FAIRFAX TOWN COUNCIL MEETING
STAFF REPORT
1 AGENDA ITEM # 17
MEETING DATE February 7, 2024
PREPARED FOR Mayor and Town Council
PREPARED BY Heather Abrams, Town Manager
SUBJECT Adopt a Resolution Authorizing the Town Manager to Collaborate with Marin County on the Submittal of the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) Grant Application for the Bolinas Road Project
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the Council approve the attached resolution for RAISE grant application with Marin County for Bolinas Road.
BACKGROUND
On January 10, 2024, Council approved the proposed Bolinas Road Project Charter between Marin County and the Town. The Marin County Board of Supervisors approved the same Project Charter on January 23, 2024. On February 6, 2024, the Marin County Board of Supervisors will consider a resolution to approve an application for a RAISE grant on behalf of the County and the Town for Bolinas Road.
Large Federal grants, such as RAISE, require an intensive effort to apply for and to administer. Working with Marin County Public Works is beneficial to the Town by providing efficiencies in working together and providing the Town with access to staff and consultants ready to take advantage of large grants when they are available.
DISCUSSION
Approving the attached resolution demonstrates understanding and support for the grant application and the project, which will be beneficial to grant the application. Attached is the one-sheet summary of the project, upon which Marin County’s grant writing consultants are writing the RAISE grant application.
If the grant application is successful, staff will return to the Council with a resolution to accept the grant award and commit to the match required (i.e. the attached resolution does not provide a final commitment from the Town to allocate the matching funds that may be required). The current RAISE grant application is for a total project budget of approximately $25 million. Approximately 40% of the project area is within the incorporated Town limits. If a $10 million project was awarded for the project portion within Town limits, the anticipated Fairfax match could be approximately $2 million total.
The project would last approximately five years, with total costs spread across the project timeline.
For rough budgeting purposes the Town could be ready to allocate $400,000 annually for the match, if this grant application is successful. The first year would likely be taken up by project investigation, design, and bidding. Thus, the match in the first year would likely be significantly less than $400,000 in the first year.
2 FISCAL IMPACT
No allocation is being requested at this time. Potential fiscal impacts if the grant is awarded and then accepted by the Town are listed above.
ATTACHMENT
A. Resolution
B. One-Page Bolinas Road Project Summary
RESOLUTION 24-__
A RESOLUTION OF THE TOWN COUNCIL OF THE TOWN OF FAIRFAX
IN SUPPORT OF THE REBUILDING AMERICAN INFRASTRUCTURE WITH
SUSTAINABILITY AND EQUITY (RAISE) GRANT APPLICATION FOR THE BOLINAS
ROAD RESILIENCY AND COMMUNITY CONNECTION PROJECT
WHEREAS, the Bolinas Road serves as a vital artillery within the Town of Fairfax and within Marin County toward West Marin providing key evacuation and firefighting access, connections to state and federal parklands and residents; and access two Marin Water District dams water treatment facilities that supply the drinking water for over 190,000 county customers; and
WHEREAS, during the winter storms of 2022-23, nine separate slope failures occurred along Bolinas Road—two of which required emergency action to stabilize—and slope stabilization projects are being designed and implemented for the remaining seven locations; and
WHEREAS, it is recognized that reactive storm damage repairs to Bolinas Road are expensive, impactful on the community, and may interfere with essential water treatment and firefighting access as compared to planned design and construction work; and WHEREAS, the Bolinas Road Resiliency and Community Connection (Project) is a critical initiative by the Town of Fairfax and County of Marin aimed at enhancing and repairing this vital access road, improving transportation infrastructure and safety, and promoting sustainable travel in the County of Marin and the Town of Fairfax; and
WHEREAS, it is expected that planning, designing, and constructing a large scale project that evaluates and addresses many areas of concern along Bolinas Road will be more cost efficient and less impactful to roadway users than implementing individual emergency construction projects as slope failures occur in the future; and WHEREAS, the Town Council and the County of Marin have approved the current Bolinas Road Project Charter to provide a framework for both agencies working together to seek grant funding in support of the proposed Project; and
WHEREAS, the proposed Project is in alignment with the County's and the Town’s emergency protocols, comprehensive plan and long-term transportation strategy, addressing key issues such as emergency and residential access, water resiliency, traffic congestion, vehicle and cyclist safety, and environmental sustainability; and WHEREAS, the Bolinas Road Resiliency and Community Connection project has garnered widespread support from community members, community leaders, local businesses, emergency responders, and the Marin Water District for its potential to preserve road access, reduce the impact of potential fires and secure drinking water access for one third of county residents and businesses, improve the quality of life and support economic development in the region; and
1 ATTACHMENT A
WHEREAS, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant provides an important opportunity to secure substantial federal funding necessary for the planning, development and construction of this critically needed regional Project.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED that the Town Council of Town of Fairfax resolves as follows:
1. That the Town wishes to partner with the Marin County Department of Public Works to take all necessary steps, including the submission of the grant application, coordination with federal agencies, partnering with the County of Marin as stipulated in the Bolinas Road Cooperative Agreement, and engagement with community stakeholders, to advance the Bolinas Road Resiliency and Community Connection project.
2. That the Council hereby endorses the application for the RAISE grant to fund the Project, recognizing its importance to the county's potable water supply, transportation network, its residents and first responders.
3. That this resolution shall be transmitted to relevant federal and state agencies as evidence of the County’s strong support for the Project and its commitment to securing RAISE grant funding for the proposed Project.
The foregoing Resolution was duly passed and adopted at a regular meeting of the Town Council of the Town of Fairfax, held in said Town on the 7th day of February 2024, by the following vote, to wit:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
________________________________
Barbara Coler, Mayor
ATTEST: _____________________________
Christine Foster, Deputy Town Clerk
2 ATTACHMENT B
Bolinas Road Resiliency and Community
Connection
6. 5 - MI L E C R I T I C A L S T R ET C H O F R O A DW A Y N E E D S $ 3 5 . 9 M
F O R MA J O R R EC O N ST R U C T I O N A ND S T A B I LI Z A T I O N County of Marin
3501 Civic Center Drive
San Rafael, CA 94903
415 473 6358 T
publicworks.marincounty.org
Rosemarie R. Gaglione, P.E.
P U BL I C W O R K S D I R E C T O R
Rosemarie.Gaglione@
marincounty.gov
Road damage from 2021 storm,
still in need of permanent repair.
Evacuation and firefighting
route; Water District access
Bolinas Road serves as a vital artery in
West Marin: a key evacuation and
firefighting access route connecting state
and federal parklands and residents; and
the only road to access Marin Water District
treatment facilities that supply one-third of
the drinking water for 190,000 customers
(one-third of Marin County).
The road spans 14.6 miles in total and
connects federal Golden Gate National
Recreation Area and Point Reyes, and
Mount Tamalpais State Park with the Town
of Fairfax and emergency services.
2022/2023 Winter storms
For years, the road has been routinely
impacted by mudslides during winter
storms. However, two federally declared
storm events in 2022-2023 (DR-4683, DR4699) caused severe damage, including nine major landslides along the road.
The County of Marin and Town of Fairfax
spent $500,000 in immediate emergency
mitigations, while $3.5M of Federal Highway
Administration funding was secured (along
with $450k of matching County funds) to
permanently rebuild two slide locations.
However, the roadway is still in need of
$35.89M in additional work:
1. Permanent repairs at the other seven
slide locations;
2. Installation of 5,300LF of retaining wall;
3. A complete assessment of the full
stretch of roadway to identify other
vulnerabilities.
Slides have caused the road to close to one-lane
in several locations, limiting emergency access.
The 9 slides from 2022-23 storms do not include
known vulnerabilities at other road sections.
Urgency
Deterioration of the roadway during the
2022-2023 winter storms was so severe
that geotechnical engineers estimate that
another similar winter season could not only
cause the road sections to fail completely
and prohibit all access, but will also create
new slides where the road has known
vulnerabilities.
Repairs at the two slide locations (which
already received $3.5M in FHWA funding by
the County) will be completed in 2024. The
remaining $35.89M project needs to be
completed as soon as possible to avoid the
potential of catastrophic damage and
permanent road closures; eliminating the
critical access Bolinas Road provides for
emergencies and the Water District.
$35.89M Funding needed
Project budget:
$1.32M Study/Geotechnical
$2.19 Environmental, design, permits
$0.48 Right of way, utilities
$31.00 Construction
$35.89M TOTAL
Considering the public safety urgency of the
project and the limited life left of the current
road, the County of Marin and Town of
Fairfax are seeking to begin the project
immediately (pending secured funding).
Spring 2024: Preliminary engineering
Fall 2026: Design, ROW, utilities
Spring 2027: Construction