Item Number: {{item.number}}
City Council / Board of Directors
Written Communications
Meeting of: April 16, 2024
Submitted By:
Fredy Bonilla, City Engineer
Subject:
Budget Amendment for Additional Highway Safety Improvement Program Grant Funds for the Seventh Street Traffic Signal Modifications Project and Project Coding Update Recommendation:
That the Honorable City Council:
(1) Adopt Resolution No. 24-023 to amend the Fiscal Year 2023/2024 budget appropriating additional revenue and expenses of $639,500 from the State of California’s Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) for the Seventh Street Traffic Signal Modifications Project; and
(2) Accept Project account coding update.
Fiscal Impact:
The recommended action will result in an additional revenue of $639,500 and the expense of an additional $639,500 of grant funding for construction costs associated with the project. The attached Resolution No. 24-023 will amend the budget to reflect the additional revenue and expense from the HSIP state grant fund account set up for the project. Please refer to Attachment A, Resolution No. 24-023.
The first installment of reimbursable grant funding revenue and expense was included in the Fiscal Year 2022/2023 Budget. The revenue and expense account created in response to the Fiscal Year 2023/2024 Budget approval for the grant was 2707501N- 55315-62064. The table below shows the HSIP grant, Fund 270 account number, available budget amount (original amount), additional appropriation amount and the total budget amount per this account that can be expensed for the project.
Account No. Available Budget Additional
Appropriation Total Budget
2707501N-55315-62064 $680,500 $639,500 $1,320,000
3 5
7 4
Strategic Plan Goal:
This project aligns with “Goal E Invest in Infrastructure” in the City of Victorville Strategic Plan 2023-2026, Strategy 11, “Continue seeking funding to invest in expanding, improving, and preserving our roadway system”. By obtaining additional funding for the purpose of upgrading the traffic signals along Seventh Street at Lorene Drive, Victor Street, Mojave Drive, Forest Avenue, and B Street.
Background:
In October of 2020, City staff submitted an application to Caltrans for a HSIP grant to fund the modification of five (5) traffic signals along Seventh Street at the intersections of Lorene Drive, Victor Street, Mojave Drive, Forrest Ave, and B Street. Attachment B, a vicinity map showing the location of the existing traffic signals has been provided for reference. To be eligible for the grant, Engineering staff identified deficiencies common to all five intersections to specify a scope of work. In general, the project scope includes upgrading the traffic signals and lighting to meet current City standards. Traffic signal poles and equipment will be replaced for the east and west cross streets facing Seventh Street to include a pole hanging over the street with a signal light where none currently exist for improved visibility. Other improvements will include upgraded emergency vehicle detection systems, video detection for automobiles and bicycles, and pedestrian crossing systems. Upgrades to curb ramps will be made to meet current City accessibility standards. In March 2021, Caltrans notified the City that the application for the HSIP Cycle 10 grant was selected for funding for the requested amount of $680,500 of State funds.
In April 2022, Engineering staff submitted a request to the City Council to approve an agreement with AGA Engineers, Inc., for the preparation of the traffic signal modification plans and received that approval. The plans and specifications for the project were received in August of 2023.
In September 2023, Engineering staff submitted a request to City Council to open and conduct a Public Hearing to receive testimony regarding the proposed project and approve the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Notice of Exemption (NOE).
The project was determined to meet the conditions for a categorical exemption as defined in the California Code of Regulations, CEQA §15301(c), with reference to existing highways and streets. The City Council approved the NOE in the meeting and the executed document was filed with the County Clerk. Following the approval of the NOE, the constructions documents including plans, specifications, right of way certification, and NOE were submitted to Caltrans in order to receive the finance letter and approval to advertise the project. In December of 2023, Caltrans provided the finance letter confirming the grant funding was allocated and ready for reimbursement to the City for construction costs incurred.
On March 19, 2024, the City Council awarded a construction contract to Elenor Belco Electric, Inc., in the amount of $3,996,873 for the Seventh Street Traffic Signal Modifications and Village Drive at Puesta Del Sol Drive Traffic Signal projects. 3 5
7 4
Discussion:
In February 2024, after the bid opening and review of the bids, a request for additional grant funding was submitted to the Department of Transportation (Caltrans) with a copy of the bid results. On March 19, 2024, Caltrans responded to the City’s request and allocated an additional $639,500 in grant funding to help cover the current trend of high bid costs all agencies are experiencing. The additional grant funds will provide a total of $1,320,000 of HSIP funds for the Seventh Street Traffic Signal Modifications project.
Please see Attachment C, Grant Award and Finance Letters.
A review of Agenda Item 10 for the City Council meeting held on March 19 th, 2024, with the recommendation to award a construction contract to Elecnor Belco Electric, Inc., found the account number for the grant funding did not include the standard ORG format typically presented to the Council for consideration. The account number reported in the agenda item included an ORG code of 2704500. 270 in this ORG code is the Fund allocation for the type of grant and 4500 is the Department and Group (Engineering) identified for internal tracking of the fund. While the Fund and Department were correctly identified, what was not included in the ORG code that is typically presented to the Council is a unique Program number used for tracking special items such as the type of grant awarded to the City and where the funding comes from. The unique Program number for this project was omitted in the agenda item for the HSIP grant funding. The ORG code utilized for tracking this project should have omitted the Group number of 4500 and included the Program number of 7501N. Therefore, the updated ORG number for tracking the project will be 2707501N, the full account number being 2707501N-55315-62064 as originally coded in the 2022-2023 Fiscal Year Budget.
Staff recommends the City Council adopt Resolution No. 24-023 to amend the Fiscal Year 2023/2024 budget to reflect an additional revenue of $639,500 and appropriate an additional expenditure of $639,500 from State HSIP grant fund for the construction of the Seventh Street Traffic Signal Modifications Project and accept the updated account number as the appropriate ORG number for tracking of the project.
Staff remains available for any questions the Council may have.
Attachments: A. Resolution 24-023
B. Location Map – Seventh Street Traffic Signal Modifications C. Grant Award and Finance Letters