Agenda Item #4.1
For Council Meeting of: August 20, 2024
CITY OF SANTA ROSA
CITY COUNCIL
TO: MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
FROM: DAN HENNESSEY, DIRECTOR, TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT SUBJECT: CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM UPDATE
AGENDA ACTION: STUDY SESSION
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended by the Transportation and Public Works Department that the Council hold a Study Session to receive an update on the Capital Improvement Program and discuss prioritization criteria for future Capital Improvement Program investments. This item is provided for Council's information and no action is required to be taken except for possible direction to staff.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The City of Santa Rosa’s Strategic Work Plan for FY24-25 has seven goals, which include the following:
Achieve and Maintain Fiscal Sustainability
Invest in the Development and Maintenance of the City’s Infrastructure Address Climate Change
Foster a Safe, Healthy, and Inclusive Community
The Transportation and Public Works Department (TPW) wishes to create an objective set of criteria that evaluates potential projects included in the City’s planning documents to determine which should be prioritized based on the limited resources available. This will allow us to both more clearly communicate with community members about when anticipated improvements can be expected and evaluate all projects to determine their consistency with our current priorities.
BACKGROUND
City of Santa Rosa documents include more than $1,000,000,000 of transportation infrastructure improvements. This does not include annual maintenance and operations needs of more than $25,000,000. Over the last ten years, TPW has received an average of $18,000,000 annually from development fees, gas taxes, Sonoma County ballot measures, impacts from utilities on our roadways, and the General Fund for ADA and annexation-related improvements. These funds are insufficient to fulfill all identified needs, requiring a prioritization process.
Additionally, some of the projects are from planning documents that are more than 20 years old and may no longer be consistent with our priorities around fiscal sustainability, resiliency, climate change, and safety. This process will allow all projects to be reviewed through that lens.
PRIOR CITY COUNCIL REVIEW
On May 8, 2024, the Santa Rosa City Council received a presentation about the proposed FY24-25 Capital Improvement Program budget, during which a proposed prioritization program was discussed. Direction was provided to come back in the summer of 2024 with an outline of what such a program would look like, with follow up before the end of 2024 to share a draft prioritization program for use in the FY25-26 budget cycle. The proposed budget was adopted by a 7-0 vote on June 18, 2023.
ANALYSIS
Currently, TPW analyzes its CIP program on an annual basis, making it difficult to both plan for the future and provide a consistent system of projects for the improvement of the lives of Santa Rosans. This annual approach also adds to uncertainty about the delivery timeline and creates convoluted discussions when new needs are identified. Occasionally, those needs are prioritized above the needs that have already been identified, creating confusion about priorities and construction dates.
This prioritization process attempts to take every capital improvement need that is funded by the TPW funds and objectively assess them based on a set of empirical criteria based on our community’s goals and values. The result of this process will provide an measurable and repeatable methodology such that as new projects are identified and/or funding availability changes, projects can be evaluated consistently against one another and over a period of time. This will also help to negotiate the vagaries of individuals by creating a system that will have community, leadership, and staff buy-in.
Staff have held several internal meetings to discuss potential prioritization criteria. In addition to this (August 20, 2024) City Council meeting, we will also make a presentation to the Community Advisory Board on September 25, 2024 for their review and feedback. We will bring the draft proposed methodology, with initial results showing outstanding projects, back to City Council for any feedback before the end of 2024. With support from City Council, TPW intends to use this prioritization methodology in the FY25-26 budget planning process.
Current organizing values for prioritization criteria (with potential metrics) under consideration include:
Equity / Investment in Historically Underserved Communities Location within an Equity Priority Community
Proximity to existing or permitted affordable housing
Proximity to low-income supportive services
Proximity to schools and parks
Environment / Sustainability
Proximity to the existing or future transit network
Proximity to the existing or future bicycle network
Change in maintenance and operations burden
Anticipated change to Citywide mode split and/or Vehicle-Miles Traveled Improvement Compared to Existing Condition
Current Pavement Condition Index rating
Bridge conditions
Sidewalk conditions
Community Investment / Economic Prosperity
Existing total usage of current facility
Area of anticipated residential and commercial growth per General Plan Fiscal sustainability of the project
Health and Safety
On the High Injury Network
Part of an evacuation route
Improves safety as compared to current state
Project Readiness
Timeline to project delivery
Project control
Collaboration Opportunities
Opportunities for collaboration with Water, Parks, Fire, others Opportunities for collaboration with SCTA, Caltrans, Sonoma County, SMART, Sonoma County Transit Opportunities for grant support
Regulatory Mandate
Each project will also note eligible funding sources, as well as outside and unguaranteed funding sources, that may be able to support the development and construction of these projects. This information will help create the individual program each year and allow all decision makers to better understand the options available to them when allocating capital improvement funds and pursuing grant opportunities.
FISCAL IMPACT
This study session does not have a fiscal impact on the General Fund.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
This study session is exempt from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) under CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3) and 15378 in that there is no possibility that the implementation of this action may have significant effects on the environment, and no further environmental review is required.
BOARD/COMMISSION/COMMITTEE REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Not applicable
NOTIFICATION
Not applicable
ATTACHMENTS
None.
PRESENTER
Dan Hennessey, Director, Transportation and Public Works Department
CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM UPDATE
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