Fremont City Council Meeting: 03/19/24 07:00 PM
3300 Capitol Avenue Div/Dept: Public Works
Fremont, CA 94538 Category: Public Projects
SCHEDULED
Sponsors:
COUNCIL STAFF REPORT (ID # 5095) DOC ID: 5095
Updated: 3/15/2024 2:29 PM by Susan Gauthier Page 1
CAPITAL PROJECT CLOSEOUTS - Approve the Closeout of Completed Capital Projects and Partial Defunding of Selected Projects; and Approval of Fund Reallocations and Appropriations.
Contact Persons:
Name: Tiffany Curotto Hans Larsen
Title: Management Analyst II Public Works Director
Div/Dept: Public Works Public Works
Phone: 510-494-4548 510-494-4722
E-Mail: [email protected] [email protected]
Executive Summary: The purpose of this report is to facilitate administrative adjustments to the City’s Capital Budget by: 1) returning unused appropriations to their respective funding source; 2) reallocating unused appropriations to other existing projects; and 3) exchanging the source of project funding for some items. The recommended actions include “closing out” 14 completed projects.
BACKGROUND: The City’s current 5-Year Capital Improvement Program (CIP) and Capital Budget was approved by the City Council in June 2023 and includes investments in the amount of approximately $296 million for the repair and improvement of the City’s parks, buildings, and transportation system. The City currently manages over 220 capital projects in various stages of development that have received an appropriation of funds by the City Council. The majority of these projects are successfully managed by staff through project completion, consistent with initial budget appropriation amounts. Staff also pursues funds from internal and outside sources whenever possible to either wholly fund or offset City project expenses.
Typically, during the mid-year timeframe, staff identifies various administrative adjustments to the Capital Budget for City Council approval to allow for: closing out completed projects; adapting to changing circumstances; and enabling the most effective use of funds.
DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS: The following describes various funding actions recommended in this staff report.
Project Closeouts
Upon completion of right-of-way acquisition, construction and other related activities, some capital projects have remaining budget appropriations. Historically, projects with over- expended balances are offset against projects with under-expended balances within the fund, and all are closed simultaneously. Staff periodically requests City Council approval to close projects and return unused funds to available fund balance for appropriation in the next Capital Budget cycle, return to granting agencies, or appropriate to active capital projects as reflected on Exhibit A. A total of 14 projects are proposed for a “CLOSEOUT” action.
Council Staff Report (ID # 5095) Meeting of March 19, 2024 Updated: 3/15/2024 2:29 PM by Susan Gauthier Page 2
A notable project closeout action is the termination of the “39180 Liberty Street Acquisition” project, which will result in returning $6.7 million to the Strategic Investment Opportunities Reserve.
Project Defund and Reallocation of Funds
Staff has identified some active or ongoing projects with remaining appropriations that are in excess of current project needs or where it is beneficial to fund the project with another source of funding as shown on Exhibit A as a “DEFUND” action. The funds then are either made available for appropriation in the next Capital Budget cycle, returned to granting agencies, or appropriated to active capital projects.
A State grant from the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities (AHSC) program was received and approved by Council action on February 21, 2023. At that time $4.3 million was allocated to the PWC8946 Centerville Complete Streets project. The grant funds are intended to be allocated for two projects with $2.8 million remaining in the Centerville Complete Streets project and $1.5 million used for a new project to improve the Centerville Train Depot plaza. Accordingly, it is recommended that $1.5 million is defunded from the Centerville Complete Streets project and reallocated to the new PWC9113 Centerville Train Depot Plaza Improvements project.
A new project appropriation is proposed to develop an improvement at the Mowry Avenue pump station site, located west of Mission Boulevard, to address issues with reoccurring mudslides, flooding, and road closures due to storm events. It is recommended that $200,000 be reallocated from PWC8933 Measure BB Projects (City Staff Participation) to establish the PWC9114 Mowry Pump Station Site Improvements project.
In addition, the current CIP provided for an additional General Fund transfer to the CIP in an amount of $5.5 million to support Pavement Maintenance ($2.5 million), Building Maintenance ($2 million), and Park Maintenance ($1 million). As part of the Midyear Budget Report presented on March 5, 2024, the City Council approved amending the Capital Budget to return some of these funds back to the General Fund as follows: defunding the $4.5 million transfer to Pavement Maintenance and Building Maintenance in FY 2023/24 and the $5.5 million transfer to Pavement Maintenance, Building Maintenance and Park Maintenance in FY 2024/25.
Project Appropriations
As funds become available through project closeout and defunding, or from new funding allocations, eligible projects are identified to receive funds. Recommended appropriations include active projects receiving budget augmentation for project completion or continuation of existing programs and reallocation of funding sources. A list of project “APPROPRIATION” actions is included in Exhibit A. Among the recommended actions includes a transfer of $20,000 from the Integrated Management Open Space Account in the Integrated Waste Management Fund (Fund 115) to the Outside Sources Capital Projects Fund (Fund 502) for appropriation to the Sabercat Trail Extension Project (PWC8977), as well as an appropriation of private development in-lieu fees from Steel Wave LP in an amount of $100,000 to the PWC8493 Kato Road Complete Streets project.
Council Staff Report (ID # 5095) Meeting of March 19, 2024 Updated: 3/15/2024 2:29 PM by Susan Gauthier Page 3
FISCAL IMPACT: The recommended actions will: 1) close out 14 projects and return $7.1 million to fund balance for reprogramming; 2) defund eight projects which will return an additional $7.3 million to fund balance for reprogramming; and 3) reprogram $9.9 million among existing projects and two new projects.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW: The recommended actions are exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because they are an administrative fiscal activity and not projects pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15378.
ATTACHMENTS:
• Exhibit A - Capital Project Cleanup Action Items
RECOMMENDATIONS:
1. Approve the closeout of the capital projects identified on Exhibit A and return the remaining project appropriations to available fund balance in their respective funds;
2. Approve the defunding of the capital projects identified on Exhibit A and return the remaining project appropriations to available fund balance in their respective funds; and
3. Approve appropriation actions identified on Exhibit A.