TITLE
RESOLUTION NO. 2017-124 OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CHULA VISTA APPROVING THE THIRD AMENDMENT TO A MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING WITH THE SAN DIEGO ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTS (SANDAG) REGARDING AN ENVIRONMENTAL DOCUMENT FOR GRADE SEPARATIONS AND STATIONS TO THE LIGHT RAIL TROLLEY’S (LRT) BLUE LINE, AUTHORIZING THE CITY ATTORNEY TO MAKE SUCH NON-SUBSTANTIVE CHANGES DEEMED NECESSARY FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE CITY, AND AUTHORIZING AND DIRECTING THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE THE AGREEMENT
Body
RECOMMENDED ACTION
Recommended Action
Council adopt the resolution.
Body
SUMMARY
On June 19, 2012, Per Resolution # 2012-118, the City of Chula Vista entered into Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) for planned improvements through Chula Vista’s light rail trolley and freight rail corridor. The MOU allows the City to transfer funds and use SANDAG and their consultants to complete a Project Report and Environmental Document (PR/ED) for the grade separation project at the Palomar Street crossing. It is necessary to amend the MOU to add additional tasks for the consultant and increase the budget transfer amount allowed to SANDAG from $982,000 to $1,034,000, an increase of $52,000. No additional appropriation is required since sufficient funding was added to STM-361 as part of the FY17/18 CIP Program to complete these tasks.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Environmental Notice
Environmental Notice
The Project qualifies for an Exemption pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of the California Environmental Quality Act State Guidelines.
Body
Environmental Determination
The Director of Development Services has reviewed the proposed MOU amendment #3 for compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and has determined that there is no possibility that the activity may have significant effect on the environment; therefore, pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) (General Rule) of the state CEQA Guidelines the activity is not subject to CEQA. Although environmental review is not necessary for this specific activity, additional environmental review will be required as applicable prior to the approval of any future project specific design alternatives and development entitlement permits.
BOARDS/COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION
Not applicable.
DISCUSSION
On June 19, 2012, per Resolution # 2012-118 (Attachment 1), the City of Chula Vista entered into Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) with SANDAG to prepare an environmental document that will consider project alternatives for grade-separating the Blue Line Light Rail Trolley and freight rail crossing at Palomar Street and Industrial Blvd. This location is the highest ranked grade-separation crossing proposed in the SANDAG Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) (Attachment 2). The MOU allows the City to transfer funds up to $750,000 and use SANDAG and their consultants to complete a Project Report and Environmental Document (PR/ED).
First MOU Amendment
On December 16, 2014, the City Council approved the first amendment to this MOU per Resolution No. 2014-253 (Attachment 3). The only action required was to extend the initial MOU expiration date from December 31, 2014, to June 30, 2016.
Second MOU Amendment
On November 3, 2015, Council approved the second amendment to the MOU via Resolution 2015-248 (Attachment 4) which amended the SANDAG budget by $232,000 from $750,000 to $982,000, for additional tasks related to the Project Report and Environmental Document (PR/ED), such as additional public outreach by the consultant, photo simulations, and traffic analysis of the various geometric alternatives being considered. The second amendment also extended the expiration date from June 30, 2016 to June 30, 2020, in order to coincide with the reversion date of federal funds.
Third MOU Amendment
The Project Development Team (PDT) has determined that additional technical analysis will be needed for the alternative that lowers Palomar Street under all rail lines (Alternative P5) prior determining the preferred alternative. A budget analysis for the additional services is attached (Attachment # 5). The additional work is partially due to expanding the scope and study area of impacts for the traffic analysis on Industrial Boulevard and Palomar Street. The traffic modelling has also changed to Series 13, which is set up considerably different than the previous traffic modeling methodology.
Due to the proximity of the groundwater table, the consultant will also need to install a groundwater monitoring well(s) in order to conduct a geotechnical study to provide additional data for the design alternative and the engineer’s estimate. Additional public outreach has also been added to the consultant’s task order. In addition, the adjacent 4.8-acre contiguous vacant parcels located at the southwest quadrant of the intersection of Palomar Street and Industrial Boulevard also being considered for development and the potential project impacts the construction phasing and design of the rail grade separation project. Thus, the PDT team has been coordinating with the private developer team on how to best integrate the rail grade-separation project with their proposed development. Through that effort, additional work is required of HNTB, the consultant, in order to address rail grade separation public right-of-way design issues and the traffic analysis necessary to adequately determine the impacts to each project and how best to integrate them.
The proposed task order change has been negotiated and would increase the budget transfer amount by an additional $52,000 above the existing maximum of $982,000 to $1,034,000 (Attachment # 6). No additional appropriation is required since sufficient funds were added to STM-361 as part of the FY17/18 CIP Program.
DECISION MAKER CONFLICT
Staff has reviewed the property holdings of the City Council on the site specific portions of this action and has found no property holdings within 500 feet of the boundaries of the properties which are the subject of this action.
CURRENT YEAR FISCAL IMPACT
CIP STM-361 is funded with Federal funds and a 20% minimum match requirement provided by local TransNet funds. Sufficient funding is available in STM-361 to cover project costs; therefore, no additional appropriation is required.
ONGOING FISCAL IMPACT
The MOU amendment does not require any additional on-going expenses.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Resolution 2012-118 dated June 19, 2012
2. Table M.12 2015 RTP Rail Grade Separations Project Rankings
3. Resolution 2014-253 dated December 16, 2014
4. Resolution 2015-248 dated November 3, 2015
5. Budget Analysis & Additional Services
6. Amendment 3 to MOU SANDAG Contract 5004169
Prepared by: Francisco X. Rivera, Principal Civil Engineer, Engineering & Capital Projects Dept.
J:\Engineer\TRAFFIC\CIPs\STM CIP's\STM361 I-5 Multimodal Corridor Study\SANDAG Palomar LRT MOU Amendment 3 May 2017\agenda 052417.docx