Agenda Item #13.6
For Council Meeting of: April 12, 2022
CITY OF SANTA ROSA
CITY COUNCIL
TO: MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
FROM: GRANT BAILEY, SUPERVISING ENGINEER
TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC WORKS
SUBJECT: CERTIFICATION OF “URGENT NEED” NATIONAL OBJECTIVE FOR THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT – DISASTER RECOVERY PROGRAM AGENDA ACTION: RESOLUTION
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended by the Transportation and Public Works Department that the Council, by resolution, certify that the Fire Damaged Roadway Resiliency Improvements project, funded by the California Department of Housing and Community Development’s Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery program, meets the program’s “Urgent Need” national objective.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This item recommends the Council certify that the City’s Fire Damaged Roadway Resiliency Improvements project, which is partially funded by the California Department of Housing and Community Development’s (HCD) Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG – DR) program, meets the program’s “Urgent Need’ (UN) national objective. To qualify for UN, activities must meet the following criteria: 1) existing conditions pose a serious and immediate threat to the health or welfare of the community, 2) the existing conditions are of recent origin or recently became urgent, 3) the subrecipient is unable to finance the activity on its own, and 4) other sources of funding are not available. The Fire Damaged Roadway Resiliency Improvements project will make critical improvements to streets damaged as a result of debris removal activities following the 2017 Tubbs Wildfire event.
BACKGROUND
In 2017 the City of Santa Rosa experienced the unprecedented Tubbs wildfire event. At the time, the Tubbs Fire was the most destructive wildfire in California history with more than 2,500 homes destroyed in Santa Rosa alone. This correlates to an approximate loss of five percent (5%) of the City’s housing stock and an estimated economic loss of $1.2 billion. Following the Tubbs Fire in 2017, the City of Santa Rosa, in coordination with the Federal Emergency Management Agency began a debris removal operation to remove hazardous burned material from the Coffey Park and Fountaingrove neighborhoods of the City. This operation included thousands of truck trips on residential roads not designed to accommodate such loading. Roads along the truck haul routes experienced significant damage as a direct result of the required debris removal operations, which has led to premature pavement failure on over 33 miles of residential streets within the City of Santa Rosa.
City Materials Lab staff have observed various asphalt pavement distress types throughout the Coffey Park and Fountaingrove neighborhoods following the debris removal operation, including:
Longitudinal Cracking
Transverse Cracking
Alligator Cracking
Patch and Patch Deterioration
Furthermore, asphalt overloading commonly leads to a distress type referred to as “bottom-up cracking”. This distress type is not immediately observable at the surface since the crack occurs at the bottom of the asphalt section and propagates to the surface over time. Though not visible from the surface, this distress type is of the greatest concern for these roadways since more pervasive cracks will eventually materialize at the pavement surface due to bottom-up fatigue cracking occurring in the lower portion of the asphalt. Materials lab staff have taken core samples from a representative number of streets within the debris removal area and confirmed bottom-up cracking is occurring as expected.
Staff applied for Community Development Block Grant – Mitigation (CDBG-MIT) and Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Relief (CDBG-DR) funds through the State of California Housing and Community Development Disaster Recovery Program to aid in the reconstruction of City streets damaged by the Tubbs Fire debris removal operation. Staff submitted a project specific application for the Fire Damaged Roadway Resiliency Improvement project on January 31, 2022, and the application is currently under review with the California Department of Housing and Community Development.
PRIOR CITY COUNCIL REVIEW
On March 23, 2021, the City Council, by Resolution No. RES-2021-052, approved an allocation of funding and an application for funding and the execution of a grant agreement and any amendments thereto from the CDBG-DR program and/or CDBG-MIT program.
On April 13, 2021, the City Council, by motion, revised Resolution No. RES-2021-052, which authorized certain City staff to enter into agreements and execute other documents with California Housing and Community Development (HCD) for CDBG projects CDBG-DR and CDBG-MIT, developed in response to the 2017 Tubbs Fire, to include the total allocation of CDBG funds.
On July 13, 2021, the City Council reviewed a Study Session presentation discussing the use of one-time monies that identified this project as a candidate to receive PGE settlement and CDBG funds.
On February 22, 2022, the City Council, by motion, approved the use of the design-build procurement method as in the best interest of the City and authorized issuance of a request for proposals for the Fire Damage Roadway Resiliency Improvements project.
ANALYSIS
The Fire Damaged Roadway Resiliency Improvements project has applied for CDBG-DR funding to make critical improvements to more than 33 miles of City roads in the Fountaingrove and Coffey Park neighborhoods that were damaged during the debris removal operation, following the 2017 Tubbs Fire.
In accordance with CDBG-DR program policy guidelines, an agency receiving CDBG-DR funds is required to certify, by resolution, that the receiving project meets a program national objective.
There are three categories of national objectives, 1) benefit to Low- and Moderate-Income (LMI) persons or households, 2) Elimination of Slums and Blight, and 3) Urgent Need.
Activities programmed under the Fire Damaged Roadway Resiliency Improvements project best align with the criteria outlined under the Urgent Need national objective.
Qualified activities under the Urgent Need national objective must meet the following criteria:
Existing conditions must pose a serious and immediate threat to the health or welfare of the community; Existing conditions are of recent origin or recently became urgent; The subrecipient is unable to finance the activity on its own; and Other sources of funding are not available.
Staff has determined that the Fire Damage Roadway Resiliency Improvement project meets all criteria required necessary for Urgent Need national objective eligibility.
FISCAL IMPACT
Approval of this action does not have a fiscal impact on the General Fund.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
The proposed action is exempt from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) under CEQA Guidelines Section 15301 in that all activities proposed by this project will repair existing public facilities with negligible expansion of existing use. The City has further determined that no exceptions to the exemptions apply and there is no reasonable possibility that the activity will have a significant effect on the environment due to unusual circumstances (CEQA Guidelines Section 15300.2.)
BOARD/COMMISSION/COMMITTEE REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Not Applicable
NOTIFICATION
Not Applicable
ATTACHMENTS
Resolution
CONTACT
Grant Bailey, Supervising Engineer, [email protected], 707-543-4508 CERTIFICATION OF “URGENT NEED” NATIONAL OBJECTIVE FOR THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT – DISASTER RECOVERY PROGRAM PAGE 3 OF 3