City of Gonzales
PUBLIC WORKS / CITY ENGINEER DEPARTMENT
ACTIVITY REPORT
TO: Honorable Mayor Rios and City Council
DATE: March 20, 2023
FROM: Patrick Dobbins, Public Works Director/City Engineer THROUGH: Trevin W. Barber, City Manager
SUBJECT: Public Works/City Engineer Department Activity Report
BUILDINGS
1. Community Center Complex Project – A Tree Removal Contract was approved at the 10/03/2022 Council meeting and the field work began on November 1 and was completed by November 23 (two weeks early). Staff provided a progress report at the 1/17/2023 Council meeting. On 1/31/2023 the Request for Proposals was issued to the three short-listed Design/Build Teams. Current schedule is:
MILESTONE COMPLETION BY
Issue RFP to shortlisted Design/Build teams January 31, 2023 Proposal Submittal deadline April 7, 2023
Interview Design/Build teams regarding their proposed design and delivery Week of April 17, 2023 Select “Best Value” Design/Build proposal Week of April 24, 2023 City Council Award of Design/Build Contract May 15, 2023 Design phase and receive building permit (10 months) June 2023 - March 2024 Construction & commissioning (14-16 months) March 2024- Nov 2025 Grand Opening of Phase 1 December 2025
2. Fire Station – The Fire Station was fumigated for termites in January 2023. The roof will receive a seal coat to address some leaks in three to four months when the winter rain ends.
AGENDA
ITEM
10 WASTEWATER
1. Industrial Wastewater (IW) System – Construction documents for the IW Conveyance and Treatment Facility was completed in September 2022. Staff, city surveyor and real estate appraiser are finalizing the temporary and permanent easements needed for the pipeline contract. City staff is coordinating with the State Water Resources Control Board regarding the city’s State Revolving Fund loan application (most recent virtual meeting was 3/14/2023).
2. Capital Improvement Program – Psomas is updating the wastewater portion of the city’s Capital Improvement Program and they submitted a draft CIP for staff review.
WATER
1. Capital Improvement Program – Schaaf & Wheeler is updating the water portion of the city’s Capital Improvement Program.
2. Alpine Court Water/Sewer Service – Grant agreements with the State Water Resource Control Board (SWRCB) to fund the preliminary and final design of extending water and sewer service from Gonzales River Road to Alpine Camp were approved at the 7/06/20 City Council meeting. Staff prepared a draft agreement with the property owner and the City Attorney is coordinating with staff to finalize it. All plans and reports were provided to SWRCB staff by 11/30/2022 deadline.
3. Salinas Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency – Staff is an alternate on the SVBGSA Technical Advisory Committee (Soledad staff is the representative for South Valley cities).
PARKS
1. Skate Park Improvements – Phase Two improvements to the skate park were funded by the 2018 Parks Bond Act. The contract with American Ramp Company was approved at the 9/19/2022 Council meeting. The contractor began installation on 1/23/2023. The project was substantially completed on 2/02/2023 and a ribbon cutting was held on 2/11/2023.
2. Meyer Park – Staff has coordinated numerous maintenance items over last several months including fixing light fixtures, replacing uplifted sidewalk, pruning trees, and replacing the rubber mulch under the swings with wood fiber. We are working with MST on installing a bus shelter that the city and MST will split the cost for.
SOLID WASTE
1. California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (“Cal Recycle”) Coordination – Our annual meeting with staff from Cal Recycle, Salinas Valley Solid Waste Agency, Tri-Cities Disposal & Recycling, and the cities of Greenfield, Soledad and Gonzales was held on 8/02/2022.
2. Quarterly Tri-Cities Franchise Agreements Meetings – Staff from the Salinas Valley Solid Waste Authority, Tri-Cities Disposal & Recycling and the cities of Gonzales, Soledad, and Greenfield meet on a quarterly basis to discuss the various waste collection programs (commercial accounts, food waste, organic waste), compliance with latest state regulations, public outreach and education, customer surveys, etc). Most recent meeting was 8/10/2022.
DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS
1. Vista Lucia Development (City’s Sphere of Influence - East of US 101) a. City staff is holding bi-weekly Zoom meetings with Pembrook Development and their consultants.
b. Psomas developed a capital program of improvements to convey sewage from the SOI to the City WWTP for treatment and provided the draft technical memo in Mid-November for staff’s review.
The Final Technical Memorandum was submitted in April 2022. c. Staff and our on-call traffic engineer have coordinated with Caltrans District 5 staff on the process for preparation of a Project Study Report/Project Development Support (PSR-PDS).
Staff will issue a Request for Proposals to engage a consultant to prepare the PSR-PDS documents.
d. On 3/28/2022 Staff met with Monterey County PW staff and discussed the applicant’s preliminary offsite roadway design. Staff met with Monterey County staff on 10/7/2022 and discussed executing a Maintenance Agreement for the city to be responsible for maintenance of Associated Lane when it’s widened as part of the Vista Lucia Development (maintenance will be funded by an assessment district formed as part of the development).
2. Rianda Cooler Development Project (Gloria Road) – The CEQA documents are underway. Staff is coordinating with the applicant’s site civil engineer on frontage improvements along Gloria Road.
We participate in bi-weekly coordination meetings with the applicant’s consultant team.
3. In June 2022, DR Horton executed an agreement with D'Arrigo Bros to look at the feasibility of developing the 130 acre parcel in the city. A kick-off meeting with DR Horton and city staff was held on 7/07/2022 and DR Horton made a presentation at the Joint Planning Commission/City Council meeting on 8/01/2022. Staff provided a progress report at the 11/07/2022 Council Meeting.
OTHER PROJECTS
1. GIS – City staff continues to work on a GIS mapping system by inputting field data for water, sewer and storm drainage systems. Our water and wastewater consultants are using GIS to develop capital improvement projects to serve the proposed development projects in the SOI. We hold monthly coordination meetings with a GIS Consultant.
2. FEMA Flood Map Updates – Over the two years, FEMA and their consultants have been remapping seven watersheds in the Gabilan Mountains in the vicinity of South Salinas, Chualar, Gonzales and Soledad to update their Flood Maps. Preliminary flood insurance maps were released for public review on 10/21/2021. At the 12/06/2021 City Council Meeting, City staff made a presentation on this effort along with a letter to be sent to FEMA with our comments and questions on their mapping effort. A 90-day appeal period began on 5/12/2022 and we emailed our comment letter to FEMA staff on 7/26/2022.
PUBLIC WORKS OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE
WASTEWATER
Staff continues to take daily readings, inspections and testing at the wastewater treatment plant. Staff regularly discs and rips the percolation ponds and maintains equipment at the treatment plant. Staff had to pull pumps at the Calif Breeze lift station again for massive amounts of rags. Staff continues to remove rags from all the lift stations.
WATER
Staff continues to monitor the wells and sampling stations around town. Staff responds to water leaks as soon as possible. Staff continues to replace meter registers on the east side of town. Staff will be doing some water testing next month for the EPA.
STORM WATER
Staff continues to prep for upcoming storms. Staff is working with the winery to keep storm drains cleaned out to minimize flooding along their South Alta frontage. The city has lost some trees from all the rain. Staff is removing downed trees and trimming those that need it.
Staff trimmed trees along Fifth Street, between Center and Alta Tree in slough that fell
The City also lost a tree at the slough. Unfortunately, when it went down it took out a portion of a residents fence.
PARKS
Staff continues to maintain and mow Central Park when there are breaks form the rain. Staff also is rehabilitating the sump pump at Centennial field to allow for gray water at the new snack shack donated and run by the Little League.
CANYON CREEK & MEYER PARKS
Staff cleaned up Canyon Creek Park form the flooding in January, and it rained again. When there is a break from the rain, we will clean it up again. Meyer Park is being maintained and cleaned regularly.
GOVERNMENT BUILDING
Staff continues to care for the city buildings. Staff has begun cleaning the Vosti bathrooms daily. Softball is now utilizing the restrooms during evening practices and games. Staff continues to clean the Council Chambers and Vosti Center one day a week or more as-needed.
STREETS
Staff continues Traffic Control at the Fifth Street Bridge every morning when school is in session (weather permitting). Staff fills potholes whenever there is a break in the weather. Staff trimmed and mulched the planting areas at the archway.
Staff cleaning up the Archway.
TRAINING
Staff participated in hands on confined space training this month. City of Soledad and staff from the Fire Dept. participated and the Fire Chief even stopped by for practice.
Fire Chief Muscio participating TEAMWORK!