costs. On Feb. 22, 2024, the City Manager sent a letter to the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services requesting any and all state and federal resources including, but not limited to, state assistance through the California Disaster Assistance Act. The state replied and subsequently requested supplemental information on the city’s budget and how recent storms impacted it.
On Feb. 26, 2024, staff provided the requested supplemental information and the initial damage estimate of $771,000, which has now increased to over $2.4 million, including habitat mitigation costs.
On April 4, 2024, staff met with Office of Emergency Services staff to discuss this emergency work. Staff provided the agency with additional information as requested on April 11, 2024, and met again with Office of Emergency Services staff on April 25, 2024.
Next Steps
Staff will return at a future date to request City Council approval of an agreement to purchase
1.88 acres of habitat mitigation bank credits in the amount of $1,222,000.
Environmental Evaluation
The project has been determined to be exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act under Public Resources Code Section 21080(b)(3) and CEQA Guidelines Section 15269(a), which apply to projects undertaken, carried out or approved by a public agency to maintain, repair, restore, demolish or replace property or facilities damaged or destroyed as a result of a disaster in a disaster-stricken area in which a state of emergency has been proclaimed by the Governor.
Exhibits
1. City Council resolution
2. Acting City Manager/Acting Director of Emergency Services’ proclamation of a storm-related local emergency, dated Feb. 8, 2024
3. Location map
Biological monitoring - Environmental Science Associates -$140,500 Habitat mitigation (1:1 ratio) -$1,222,000
Total estimated emergency project costs -$2,470,500
Remaining balance $603,873
May 7, 2024
Item #5 Page 4 of 10
RESOLUTION NO. 2024-091
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CARLSBAD,
CALIFORNIA, TERMINATING THE PROCLAMATION OF A STORM-RELATED
LOCAL EMERGENCY FOR REMOVAL OF SEDIMENT AND VEGETATION IN THE
BUENA VISTA CREEK CONCRETE CHANNEL NEAR EL CAMINO REAL
WHEREAS, on Feb. 4, 2024, the Governor of the State of California found that conditions of extreme peril exist in San Diego County and other counties due to the early February 2024 storms caused by an atmospheric river and proclaimed a state of emergency to make additional resources available to local governme nts, formalize emerge ncy actions, and help the state prepare for the impact of the storm s; and
WHEREAS, the City Council empowers the City Manager, as Director of Emergency Services or, in the City Manager 's absence, the Assistant City Manager, as Acting City Manager and Acting Director of Emergency Services, to proclaim the existence of a local emergency when the city is affected by a public calamity and the City Council is not in session; and WHEREAS, conditions or threatened conditions of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property arose within the City of Carlsbad caused by a powerful, slow moving, atmo spheric river in early February that resulted in debris flows , or a "sedime nt-domin ated slurry ", which inundated the Buena Vista Creek and significantly dimini shed capacity in the Buena Vista Creek concrete channel (begins approximately 600 feet west/downstream of the El Camino Real bridge and extends upstream of the bridge approximately 230 feet); and
WHEREAS, on Feb. 8, 2024, th e Acting City Manager/Acting Director of Emergency Services proclaimed a storm-related local emergency for removal of sediment and vegetation on the Buena Vista Creek concrete channel near El Camino Real; and
WHEREAS, on Feb. 13, 2024, the City Council ratified the proclamation of a storm-related local emergency for removal of sediment and vegetation on the Buena Vista Creek concrete channel near El Camino Real; and
WHEREAS, on Feb. 27, 2024, the City Council contin ued the proclamation of a storm-re lat ed local emergency for removal of sediment and vegetation on the Buena Vista Creek concrete channe l near El Camino Real; and
Exhibit 1
May 7, 2024
Item #5 Page 5 of 10
WHEREAS, on March 12, 2024, the City Council continued the proclamation of a storm -related local emergency for removal of sediment and vegetation on the Buena Vista Creek concrete channel near El Camino Real again and authorized additional appropriations in the amount of $474,000; and WHEREAS, on March 19, 2024, March 26, 2024, April 9, 2024, and April 16, 2024, the City Council continued the emergency proclamation again; and WHEREAS, on April 23, 2024, the City Council continued the emergency proclamation again and authorized a transfer of funds in the amount of $1,427,000 from the Buena Vista Creek Concrete Channel Maintenance at El Camino Real, Capital Improvement Program, or CIP, Project No. 6619, to the Storm Drain System Rehabilitation and Repair Program, CIP Project No. 6607, which includes sufficient funding for habitat mitigation costs; and
WHEREAS, Carlsbad Municipal Code, or CMC, Section 3.28.ll0(A) implements Public Contract Code Section 22035 and provides for an exemption from formal bidding procedures for emergency construction procurements; and
WHEREAS, on Feb. 27, 2024, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a Regional General Permit (RGP) 63 - Repair and Protection Activities in Emergency Situations; and WHEREAS, on Feb. 28, 2024, the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board informed staff that in accordance with Water Quality Order No. 2023-0095-DWQ, or Order, Clean Water Act Section 401 Water Quality Certification for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Reauthorization of Regional General Permit 63 (RGP 63) for Emergency Repair and Protection Activities Project, the Notice of Intent is complete, and the Project is enrolled under the Order; and WHEREAS, on March 5, 2024, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers sent a verification letter on the permit which superseded its Feb. 27, 2024, letter, which stated that work authorized by the permit must be underway no later than 14 calendar days from date of issuance of the letter of verification , or by March 19, 2024, and that all work must be completed no later than April 22, 2024, and if it is not then the city must request, in writing, an extension from the Corps' Regulatory Division prior to the deadline; and
WHEREAS, the contractor started emergency work on March 8, 2024, and completed the emergency work In the concrete section of the channel by the authorized date of April 22, 2024; and WHEREAS, on April 17, 2024, the regulatory agencies indicated a habitat mitigation ratio of 1:1 would be acceptable for the emergency work that has already been completed in the concrete section of the channel; and
May 7, 2024
Item #5 Page 6 of 10
WHEREAS, on April 25, 2024, staff received an estimate of habitat mitigation costs for the work already authorized by the regulatory agencies with the impacted area estimated at 1.88 acres, at a cost of $1,222,000 for mitigation; and
WHEREAS, staff request that the City Council terminate the proclamation of a local emergency; and;and
WHEREAS, under California Public Resources Code Section 21080{b)(3) and Title 14, Section 15269 of the California Code of Regulations, the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act do not apply to projects undertaken, carried out, or approved by a public agency to maintain , repair, restore , demolish , or replace property or facilities damaged or destroyed as a result of a disaster in a disaster -stricken area in which the Governor of the State of California has proclaimed a state of emergency , and on Feb. 4, 2024, the Governor found that conditions of extreme peril exist in San Diego County and proclaimed a state of emergency.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Carlsbad, California, as follows:
1. That the above recitation s are true and correct.
2. That the storm -related Proclamation for a Local Emergency for removal of sediment and vegetation in the Buena Vista Creek concrete channel near El Camino Real is terminated .
PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED at a Regular Meeting of the City Council of the City of Carlsbad on the 7th day of May, 2024, by the following vote, to wit :
AYES:
NAYS:
ABSTAIN:
ABSENT:
BLACKBURN, BHAT-PATEL, ACOSTA, BURKHOLDER, LUNA.
NONE.
NONE.
NONE.
KEITH BLACKBURN, Mayor
SHERRY FREISINGER, City Clerk
{SEAL)
May 7, 2024
Item #5 Page 7 of 10
FOR STORM-RELATED EMERGENCY PROTECTION ACTIVITIES TO REDUCE SEDIMENT AND
VEGETATION IN THE BUENA VISTA CREEK CHANNEL NEAR EL CAMINO REAL WH
EREAS, on February 4, 2024, the Governor of the State of California found that conditions of extreme peril exist in San Diego County and other counties due to the early February 2024 storms caused by a powerful, slow-moving atmospheric river and proclaimed a state of emergency to make additional resources available to local governments, formalize emergency actions and help the state prepare for the impact of the storms.
W
HEREAS, California Government Code Section 8630 allows the City Council or an official designated by ordinance adopted by the City Council, to proclaim a local emergency; and W
HEREAS, the City of Carlsbad’s Emergency Services Ordinance, including Carlsbad Municipal Code Section 6.04.100(A)(1), empowers the City Manager, as the City of Carlsbad’s Director of Emergency Services, or, in the City Manager’s absence, the Assistant City Manager, as Acting City Manager and Acting Director of Emergency Services, to proclaim the existence of a local emergency, subject to ratification by the City Council, when there exists, or there is threatened to exist, conditions of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property within the City of Carlsbad; and
W
HEREAS, in the case of an emergency, California Public Contract Code Section 22050 allows the City Council, or a person delegated the authority by the City Council, to repair or replace a public facility, take any directly related and immediate action required by that emergency, and procure the necessary equipment, services and supplies for those purposes without giving notice for bids to let contract; and
WH
EREAS, under California Public Resources Code Section 21080(b)(3) and Title 14, Section 15269 of the California Code of Regulations, the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act do not apply to projects undertaken, carried out, or approved by a public agency to maintain, repair, restore, demolish or replace property or facilities damaged or destroyed as a result of a disaster in a disaster-stricken area in which the government has proclaimed a state of emergency; and
W
HEREAS, the Acting Director of Emergency Services finds:
1. T
he National Weather Service has issued multiple winter storm warnings, high wind warnings, wind advisories, and flood and flash flood watches throughout the State of California in anticipation of a powerful, slow-moving, atmospheric river. 2 . Existing conditions and threatened conditions of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property have arisen within the City of Carlsbad caused this powerful, slow-moving atmospheric river, and that the unexpected occurrence poses a clear and imminent danger, requiring immediate action to prevent or mitigate the loss or impairment of life, health, property and essential public services.
Exhibit 2
May 7, 2024
Item #5 Page 8 of 10
May 7, 2024
Item #5 Page 9 of 10
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HAYMAR DR
SOUTH VISTA WY
HAYMAR DR
MARRON RD
EL CAMINO REAL
SR-78 EB
SR-78 WB
SR-78 RA
SR-78 OFF RA
SR-78ON RA
Source: Esri, Maxar, GeoEye, Earthstar Geographics, CNES/Airbus DS, USDA, USGS, AeroGRID, IGN, and the GIS User Community, Copyright nearmap 2015
Exhibit 3LOCA TION MA P
PROJECT NAME EXHIBIT
3BUENA VISTA CREEK CHANNEL
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OCEANSIDE
PACIFIC
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TAMARACK AV
LA COSTA AV
POINSETTIA LN
MELROSE
DR
CARLSBAD BL
ELCAMINOREAL
CARLSBADVILLAGE DR
RANCHOSANTA
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AVIARA
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ALGARD
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NOT TO
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May 7, 2024
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