Cotati City Council
Agenda Staff Report
Item type: REGULAR AGENDA (ACTION)
To: City Council
Subject: APPROVAL OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW FOR THE
HIGHWAY 116/WEST COTATI AVENUE INTERSECTION
SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT (PROJECT) AND A
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH MARK
THOMAS & COMPANY, INC FOR DESIGN SERVICES FOR
THE HIGHWAY 116/WEST COTATI AVENUE
INTERSECTION SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT AND
AUTHORIZING APPROPRIATION OF FUNDS FOR THE
PROJECT
Date: September 10, 2024
Written by: Craig Scott, Director of Public Works/City Engineer Recommendation
It is recommended the Council of the City of Cotati adopt a resolution approving the Environmental Review, finding the Project exempt from CEQA pursuant to California Public Resources Code CEQA Guidelines Section15183, for the Highway 116/West Cotati Avenue Intersection Safety Improvements Project (Project), approving a Professional Services Agreement with Mark Thomas & Company, Inc. for design services for the Project, authorizing the recording of the CEQA document, authorizing the City Manager to execute said Professional Services Agreement and approve any needed amendments up to the approved budget amount, and approving the appropriation of funds to the Project account 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 Highway 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 to the Lowes development were completed.
Improving the intersection remains a priority for the City, and in 2021, the City included the Project as one of five projects submitted to the Sonoma County Transportation Authority to prioritize for grant funding opportunities. Additionally in 2021, the City completed its Local Road Safety Plan which identified the intersection improvements as a priority safety project, and, in 2024, the City adopted its Active Transportation Plan which also includes the Project as a high priority. The improvements are envisioned to move ahead in tandem with the recently entitled Cotati Villages 1 and 2 development projects which are to add a total of 303 rental units including 31 affordable units for families in the very low-income bracket. The private developments are dependent upon the proposed Project improvements being constructed and impact fees for those projects are to be applied to the Project. Additionally, the City has been successful in obtaining Federal and State funds for Project construction.
Analysis/Discussion
On October 25, 2022, City Council approved professional services agreements to complete the environmental review and 35 percent design for the Project. Those efforts are now complete and Staff is recommending City approval of the environmental review and approving an agreement to complete the design and obtain Caltrans approvals.
City Engineering issued a Request for Qualifications and, in August 2024, received qualifications from several engineering firms. Upon review of the qualifications, Staff determined Mark Thomas & Company, Inc. to be the most qualified to provide the requested services for the Project. The firm has extensive prior experience for similar projects that require navigating the Caltrans approval process and working with resource agencies. Additionally, Mark Thomas was part of the consultant team that developed the 35 percent of design drawings for the Project. Therefore, Staff requested, and Mark Thomas provided a proposal to complete design, obtain Caltrans project approvals including the encroachment permit, and prepare bid documents for the Project. The effort includes obtaining all foreseeable permits and clearances for construction including a property swap needed for the intersection. With the services beginning this month, bidding is projected to occur sometime in early 2026.
Environmental Review
The City completed an extensive Environmental Review concurrently with 35 percent design effort. The effort began in late 2022 and concluded in June of this year and included public outreach with informational presentations at both the Planning Commission and City Council.
Additionally, the Project has a public website containing the project description, timelines, background information, project plans, and a way to provide comments and reach City Staff.
The CEQA Analysis is attached and uses CEQA Guidelines Sections 15183, which provides a streamlined review of the Project by tiering from the program level analysis prepared for the Cotati General Plan and its certified Environmental Impact Report (EIR), thereby focusing the analysis to potential impacts of the Project relative to the impacts analyzed in the EIR. The Project must incorporate or comply with all applicable mitigation measures identified in the General Plan EIR, uniformly applied development standards, and environmental approval conditions. Section 7 of the CEQA Analysis contains the environmental conditions of approval imposed on the Project.
The Project has been analyzed pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15183 and does not require circulation for public review and comment. Nonetheless, the City will continue to make the Project design and this CEQA Analysis available through a public process, which requires approval from the City Council for the design, engineering, and construction of the preferred alignment for State Route 116 and West Cotati Avenue Realignment.
Design Agreement Scope
The Mark Thomas proposed scope of services is attached and is to take the 35 percent design to 100 percent and obtain all necessary State and Federal project approvals. Design scope items include the typical project management, surveys and mapping, utility coordination, right of way acquisition, drainage and geotechnical studies and, of course preparing the final plans and bid documents. Because the Project is within the Caltrans right-of-way, Caltrans needs to approve the Project and issue an encroachment permit. Caltrans being involved adds significantly to the project scope and is the primary driver increasing costs. Staff and the consultant believe the Project qualifies for the “streamlined” Design Engineering Evaluation Report (DEER) process to obtain project approval. This is an extensive process requiring many added steps and approvals by a dozen or more Caltrans Divisions. Many tasks identified as “Optional” are included in the proposal fee but are determined at the discretion of Caltrans. Upon completion of the scope of services, the Project would be cleared to be advertised for bidding and Caltrans approvals would have been obtained to allow construction to begin.
Financial Considerations
Previous expenditures to develop the 35% design plans include $343,042 for design and $96,190 for CEQA ($439,232).
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The City’s adopted FY24/25 Budget includes $362,000, to complete the design for the Project.
The proposed design cost is $1,206,756, which leaves a funding shortfall of approximately $844,756. The Table below lists the proposed sources of funding for this shortfall:
Project Proposed Action Available Funds
Class 1 Pathway Maintenance Project Postpone/City Forces $185,000 Trash Implementation Plan – Phase 1 Postpone $231,000
2025 Street Improvements Project –
Construction*
Use/Replenish $412,000
2026 Street Improvements Project – Design Reduce design budget $ 6,756 Gateway Signage Postpone $ 10,000
Total $844,756
* Total budget for construction is $604,000 of which $192,000 is funded by RMRA SB1 funds which has already earmarked with the state for the planned RMRA project and cannot be reallocated.
The Class 1 Pathway Maintenance Project was to repave/maintain certain Class 1 pathways in the City. Staff is proposing to have internal forces (City Public Works staff) complete spot repairs including failed sections on the Laguna Trail and the Delano Park trail, to ensure some progress is made this year on this identified need.
The Trash Project was to make progress on implementing a ten-year program to reduce trash entering creeks within the City. The State’s deadline for full implementation is December 2nd, 2030. Deferring this year’s trash project, will result in the City having to make these program investments in the remaining years to 2030.
The 2026 Street Improvements Project adopted design budget is $60,000, which will not begin design work until the spring of 2025 for construction in the fall of 2025 or spring of 2026. The City currently has some designed projects ready to be packaged and bid, so it is expected that the design fee will be lower than budgeted.
Finally, the 2025 Street Improvements Project funds are not expected to be spent until construction is ready in the Spring of 2025. Due to the housing construction around Sonoma Mountain Village, Rohnert Park has been collecting mitigation funds to offset impacts to Cotati roadways. However, these funds have not yet been remitted to the City of Cotati. Staff propose borrowing the already budgeted funds from the 2025 Street Improvements Project now and replenishing these funds with the Rohnert Park traffic mitigation funds when they become available. These funds are estimated to exceed the amount “borrowed” from the 2025 Street Improvements Project.
Next the Gateway Signage project budget for fiscal year 2024/25 where $10,000 was an initial work towards the enhancement of City monuments. The majority of this project was pushed within the City’s 5 year CIP to fiscal year 2025/26 for a total of $573,000. As such staff propose moving these design start up charges as well to the 2025/26 fiscal year.
Therefore, the recommended action is to authorize the postponement of the Class 1 Pathway Maintenance Project, the Trash Implementation Plan – Phase 1 Project, the Gateway Signage Project, and reappropriate those funds to the Highway 116/ West Cotati Avenue Intersection Safety Improvements Project design. Additionally, use of the 2025 Street Improvements Project construction funds is approved with the intent to replenish those funds once Rohnert Park traffic mitigation funds are received by the City.
Environmental Issues
The Project implements the General Plan and is consistent with the circulation plans and infrastructure facilities established by the adopted Public Works Development Standards, circulation planning and General Plan policies for which an EIR was certified. The analysis relies upon the program level analysis prepared for the 2015 City of Cotati General Plan and its EIR (SCH No. 2013082037), which was certified in 2015. The project is an infrastructure improvement to ensure the on-going bicycle, pedestrian, and vehicular circulation function safely and appropriately for Cotati residents under the General Plan build out, as analyzed in the General Plan EIR. The project would not result in substantial changes nor does it involve new information that would warrant further environmental review because the level of improvements proposed are primarily the construction of limited new features along an existing roadway, which were planned for and included within the development assumptions analyzed in the program level EIR for the General Plan. Furthermore, the project does not contain elements that are peculiar to the project or project site(s) that would result in new or more severe environmental impacts relative to the General Plan EIR. Lastly, all adopted mitigating General Plan policies and mitigation measures identified in the 2015 General Plan EIR that apply to the Project will be imposed as requirements within the construction contract. With implementation of identified General Plan mitigation measures and uniformly applied development standards, the project would not result in a substantial increase in the severity or significant impacts that were previously identified in the program level EIR, nor would the project introduce any new significant impacts that were not previously identified. There would be no additional environmental impacts beyond those analyzed in the General Plan EIR, and therefore the project is exempt pursuant to California Public Resources Code Section 21083.3 and CEQA Guidelines Section 15183.