December 17, 2024
Community Development
DATE: December 17, 2024
TO: Mayor Martinez and Members of the City Council
FROM:
Lina Velasco, Director of Community Development
Avery Stark, Acting Planning Manager
Kristi Ellerbroek, Assistant Planner
Subject:
Ocean Protection Council (OPC) SB 1 Grant
FINANCIAL IMPACT: The $1.5 million OPC SB 1 grant would offset costs the City would otherwise incur to prepare an SB 272-required Subregional Shoreline Adaptation Plan pursuant to
guidelines and standards developed and adopted by the
Bay Conservation and Development Commission
(BCDC).
PREVIOUS COUNCIL
ACTION:
June 25, 2024
STATEMENT OF THE
ISSUE:
Staff is seeking City Council authorization to accept and appropriate a $1.5 million SB1 grant from the California Ocean Protection Council (OPC) to develop the City’s SB 272-compliant Subregional Shoreline Adaptation Plan. In conjunction with the expanded resources for the project, staff is requesting authorization to negotiate and
approve a contract amendment No. 1 with Mithun, Inc. to expand the scope and budget of their existing contract to align with the scope and budget approved by the OPC for the City’s SB1 grant.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
ADOPT a Resolution accepting and appropriating a $1.5
million SB 1 grant from the California Ocean Protection Council and AUTHORIZE the city manager to negotiate
and execute a contract amendment No. 1 with Mithun,
Inc. to modify the contract scope and increase the budget AGENDA
REPORT
December 17, 2024
by $1,010,000, for a not to exceed total amount of
$1,410,000, through June 30, 2027, to prepare the City’s SB272-compliant Subregional Shoreline Adaption Plan –
Community Development Department (Lina
Velasco/Avery Stark 510-620-6714).
DISCUSSION:
Following a competitive procurement process, the City selected Mithun as the lead consultant for the development of its Sea-Level Rise Adaptation and Resilience Plan.
On June 25, 2024, the City Council authorized a contract with Mithun for a not-to- exceed amount of $400,000 to develop the Plan.
Following the execution of the contract with Mithun, the City was approached about an opportunity to apply for SB1 funding from the California Ocean Protection Council to expand the scope and funding for the City’s Sea Level Rise Adaptation and Resiliency Plan to make it SB 272 compliant.
In 2023, the California State Legislature passed SB 272 (Laird), Sea level rise: planning and adaptation. SB 272 addresses the need for coordinated standardized sea level rise adaptation by requiring local governments along the San Francisco Bay shoreline to develop Subregional Shoreline Adaptation Plans. Subregional Shoreline Adaptation Plans must meet guidelines established by BCDC, ensuring effective and collaborative regional responses. Projects and strategies contained within approved plans will be prioritized for State funding.
BCDC is in the process of creating the Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan (RSAP), as required by SB 272. The RSAP will guide the creation of coordinated, locally planned sea level rise adaptation actions that work together to meet regional goals.
These guidelines are anticipated to be adopted by the end of December 2024.
Staff is currently working on finalizing the grant scope with OPC to align with the finalized RSAP guidelines. Therefore, staff is seeking authorization from the Council for the City Manager or their designee to finalize the contract amendment scope to allow for revisions to be made to align with the granting agencies requirements and the finalized RSAP guidelines, which are currently undergrowing revisions based on public comment.
The expanded budget will allow the project consultant team to expand to include the following:
Mithun: prime, project management, urban design, planning, adaptation physical design, criteria and strategies, community engagement and equity assessment support, visualizations, report graphics and compilation, GIS mapping ESA: environmental engineering, ecology, adaptation physical design, criteria and strategies, CEQA strategies, contamination, GIS mapping, community
December 17, 2024
engagement support, equity assessment support, participation in milestone team workshops
ERG: land use, planning, and policy, cost of inaction assessment, equity assessment support, participation in milestone workshops, technical writing and editing
The Watershed Project: community engagement, equity assessment, participation in milestone team workshops
Kleinfelder: ground toxicity and environmental remediation advisor Kristina Hill: groundwater advisor, participation in milestone team workshops Outset Advisors: cost estimating
SYNERGISTIC POLICIES:
The recommended action supports the following Council adopted policies and actions in the General Plan:
Policy EC6.3 Adapting to Climate Change
Prepare for and adapt to future impacts of changing weather patterns and sea level fluctuations. Protect neighborhoods, infrastructure and facilities, the shoreline and natural resources from the impacts of climate change. Require new developments to include an evaluation of climate change impacts in the project review process. Shoreline and public access improvements shall be designed to allow future increases in elevation along the shoreline edge to keep up with higher sea level values, when they occur.
Design elements shall include providing adequate setbacks to allow for future elevation increases of at least three feet from the existing elevation along the shoreline.
Action EC6.G Adaptive Management Plan
The City shall develop an Adaptation Strategy that would include preparing an Adaptive Management Plan that outlines an institutional framework, monitoring triggers, and a decision-making process, and creates an entity with taxing authority that would pay for infrastructure improvements necessary to adapt to higher than anticipated levels.
Strategies could include, but would not be limited to:
• Construction of a shoreline protection system that is initially built to accommodate a mid-term rise in sea level of 16 inches, with a design that is adaptable to meet higher than anticipated values in the mid-term, as well as for the long-term; • Construction of a storm drainage system that is initially built to accommodate a mid- term rise in sea levels of 16 inches, with a design that is adaptable to meet higher than anticipated sea level rise values (similar to the first bullet); and • Construction of buildings and vital transportation infrastructure at elevations that would not be exceeded by flood waters, even if the shoreline protection does not function, for existing conditions and over a longer term as compared to the two above.
The scope assumes the City Subregional Shoreline Adaptation Plan draft will be submitted as a local jurisdiction plan separately from the County. Collaboration on the
December 17, 2024
plan between the jurisdictions will be integral to this process and reflected in the Subregional Shoreline Adaptation Plan approach.
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
Attachment 1 – Resolution
Attachment 2 – Mithun Amendment No. 1
Attachment 3 – Executed Original Contract
Attachment 4 – OPC Agenda Report dated September 10, 2024