CITY OF SEBASTOPOL
CITY COUNCIL
AGENDA ITEM
Meeting Date: April 4, 2023
To: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers
From: Larry McLaughlin, City Manager
Toni Bertolero, Engineering Consultant, GHD
Subject: Sunset Avenue/Taft Street Pedestrian Enhancements at Analy High School – New CIP Project
Recommendation: Adoption of Budget Amendment Resolution for the Sunset Ave/Taft Street Pedestrian Enhancements Project CIP #0133-23.10
Funding: Currently Budgeted: _______ Yes ___X____ No ______ N/A
Account Code/Costs authorized in City Approved Budget (if applicable) ___AK_____ (verified by Administrative Services Department) See Fiscal Impact section for details.
INTRODUCTION:
This item is for the adoption of a Resolution approving a budget amendment for the Sunset Avenue/Taft Street Pedestrian Enhancements Project (“Project”). A location map for the proposed improvements is found in Attachment 1.
BACKGROUND:
A representative from the Sebastopol School District contacted the Engineering Department requesting pedestrian crossing safety improvements at Sunset Avenue and Taft Street in July 2022. Staff researched the request and determined that the intersection and the recommended improvements were included in Analy High School – Safe Routes to School Engineering Evaluation, April 2019, which was completed as part of the County’s Safe Routes to School program.
City staff met on August 3, 2022 at their ad-hoc traffic safety group meeting. The group included the City Engineer, Police Chief, Public Works Superintendent and W-Trans traffic engineering consultant. The group concluded that the improvements are recommended and should be proposed in the upcoming Fiscal Year 2023-24 Capital Improvement Program (CIP) annual plan.
In October 2022, staff was alerted by Sarah Gurney, previous Councilmember and Board member of the Sonoma County Transportation Authority that a total of $2 million in infrastructure funding to invest in otherwiseunserved local community infrastructure needs. Each Supervisor has considerable discretion to identify the most pressing needs within the communities they represent. Supervisor Hopkins’ goal is to support climate mitigation and adaptation in the projects, and in particular, wanted to partner on bike- and pedestrian-focused projects with the City of Sebastopol (while also recognizing that there are limited funds and many unmet needs in the unincorporated communities who also desire improvements.) The City submitted a letter requesting infrastructure funding in a letter dated November 22, 2022 (Attachment 2).
The letter identified six priority improvements and priority 1 consisted of A) pedestrian crossing improvements Agenda Item Number: 6 Agenda Item Number: 6
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including flashing warning lights at Taft Street/Sunset Avenue, B) traffic calming striping on Sunset AvenueJohnson Street from Taft Street to Eddie Lane and c) new crosswalks and solar streetlights at Sunset Avenue/Johnson Street and Johnson Street/Eddie Lane (West County Trail).
DISCUSSION:
In March 2023, the City received communication from Supervisor Hopkins’ Office that the City would be receiving $200,000 in infrastructure funding. The funding would fully fund a down scoped priority 1 project or partially fund the fully scoped priority 1 project. Because the priority 1 project isscoped in a way that would provide the optimum improvements at this location, staff recommends that funding for the full scope be approved and not break up the project.
Because this is a new CIP project, it is subject to the Planning Commission making a finding that the project is consistent with the General Plan. This will be scheduled for the next available Planning Commission meeting.
GOALS:
This action supports the following City Council Goals and General Plan Actions:
• Goal 2 - Maintain, Improve and Invest in the City’s Infrastructure (Water, Sewer, Streets, Circulation, Parks, Storm Drains and Public Facilities).
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The Project occurs within existing right of way and involves the repair and maintenance of an existing public facility involving negligible or no expansion of use therefore is exempt under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines 15301(c).
PUBLIC COMMENT:
As of the writing of this staff report, the City has not received any public comment. However, if staff receives public comment from interested parties following the publication and distribution of this staff report, such comments will be provided to the City Council as supplemental materials before or at the meeting. In addition, public comments may be offered during the public comment portion of the agenda item.
PUBLIC NOTICE:
This item was noticed in accordance with the Ralph M. Brown Act and was available for public viewing and review at least 72 hours prior to schedule meeting date.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The proposed budget for project management, design, construction, and inspection for the Project is $290,000.
The proposed funding sources are summarized in the table below.
Table 1 Proposed Funding Sources and Budget Amounts
Fund No. Funding Source Budget Amount
002 Grant - other $200,000.00
103 Bldg/Fac/Infr. Reserve 90,000.00
Total $290,000.00
If the project is approved from using Building, Facilities and Infrastructure Reserve as funding source, the estimated ending fund will be $792,800.
Agenda Item Number: 6 Agenda Item Number: 6
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RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the Sebastopol City Council adopt the Resolution approving the budget amendment for the Sunset Avenue/Taft Street Pedestrian Crossing Enhancements Project (CIP #0133-23.10), pending a finding of General Plan consistency by the Planning Commission.
Attachments:
1 Location Map
2 Funding Request Letter dated November 22, 2022
3. Resolution
Agenda Item Number: 6 Agenda Item Number: 6
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Analy High School - Safe Routes to School Engineering Evaluation 3/23
Sunset Avenue/Taft Street Pedestrian Enhancements at Analy High School North
Not to Scale
A
B
C
B
C
Johnson Street
Sunset Avenue
Agenda Item Number: 6Agenda Item Number: 6
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November 22, 2022
Supervisor Lynda Hopkins, District 5
Sonoma County of Board of Supervisors
575 Administration Drive, Room 100A
Santa Rosa, CA 95403
[email protected]
Subject: City of Sebastopol Request for 5th District Infrastructure Funding Dear Supervisor Hopkins:
On behalf of the City of Sebastopol City Council, I am requesting 5th District Infrastructure Funding for the six (6) projects listed in this letter (Table 1).
Table 1: Priority List of Projects for Infrastructure Funding Project Name Request General Description
1. Sunset Avenue and
Johnson Street
Crosswalk
Improvements and
Traffic Calming
$284,000 Taft Street/Sunset Avenue – upgrade crosswalk markings including shark’s teeth and install double sided flashing pedestrian crossing signs with circular LED flashers in similar style to other Sebastopol crossings.
Upgrade curb ramps to current ADA standards. Also, add solar streetlight pole.
Traffic Calming on Sunset Avenue-Johnson Street – install edgeline and/or centerline striping from Taft Street to Eddie Lane-Morris Street and striped bulbouts where appropriate to reduce vehicle travel speeds.
Johnson Street Pedestrian Crossings - Install crosswalks with new or upgraded curb ramps at Sunset Avenue/Johnson Street (one crosswalk) and Johnson Street/Eddie Lane (West County Trail, two crosswalks).
Also, add solar streetlights at the two new crossings.
2. Johnson Street
Sidewalks
$194,000 Install sidewalk on the west side of Johnson Street connecting the existing sidewalk gap between the intersections with Sunset Avenue and Eddie Lane (West County Trail).
Agenda Item Number: 6 Agenda Item Number: 6
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Project Name Request General Description
3. North Main
Street/Analy Avenue
Reconfiguration and
Intersection
Improvements
$79,000 Add pedestrian and bicyclist crossing signage near the end of the West County Trail, facing southbound directional vehicles and reconfigure the intersection to improve sight distance at the Analy Avenue approach.
These elements could include an extension of the Analy Avenue median with a bike passthrough. Also, extend bike lane markings through the intersection and install new striping and pavement markings to increase visibility of interface with West County Trail.
4. Bulbout South of
School Entrance on
North Main Street
$87,000 As an added element for cyclists, add sharrow markings in the northbound and southbound travel lanes at the crosswalk location to increase driver’s awareness of cyclists. Also, widen the crosswalk access areas and ramps to better accommodate bicycle crossings.
5. Eddie Lane Crosswalk
Between Student
Parking Lot and Back of
Campus
$10,000 Add shark’s teeth (advanced yield) pavement markings and pedestrian crossing signs approaching the crosswalk to improve driver’s awareness of students.
6. Healdsburg
Avenue/North Main
Street (SR 116) Caltrans
Traffic Signal Re-timing
$15,000 Conduct an operational evaluation of the intersection of Healdsburg Avenue/North Main Street to determine the appropriate signal timing parameters, including consideration for a leading pedestrian interval which would allow pedestrians to cross earlier than southbound vehicles to reduce conflict with pedestrians on east leg. Following the operational evaluation, coordinate with Caltrans to implement the signal timing modifications.
We firmly believe our projects meet the spirit of the 5th District Infrastructure Funding and all listed projects are identified in the City’s 2019 Safe Routes to School Report along with a traffic engineering analysis of the projects.
Although all the listed projects are very important to the City, we recognize that the amount available to allocate to various entities is limited and have therefore listed the projects in order of priority.
We appreciate the difficulty you and your staff will have in making funding decisions that affect each agency’s ability to bring completed projects to their communities. We look forward to discussing our request with you and grateful for the opportunity to submit this request. For any questions regarding this letter, please contact Toni Bertolero, GHD at (707) 921-7647 or email at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Patrick Slayter
Mayor
Agenda Item Number: 6 Agenda Item Number: 6
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RESOLUTION NUMBER: 2023-XX
CITY OF SEBASTOPOL
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEBASTOPOL AUTHORIZING A BUDGET
AMENDMENT FOR SUNSET AVENUE/TAFT STREET PEDESTRIAN CROSSING ENHANCEMENTS
AT ANALY HIGH SHCOOL
(CIP PROJECT #0133-23.10)
WHEREAS, the Sebastopol School District (District) requested pedestrian crossing improvements at Sunset Avenue and Taft Street to improve safety crossings for their students at this intersection in July 2022; and WHEREAS, this intersection and improvements were identified in the City’s 2019 Safe Routes to School Report; and
WHEREAS, the City’s ad-hoc traffic safety group met in August 2022 to review the District’s request and recommended that the intersection improvements be included in the upcoming Fiscal Year 2023-24 Capital Improvement Program (CIP); and
WHEREAS, in response to an informal call for projects in October 2022 from Sonoma County Supervisor Lynda Hopkins Office, District 5, the City submitted a letter dated November 22, 2022, requesting funding for six priority projects in the vicinity of Analy High School; and WHEREAS, in March 2023, the City was notified by Supervisor Hopkins office that the City would be receiving $200,000 in infrastructure funding; and
WHEREAS, this funding will be sufficient to partially fund the first priority project in the November 22, 2022 letter for pedestrian safety enhancements generally described as pedestrian crossing upgrades at Sunset Avenue/Taft Street, striping improvements at Taft Street to Edie Lane, crosswalks and ramps at Sunset Avenue/Johnson Street (“Project”);
WHEREAS, this project is not in the current 2022-23 CIP budget and staff recommends commencing with design efforts as quickly as possible to potentially construct the improvements as early as summer 2023 to avoid conflicts with students while school is in session; and WHEREAS, the proposed budget for the Project is $290,000.00 for project management, design, construction, and inspection; and
WHEREAS, the proposed funding sources are summarized in the table below.
Table 1 Proposed Funding Sources and Budget Amounts for Project at Sunset Avenue/Taft Street Fund No. Funding Source Budget Amount
002 Grant - other $200,000.00
103 Bldg/Fac/Infr. Reserve 90,000.00
Total $290,000.00
WHEREAS, this new CIP project will be scheduled for the next available Planning Commission meeting to make a finding of General Plan consistency.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of Sebastopol does hereby approve a budget amendmentfor the Sunset Avenue/Taft Street Pedestrian Crossing Enhancements (CIP #0133-23.10) Agenda Item Number: 6 Agenda Item Number: 6
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APPROVED: __________________________________________
Mayor Neysa Hinton
ATTEST: _______________________________________________________________ Mary Gourley, Assistant City Manager/City Clerk, MMC
APPROVED AS TO FORM: _______________________________________________ Larry McLaughlin, City Attorney
Agenda Item Number: 6
for $200,000 from Fund 002 Grant (other) and $90,000 from Fund 103 (Building/Facilities/Infrastructure Reserve), pending a finding of General Plan consistency by the Planning Commission.
The above and foregoing Resolution was duly passed, approved, and adopted at a meeting by the City Council on the 4th day of April 2023, by the following vote:
VOTE:
Ayes:
Noes:
Absent:
Abstain:
Agenda Item Number: 6
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