Placentia City Council
AGENDA REPORT
TO: CITY COUNCIL
VIA: CITY ADMINISTRATOR
FROM: DEPUTY CITY ADMINISTRATOR / PUBLIC SERVICES & INFRASTRUCTURE DATE: JUNE 20, 2023
SUBJECT: AMENDMENT TO COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT WITH THE COUNTY OF
ORANGE FOR THE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF THE OC LOOP
RECREATION TRAIL
FISCAL
IMPACT: EXPENSE: NONE
REVENUE: $215,682 COUNTY ONETIME PAYMENT TO CITY
SUMMARY:
The City and County of Orange entered into a cooperative agreement in 2017 for the design and construction of the Segment D gap closure for the OC Loop Project. The County agreed to design and construct the new recreation trail and the City agreed to maintain the improvements. The engineering design for the trail project and the City's planned Golden Avenue Bridge Replacement Project were closely coordinated since a portion of the new trail will pass below the bridge requiring the bridge to be replaced prior to the trail being constructed. Funding delays for the City's bridge replacement project has delayed the start of this project which will have an impact on the County's trail project which is also utilizing grant funding that must be allocated by a certain time.
Since the City's bridge project will not be completed in time for the new trail project the County has agreed to provide the City with funding to construct a short trail gap closure in tandem with the City's bridge replacement project. This allows the County's trail project to proceed while the City continues to work towards advancing the bridge project to the construction phase. Through this proposed agreement amendment, the County has agreed to provide the City with $215,682 which is the engineer's estimate to construct the small section of bike trail that will run beneath the new bridge.
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the City Council take the following actions:
1. Approve Amendment No.1 to the Cooperative Agreement with the County of Orange for the design and construction of the OC Loop Class 1 bikeway; and
2. Authorize the City Administrator and/or his designee to execute all necessary documents in a form approved by the City Attorney.
1.n.
June 20, 2023
City Council Agenda
June 20, 2023
STRATEGIC PLANNING STATEMENT
This item is consistent with Goal 5, Implement Public Infrastructure to Meet Community Needs, and Objective 5.3, Examine more multi -modal transportation options.
DISCUSSION:
On September 26, 2017, the City Council approved a cooperative agreement with the County of Orange for the design and construction of the Segment D Gap Closure Project of the OC Loop Class I recreational trail through portions of Yorba Linda and Placentia. The OC Loop project is a 63 -mile off-street recreational trail in north and central Orange County. There are still several gaps in the master -planned trail one of which is Segment D which passes along the Carbon Creek Channel through Yorba Linda and Placentia. The Segment D portion of the trail will connect to the northern terminus of the El Cajon portion of the trail in Yorba Linda at the intersection of Bastanchury Road and the Carbon Creek Channel up to La Floresta Street in Brea. The City's cooperative agreement with the County outlines the roles and responsibilities of each agency in delivering and maintaining the new recreational trail. The County is responsible for the design and construction of the new trail and the City has agreed to maintain the portion of the trail passing through Placentia. The design of the new trail has been coordinated with the City's planned removal and replacement of Golden Avenue Bridge as the new trail will pass below the new bridge with two new on/off ramps connecting the trail to the bridge. This will provide a seamless connection to the existing Class II bike lanes along Golden Avenue west to the Class I bike trails in Tri -City Park. This design also requires that the bridge be replaced prior to the construction of the new trail.
The City's bridge replacement project has been delayed for a lack of funding. The City was awarded a grant through the Federal Highway Bridge Program (HBP) in 2014 however this grant program is currently oversubscribed and Congress has not increased the annual level of funding to the HBP since 2005. However, last year the City was awarded a Federal earmark in the amount of $2.2 million through Congresswoman Kim's Office as a Congressionally Directed Community Project. The funds, however, are being passed through the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) which subjects the project to all Federal grant program requirements.
Several years ago, Staff was able to negotiate several permanent and temporary construction easements from property owners who abut the bridge project area. The easements are needed both for temporary construction access as well as for the permanent footings for the new bridge.
The easements were purchased using City funds and not Federal funds. However, Staff learned last year that since the Federal earmark was subject to Federal grant rules and because the City did not follow the specific Federal requirements for obtaining easements, the City would have to quitclaim the easements back to the abutting property owners and then restart the easement acquisition process from the beginning following Federal mandates.
The County has secured a number of grants to fund the cost of construction of the trail project and must begin construction by September 2023 in order to keep the grant funding active.
Because the City's bridge replacement project has been further delayed due to Federal red tape it will not be able to replace the bridge ahead of the construction of the new trail. As such, the City
City Council Agenda
June 20, 2023
and County worked together to modify the County's bike trail construction plans that will leave a gap beneath the existing bridge. The new trail will lead bicyclists and pedestrians to Golden Avenue Bridge where a new crosswalk will be constructed to connect trail users to the new trail north of the bridge. The proposed amendment to the cooperative agreement with the County removes the section of trail beneath the City's bridge from the County's project. In exchange, the County proposes to provide the City with the funding to construct this section of the trail at the same time the City removes and replaces the Golden Avenue Bridge. Once that segment of the trail is complete bicyclists and pedestrians will be able to transit the trail beneath the bridge without having to cross Golden Avenue.
Staff recently awarded a professional services agreement to Epic Land Services after a competitive proposal process under the City Administrator's administrative approval authority to begin the easement quit claim and re -acquisition process pursuant to Federal requirements. Staff were also required to obtain Caltrans' approval of the proposed consulting team as the staff performing this work must be certified by Caltrans. This is specialized work that most real estate and right-of-way consultants are not authorized to perform. Staff estimates this process will take between 9-12 months to complete at which time the City Council will be presented with new easements to purchase along with the requisite easement agreements. Once this process has been completed the City can then proceed with the right-of-way certification and final authorization process with Caltrans, which is expected to take another 12 months to complete.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The County will provide the City with a onetime payment in the amount of $215,682 which is the engineer's estimate for the cost of the portion of the recreation trail that will be omitted from the County's project and added to the City's bridge replacement project.
Prepared by:
(juiS f SfwA
Luis Estevez
Deputy City Administrator
Reviewed and approved:
1117.,0,t Zit.t?,) &-
Damien R. Arrula
City Administrator
Reviewed and approved:
Jennifer Lampman
Director of Finance
Attachment:
Amendment No.1 to Cooperative Agreement with County of Orange