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STAFF REPORT
City Council Business Item
DATE: September 18, 2023
TO: Honorable Mayor and Council Members
FROM: Merritt Perry, City Manager
SUBJECT: Approve the Application for Grant Funds from the Reconnecting Communities Grant Programs and authorize the City Manager to Complete Related Documentation; Resolution 2023-27.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
Approve the application for grant funds from the Reconnecting Communities Grant Programs and authorize the City Manager to complete related documentation; Resolution 2023-27.
BACKGROUND:
The City’s General Plan identified that the Kenmar Interchange would need to be improved to be able to accommodate the traffic generated by the City’s planned growth. Mitigation measures were included in the General Plan Programmatic Environmental Impact Report that calls for improving city intersections when financially feasible or as development occurs to maintain the level of service (LOS) at acceptable levels.
It is anticipated with the City’s planned growth that the Kenmar Interchange with Highway 101 will not operate at an acceptable level of service without mitigation. Additionally, there are no bike, or pedestrian facilities that allow crossing of Highway 101 to the Riverwalk Area on the westerly side of Highway 101.
Therefore, the City has been steadily working to identify the improvements needed and develop a plan for improving the interchange. In 2016, the City completed a Complete Streets Connectivity Study that identified improvement alternatives for both the Kenmar/101 and the 12th Street/101 interchanges.
The City requested and received $550,000 to complete the preliminary design and environmental documentation phase (PA&ED) of the project in 2018. Caltrans contributed staff time and funding to supplement the project and was an active project partner. The PA&ED phase is essentially complete, and the City adopted the Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration for the project on March 20, 2023.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The future growth of the City is dependent on the 12th and Kenmar Interchanges with Highway 101 being improved. Without improvement, future growth of the City will create an Business Item 3k
unacceptable level of service at those intersections. The City has completed the PA&ED phase for the Kenmar Interchange with Highway 101 and has recently initiated the PA&ED phase for the 12th Street Interchange with Highway 101. It is now time for the City to identify funding for the subsequent phases of work to deliver the Kenmar/Highway 101 Improvement Project including the development of the plans and specifications, acquisition of right of way, and construction.
Congress passed the Infrastructure Investment of Jobs Act (IIJA) in 2021 which has directed an unprecedented level of funding for infrastructure projects in excess of $180B over the next 10 years. The IIJA, also known as the “Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,” is a once-in-a-generation investment in the nation’s infrastructure and competitiveness. California receives federal infrastructure funding based on formula and competitive grants. Based on formula funding alone, the IIJA will bring California an estimated $41.9 billion over five years. The improvements to the Kenmar/101 Interchange are estimated to cost $25M.
Based on the funding available, now is an important time for the City to pursue grant funds to improve its interchanges with Highway 101. Because the Kenmar/101 interchange has completed the environmental analysis it is essentially “shovel ready” and will be more competitive for grant funding. Staff have identified two grant programs funded by the IIJA that the Kenmar/101 Interchange will qualify for that do not require a match (most programs require a 50% match).
The two grant programs that the staff would like to pursue are the Federal and State Reconnecting Communities Grant Programs. Each requires a separate application and includes different requirements. These guidelines for these grants were released at the end of June, and applications are due on September 20th and September 28th respectively.
The council approved the contract with California Consulting to assist the city with two grant applications on August 7th, and an increase in the fee on September 5th.
Staff is requesting that the Council adopt this resolution so that it can be submitted to document council support for the project.
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FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Adoption of Resolution 2023-28 and submission of the grant will not result in impacts to the City budget, as no matching funds are being requested of the City. If either of the grants are successful they could provide in excess of $25M for the construction of transportation improvements in the City.
RECOMMENDED COUNCIL ACTION
1. Receive staff report and review questions with staff
2. Open Public Comment
3. Close Public Comment
4. Motion to approve the application for grant funds from the Reconnecting Communities Grant Programs and authorize the City Manager to complete related documentation; Resolution 2023-27. Consent Agenda vote.
ATTACHMENT:
Attachment A- Resolution 2023-27 Resolution; A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Fortuna approving the application for grant funds for the California River Parkways Grant Program