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Staff Report
City Council
Item No. 3.H
Meeting Date: August 9, 2023
From: John Corella, Director of Engineering/Public Works Title: Ramon Road Bridge and Street Widening Project: Approval of Easement and Assignment and Assumption of Easement
Agreement with the Coachella Valley Water District (CVWD) for CVWD access to Whitewater River Channel
City Council
RECOMMENDATION:
To approve an agreement with the Coachella Valley Water District (CVWD) to grant CVWD an access easement over a City-owned parcel; and, to assign an existing access easement to CVWD, to be used by CVWD for its maintenance access to the Whitewater River Channel; and, authorize its execution by the Mayor and City Clerk, required to replace an existing access which will be lost when the Ramon Bridge is widened.
BACKGROUND:
In 2009, the City entered into an agreement with the City of Palm Springs to widen the Ramon Road corridor from San Luis Rey Drive to Candlewood Drive, as well as widening the Ramon Road Bridge over the Whitewa ter River Channel (Project). The City of Palm Springs is the lead agency on this Project.
The design for the bridge widening and related street improvements have been completed, and the Project has moved into the funding request stage.
These proposed im provements to the existing Ramon Road B ridge and roadway will impact the Coachella Valley Water District’s ( CVWD) current maintenance access into the Whitewater River Channel (Channel). As a result, CVWD reached out to Cathedral City Staff to identify an alternate access point.
An existing access location was identified on the east side of the Channel, just north of the Dinah Shore Bridge, where an existing City -owned lot fronting on Shifting Sands Trail, nearly abuts the Channel right of way. This lot w as originally acquired by the City to provide right of way access for the Dinah Shore Bridge construction project. The City lot is separated from the Channel by a narrow strip of land owned by
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Cathedral/Creekside, LP, (Creekside), the owners of the Creeksi de Apartment complex to the north (location map attached).
To secure full access to the Channel, City Staff made c ontact with the Creekside owners. Creekside has been cooperative from the start and over a few months, City Staff negotiated an access ease ment across the Creekside land, which completes the necessary access to the channel from the City lot to the Channel . The Creekside easement, which included a provision allowing the City to assign it to CVWD, was granted to the City and was recorded in February of 2023.
In the subsequent months, t he City worked with CVWD on a cooperative Agreement which grants CVWD an access easement across the City-owned lot and assigns CVWD the Creekside access easement, thus providing CVWD with a complete Channel access road from Shifting Sands Trail . This replaces the existing CVWD Ramon Road access point being eliminated within the Project area. CVWD has approved and executed this Agreement (attached).
DISCUSSION:
The City-owned lot is vacant and is used partiall y for the Channel embankment and fill for the Dinah Shore Bridge. The easement to CVWD is 40 -feet-wide and does not affect the Dinah Shore Bridge slope. City Public Works Maintenance Division S taff maintains the area of the City -owned lot, including the landscaping and groundcover on the slopes and lot surface. (Note: The slope along the Dinah Shore Bridge will be improved in the upcoming months with new drought tolerant landscaping once a concept plan is completed. This effort is currently underway).
The terms of the Agreement allow CVWD to improve the easement to support its maintenance equipment, and to construct a gate at the Shifting Sands Trail driveway entrance. A vicinity sketch and aerial photo are attached showing the access easements and City-owned lot.
FISCAL IMPACT:
City Staff negotiated the acquisition of the access easement from Creekside, which ultimately donated the easement to the City at no cost. CVWD will make all necessary improvements to accommodate its needs across the 40-foot-wide access easement and install the gate from Shifting Sands at their expense. Overall, the costs of the easement acquisition and this Agreement are minimal.
FIVE-YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN:
GOAL B: COMMUNITY INVESTMENT
Objective: Cathedral City roads, gateways, public spaces, and other city infrastructure are well planned, designed, constructed, and maintained.
ATTACHMENTS:
CVWD Access Easement Location Map 1
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City - CVWD Access Agreement and Exhibits