City Council
259 N. Wilma Avenue
Ripon, CA 95366
MEMO
To: Honorable City Council
From: Spencer Schroen, Associate Civil Engineer
Date: 02/10/2026
Subject: Potholing Project
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Approve and authorize the Mayor to sign the contract with Allen A. Waggoner Construction, Inc. to perform utility potholing in support of the design of roadway improvements planned south of Main Street in the amount of $34,995 (funding source: Street & Road Operating Fund).
BACKGROUND:
The City of Ripon, like many other cities throughout California, is facing a challenge maintaining streets and roads due to inadequate funding. Prior to the passing of the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017 (Senate Bill 1), the gas tax rates approved in the mid-1990s have not been indexed to keep up with increasing cost of streets and roads capital repairs, which has resulted in a funding shortfall. Because of this, Ripon like most California cities, focused the limited revenue on preventing asphalt from failing and requiring expensive reconstruction of the street section.
Unfortunately, this approach did not address the worst roads in Ripon that require expensive reconstruction of the street section. The City Council has established the following policies to begin to identify funding needed to address the cost of reconstruction:
In 2015, the City Council established a policy to transfer 33 percent of any General Fund surplus to a Street and Road Reserve Fund to fund the reconstruction of roads that have failed.
In 2021, the City Council established a policy to transfer 50 percent of the Street & Road fund annual surplus to a Streets and Roads Reconstruction Fund. The annual surplus is the difference between the operating revenue received from state and local sources dedicated for streets and roads maintenance and the expense of City staff to perform all in-house maintenance activities, such as pothole repair, crack sealing, sign replacement, and landscape maintenance.
The City of Ripon receives dedicated revenue from State and Federal sources to fund the City’s streets and roads maintenance program, including crack patching, signage, striping, pothole repairs, overlays, resurfacing, reconstruction, and landscape maintenance.
As part of the 2024-25 Strategic Planning meeting, the City Council directed staff to prepare a capital maintenance plan to maximize the use of the limited revenue received from State and Federal sources, as well as the local funds being set aside as previously described. This plan divides the City into 8 areas that are made up of roughly the same miles of roadways. The goal is to obtain a contractor to complete the necessary capital improvements (e.g., slurry, overlay, or reconstruction) within a designated area every 2-4 years. The figure below shows the limits for these planned capital project areas.
Area 1 was completed in 2025, and included approximately 0.4 lane miles of reconstruction and about 13.5 lane miles of surface rehabilitation.
Area 2 was completed in 2026, and included approximately 1 lane mile of reconstruction and 15 lane miles of surface rehabilitation.
DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS:
Engineering staff is currently planning for street and road improvements within Area 3, which includes roadways south of Main Street. Some roadways within Area 3 will require complete reconstruction because of the excessive road crown. During the design process, potential conflicts between the proposed roadway improvements – specifically the lowering of the road crown - and existing utilities are identified to improve the accuracy of the cost estimate, facilitate coordination with utility companies, and minimize construction delays.
Staff has requested a scope and fee from Allen A. Waggoner Construction, Inc. to perform exploratory utility potholing within Area 3, where vertical conflicts may exist to verify the depths of existing utilities.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The total cost of $34,995 for construction of the Potholing Project will be funded through the Street & Road Operating Fund.
Attachments:
1. Ripon Potholing Project ~ Signed Contract