City of Piedmont
COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
DATE: May 16, 2022
TO: Mayor and Council
FROM: Sara Lillevand, City Administrator
SUBJECT: Consideration of an Appropriation of an Additional $30,000 to Fund the Electric Vehicle Charing Stations on Magnolia Avenue and Associated Civil Improvements Required to Meet American with Disabilities Act Requirements
RECOMMENDATION
Recommend that the City Council appropriate an additional $30,000 from the Facilities Maintenance Fund to fund the Electric Vehicle Charing Stations on Magnolia Avenue and associated civil improvements required to meet American with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements.
BACKGROUND
On October 18, 2021, the City Council approved an agreement with East Bay Community Energy (EBCE) for the installation of four publicly accessible fast Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations on Magnolia Avenue near the Exedra. The Council also approved a 90-minute parking restriction for the five on-street parking spaces by the EV chargers, including one space to account for American with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements. The site will consist of either 4 single-port EV fast chargers (each 75 kilowatts) each serving one parking space, or 2 dual-port (each serving two parking spaces) and 2 single-port EV fast chargers.
Following the Council’s approval of the agreement, EBCE engaged their engineering contractor, Stantec, to conduct a site assessment and map out a conceptual design plan (see Exhibit A). The plan depicts four EV fast chargers occupying 5 parking spaces, including one ADA space. Like all non-maintenance improvements, ADA accessibility is a requirement for this project. Since the ADA improvements amount to less than 20% of the total project cost, an exception for an undue hardship for a reasonable accommodation would not be appropriate.
The ADA space will occupy two of the existing diagonal parking spaces. To be ADA compliant, minor civil improvements in the area adjacent area to the ADA space must be made, including expansion of the sidewalk approximately four feet into the park, and expediting replacement of the banner pole. Replacement of the banner pole is overdue, had previously been scheduled, and has been budgeted under a separate project in Fiscal Year 2022-23.
FISCAL IMPACT AND PROJECT SCHEDULE
During the October 18, 2021 City Council meeting, the Council approved the appropriation of up to $75,000 from the General Fund to fund costs above EBCE’s maximum allocation of $306,660, for a total authorized budget of $381,660. If project costs exceeded $381,660, staff would return to Council to seek authorization for additional funding to cover the project cost difference. Based on the conceptual design plan, the total project cost is estimated at $410,000. Of these costs, the electrical work is estimated to cost $320,000, site improvements are estimated to cost $30,000 and ADA accessibility is estimated to cost $60,000. The total cost of the project includes all civil work shown in Exhibit A, including electrical infrastructure, EV chargers, and PG&E fees associated with engineering and construction. According to the project team, utility fees may vary and there have been construction price increases of 5-8% every 3 months due to inflation and fluctuations in product availability. As the project costs now exceed the approved authorization, staff are seeking $30,000 in additional funds from the Facilities Maintenance Fund to cover the cost difference.
Should the project proceed, it is anticipated that construction will occur in winter 2022-23.
CONCLUSION AND NEXT STEPS
Should the Council agree to authorize the appropriation of an additional $30,000 from the Facilities Maintenance Fund to cover the cost difference, EBCE will move forward with issuing a public notice advertising the Public Work Bid Specifications.
ATTACHMENTS
Pages
Exhibit A 3 Conceptual Site Plan
Online October 18, 2021, City Council EV Charging Stations Staff Report By:
Alyssa Dykman, Sustainability Program Manager
Daniel Gonzales, Director of Public Works
Agenda Report Page 2
Exhibit A Agenda Report Page 3