Cotati City Council
Agenda Staff Report
Item type: REGULAR AGENDA (ACTION)
To: City Council
Subject: Consider approval of professional services agreements for environmental and preliminary design of the Highway 116 and West Cotati Avenue Intersection Improvements Project
Date: October 25, 2022
Written by: Craig Scott, Director of Public Works/City Engineer Recommendation
It is recommended the City Council of the City of Cotati adopt a resolution 1) approving a professional services agreement with Fehr & Peers to provide public outreach and preliminary design services for the Highway 116/West Cotati Avenue Intersection Safety Improvements Project, and 2) Approving a Professional Services Agreement with M-Group for providing Environmental Review services for the subject project
Background
The intersection of West Cotati Avenue and Highway 116 has long been a safety concern as it serves the west side of town and is off a busy two-lane highway. The City continues to pursue grant funds to improve the intersection and is included in the City’s Traffic Impact Fee Program.
The intersection was included in the Caltrans Hwy 116 Widening Project, for which plans were completed in 2009, and was to be improved with the South Sonoma Business Park. However, the Business Park did not get completed in its entirety and only improvements for the Lowes Development were completed.
Improving the intersection remains a priority for the City, and in 2021, the City included this Project as one of five projects submitted to the Sonoma County Transportation Authority to prioritize for grant opportunities. Additionally in 2021, the City completed its Local Road Safety Plan which identified the intersection improvements as a priority safety project. Recognizing the importance of the project, and prompted by the property being on the market, the City, in 2021, purchased the property on the southeast corner of West Cotati Avenue and Hwy 116. This property is needed to reconfigure the intersection.
Analysis/Discussion
Attached is a sketch of the planned reconfiguration of the West Cotati Avenue and Hwy 116 intersection, the proposed signalization, and general pathway configuration. There is potential funding from State and Federal grants and private development. For these funding sources to be realized, the scope of the project needs to be defined and environmental review completed. City Staff is proposing the City contract with an environmental firm and engineering firm to prepare these documents.
The City has an on-call environmental services agreement with M-Group and has requested a scope of services for completing environmental review and biological analysis for the subject project. The scope of services would be included in a task order under that agreement. M-Group has provided the attached letter proposal and City Staff has reviewed the proposal and finds it fair and reasonable.
In April 2021, City Staff issued a request for proposals and received proposals from sixteen engineering companies to provide a wide range of services including preliminary design for streets. City Staff selected Fehr & Peers as the most qualified consultant and requested a proposal to provide outreach and engagement and preliminary design of the intersection and related Highway 116 improvements. In the scoping process, the scope of the intersection was extended to widening Hwy 116 east to Redwood Drive and north to Alder Avenue. Final design of the intersection will be a separate phase once the full extent of work is known after review by Caltrans.
Fehr & Peers provided the attached Letter Proposal for the Hwy 116/West Cotati Avenue Reconfiguration Project and Staff has reviewed the proposal and finds it to be fair and reasonable.
Financial Considerations
The City’s adopted FY22/23 Budget includes $5,000,000 for the Hwy 116/W Cotati Avenue Intersection Safety Improvements Project with $4,000,000 funded by Grants, $650,000 from the General Fund and the remainder from Special Revenues.
The 35 percent design contract for Fehr & Peers is an amount of $297,000 and the M-Group environmental review contract is for an amount of $74,150. This combined total of $371,150 in expenditures within the project is included within the budget so no budgetary adjustments are required at this time.
Future City funded efforts anticipated include the final design, grant application efforts, and construction related to the completion of the intersection.
Environmental Issues
This action is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because it is not a project which has a potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment, pursuant to CEQA Guideline section 15378.
Attachments:
F&P Scope of Work (PDF)
M-Group Scope of Work (PDF)
Pages from Cotati LRSP-Adopted (PDF)