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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 02092010 - C.16RECOMMENDATION(S): AMEND the Navy Mitigation Fund Expenditure Plan to include allocation of $40,000 to the Delta Protection Commission and $310,000 to the East Bay Regional Park District for the Great California Delta Trail planning project; AUTHORIZE the Department of Conservation and Development to provide up to $40,000 of in-kind staff time to the Delta Protection Commission for trail planning; and ACKNOWLEDGE the Director of Conservation and Development will send a letter to the Delta Protection Commission acknowledging the funding and staff commitments. FISCAL IMPACT: NONE to the General Fund. The $40,000 in funds will be from the County's Navy Mitigation Fund, which is for specific road, sidewalk and trail projects in Clyde and Bay Point. The staff time will be provided by Department of Conservation and Development staff, in the areas of local stakeholder outreach and technical work including geographic information system (GIS) mapping. BACKGROUND: The Board of Supervisors in June 2008 adopted the Navy Mitigation Fund APPROVE OTHER RECOMMENDATION OF CNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE Action of Board On: 02/09/2010 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER Clerks Notes: VOTE OF SUPERVISORS AYE:John Gioia, District I Supervisor Gayle B. Uilkema, District II Supervisor Mary N. Piepho, District III Supervisor Susan A. Bonilla, District IV Supervisor Federal D. Glover, District V Supervisor Contact: John Greitzer 335-1201 I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes of the Board of Supervisors on the date shown. ATTESTED: February 9, 2010 David J. Twa, County Administrator and Clerk of the Board of Supervisors By: June McHuen, Deputy cc: C.16 To:Board of Supervisors From:Catherine Kutsuris, Conservation & Development Director Date:February 9, 2010 Contra Costa County Subject:Contributions to Delta Protection Commission trail planning BACKGROUND: (CONT'D) Expenditure Plan, detailing how approximately $8.35 million in funds will be used. The funds derive from a $5 million payment the County received from the U.S. Navy in the early 1990s to help mitigate the closure of Port Chicago Highway through the Concord Naval Weapons Station. The County had closed the road at the Navy's request, thereby losing a regional route that linked Bay Point, Clyde, Concord and Martinez. Most of the Navy Mitigation Fund is unused and has grown with interest over the years. The Navy Mitigation Fund Expenditure Plan allocates all of the funds to specific road, sidewalk and trail projects in the Bay Point and Clyde areas, which is where the roadway was closed. Among the allocations in the expenditure plan is a $350,000 allocation to the East Bay Regional Park District for planning the Contra Costa segments of the Great California Delta Trail. Since the plan was adopted, discussions with the Park District and the Delta Protection Commission led to an arrangement in which $40,000 of the $350,000 will go to the Delta Protection Commission, which is identified in state legislation as the lead entity for the multi-county trail planning effort. The remaining $310,000 in trail planning funds will go to the East Bay Regional Park District, which is already working on the alignment for one particular segment of the trail (Bay Point to Pittsburg). The County contribution will not only assist the Delta Protection Commission in its work, but also will complement the East Bay Regional Park District effort and the County's own efforts to develop and implement the East County Trails Master Plan. Efficiencies will be achieved by maintaining coordination between these three concurrent trail planning efforts. In addition to the $40,000 in funds, the Department of Conservation and Development also will provide up to $40,000 of staff time in the areas of technical work including geographic information system (GIS) mapping, and public outreach, including local stakeholder identification for the Contra Costa segments of the trail. As the Delta Protection Commission proceeds with its multi-County trail planning effort, the County will be asked to provide local stakeholder identification and to contribute local background and technical data. This Board Order acknowledges the commitment of up to $40,000 in staff time to the multi-County project. The Board of Supervisors is asked to amend the Navy Mitigation Fund Expenditure Plan to approve the change in funding allocations for Great California Delta Trail planning; acknowledge the Department of Conservation and Development will provide up to $40,000 of staff time to the Delta Protection Commission; and authorize the Director of Conservation and Development to send a letter to the Delta Protection Commission acknowledging the commitment of funds and staff time, so the work can proceed. The letter is attached, along with the proposed amendment to the Navy Mitigation Fund Expenditure Plan. CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION: The funds will not be provided to the Delta Protection Commission, jeopardizing or delaying the Commission's ability to carry out its mandated trail planning efforts within Contra Costa County. ATTACHMENTS DCD letter DPC Amended Mitigation Plan Department of Conservation & Development Community Development Division County Administration Building 651 Pine Street North Wing, Fourth Floor Martinez, CA 94553-1229 Phone: (925) 335-1201 Catherine O. Kutsuris Director Contra Costa County February 9, 2010 Linda Fiack Executive Director Delta Planning Commission 14215 River Road P.O. Box 530 Walnut Grove, CA 95690 Dear Linda: The Department of Conservation and Development is pleased to work with you on the Contra Costa County segments of the Great California Delta Trail Project. Our Board of Supervisors on February 9 authorized me to provide you with this letter of acknowledgement, committing County resources to the project. As promised in our earlier discussions, we will provide the Delta Protection Commission with $40,000 in funds and an additional $40,000 of in-kind staff time for the project. The staff time will be provided by the Department of Conservation and Development. The Great California Delta Trail project will provide us with a valuable opportunity to assist the Commission and to provide coordination among the concurrent trail planning efforts of the Commission, the East Bay Regional Park District, and the County itself as we develop and strengthen our own East Contra Costa County Trails Master Plan. The information we develop through our work with the Commission should be useful for all these trail planning efforts. The commitment of County staff time will be used in the areas of data collection, geographic information systems (GIS) work, and identification of key stakeholders. The $40,000 in funds will be provided on a reimbursable basis for work performed in the areas mentioned above, to the satisfaction of our department. The Commission can invoice us monthly or quarterly. Please work out the invoicing schedule with John Greitzer of my staff. Our staff representative on the Commission’s Technical Advisory Committee is John Cunningham. Thank you for the opportunity to work with the Commission on this important project. Ms. Fiack February 9, 2010 Page 2 of 2 Sincerely, Catherine Kutsuris Director of Conservation and Development C: Members, Board of Supervisors J. Bueren, Public Works Director J. Cunningham, Dept. of Conservation and Development S. Goetz, Deputy Director—Transportation Planning Section J. Greitzer, Dept. of Conservation and Development M. Halle, Public Works Dept. J. Townsend, East Bay Regional Park District G:\Transportation\Greitzer\Letter\2009\2010 letter ck to dpc.doc 1 Proposed Amendment of Navy Mitigation Fund Expenditure Plan 2008 Update (amendment shown on page 3, item # 7) Supervisor Federal D. Glover, District V Supervisor Susan A. Bonilla, District IV Department of Conservation and Development Public Works Department Adopted by the Board of Supervisors on June 17, 2008 2 Navy Mitigation Fund Expenditure Plan – 2008 Update Summary of funding allocations Project numbers do not indicate priority 1) 2nd left-turn lane from westbound Evora Road onto southbound Willow Pass Road. Project will reduce morning backup at the intersection by approximately 500 feet; traffic signal at same intersection to be paid for by business park developer. Navy Fund Allocation: $1.3 million (full funding) Lead Agency: Contra Costa County 2) Bailey Road Pedestrian/Bicycle Safety Improvements (from Delta DeAnza Regional Trail near Mims Avenue, past freeway ramps to BART station driveway) Project will improve walking and bicycling conditions along Bailey Road, particularly improving conditions for Bel Air Elementary students, BART station users, Tri Delta Transit bus stop users, and future residents of the planned Orbisonia Heights mixed-use, transit-oriented development project across Bailey Road from the Pittsburg/Bay Point BART Station. Navy Fund Allocation: $1.5 million (partial/full funding – costs to be determined) Lead Agency: Contra Costa County / Caltrans / Tri Delta Transit (depending on particular projects identified in planning phase) 3) Clyde Union Pacific Right-of-Way Trail Project will build a trail along an unused railroad corridor alongisde Port Chicago Highway through Clyde, and establish a trust fund to cover long-term maintenance needs for the trail. Navy Fund Allocation: $1.5 million (full funding) Lead Agency: Contra Costa County 4) Bailey-Bella Vista Connector Trail Project will improve the surface and appearance of the existing trail between Bella Vista Avenue and Bailey Road near Bel Air Elementary School and establish a trust fund for long-term maintenance needs. Navy Fund Allocation: $500,000 (full funding) Lead Agency: Contra Costa County 5) Driftwood Drive Landscaping Improvements Project will restore Driftwood Drive landscaping that was financed by the first Navy Mitigation Fund Expenditure Plan as a connecting walkway from the neighborhood to the Delta DeAnza Regional Trail and waterfront) Navy Fund Allocation: $750,000 (full funding) Lead Agency: Contra Costa County 3 6) Bay Point Waterfront Park Access Improvements Project will provide easier access, including access for disabled persons to newly established waterfront park west of McAvoy Harbor. Project is one of the recommendations in the Bay Point Waterfront Redevelopment Plan. Navy Fund Allocation: $450,000 (full funding) Lead Agencies: East Bay Regional Park District / Contra Costa County 7) Planning and environmental impact review for Great California Delta Trail Project involves planning and environmental review for the portions of the Great California Delta Trail within Contra Costa County (the overall trail will eventually ring the Delta Region, connecting to the Bay Trail in Martinez). Participants will include the East Bay Regional Park District, Contra Costa County, and the City of Pittsburg. Navy Fund Allocation: $350,000 (full funding) Lead Agency: East Bay Regional Park District ($310,000) Delta Protection Commission ($40,000) 8) Build Great California Delta Trail from Bay Point Waterfront Park to Clyde, Concord and Martinez Project will provide seed money for construction of one segment of the trail. Trail alignment will be determined through the planning project described above in Project #7. Navy Fund Allocation: $1 million (partial funding) Lead Agency: East Bay Regional Park District 9) Build Great California Delta Trail from Bay Point Waterfront Park to Pittsburg Project will provide seed money for construction of one segment of the trail. Navy Fund Allocation: $1 million (partial funding) Lead Agency: East Bay Regional Park District Total Allocations: $8.35 million 4 The graphic above was developed by the Contra Costa County Public Works Department, April 2008. 5 Benefits of the Navy Mitigation Fund Expenditure Plan 2008 Update • This plan includes a balance of project types (commuter traffic relief, pedestrian/bicycle safety, trail construction, trail landscaping and long-term maintenance, waterfront access). • Most of the projects included in this plan are relatively inexpensive (most less than $2 million) and most of them therefore can be fully funded by the Navy Mitigation Fund. • Most of the projects in this plan can be accomplished in the next few years. Construction of the Great California Delta Trail segments likely will take longer, due to the amount of planning, potential right-of-way acquisition, and additional funding that will be required. Status of the 1991 Navy Mitigation Fund Expenditure Plan • Delta DeAnza Regional Trail Plus Feeder Trails -- $1million allocation Status: numerous trails were built including the segment of the Delta DeAnza Regional Trail over the Willow Pass. The $1 million trail allocation was spent. • Evora Road Extension to Concord -- $4 million allocation Status: not built due to objections from City of Concord. Most of the $4 million remains unspent (a small portion, described below, was used for studies.) Interest has increased this amount of $8.6 million as of May 2008. • Transportation studies and planning -- $235,000 allocation Status: several studies were completed, including studies for the trails and a rail transit study. 6 Comments on the Draft Navy Mitigation Fund Expenditure Plan Staff of the Community Development Department and the Public Works Department reviewed the Draft Navy Mitigation Fund Expenditure Plan at three public meetings: March 18, 2008 – Town Hall Meeting convened by Supervisor Glover, at the Ambrose Recreation and Park District Building in Bay Point; May 6, 2008 – bimonthly meeting of the Bay Point Municipal Advisory Council’s Transportation Area Committee; and May 6, 2008 – monthly meeting of the County Service Area M-16 (Clyde Parks) Summaries of the comments and questions from each of these meetings are presented in the following pages. Also included is a summary of comments from the kick-off meeting for the planning process that was convened in April 2007 at Calvary Temple on Evora Road. This meeting was held to gather public input about potential projects for the plan. 7 April 24, 2007: Suggestions from Town Hall meeting at Calvary Temple, Evora Road, Concord (Meeting convened by Supervisor Glover and Supervisor Bonilla to kick off the process) 1. Re-open Port Chicago Highway 2. Trail along Contra Costa Canal in Clyde 3. Evora Road Widening from Baypoint to Concord 4. Comprehensive road and trail plan developed with the MAC/TAC/PAC 5. The Great California Delta Trail 6. Clyde Feeder Trail on Union Pacific Railroad property (purchase of right of way and trail construction after Union Pacific cleans up the property) 7. Set-aside some funds in a trust account to be used as a maintenance fund for existing trail maintenance 8. Marina Trails – such as boardwalks 9. Bus Service Bay Point to Concord 10. Construct additional trails to better connect existing trails 11. Improve throughway roads through Baypoint 12. Construct a park at the trailhead of the Great California Delta Trail 13. Widen Evora Road and provide a bike trail 14. Interest from the trust account should be used for the Evora Road Extension 15. Provide alternate bike route to eliminate bicyclists having to use SR4 between Willow Pass Road and Port Chicago Highway 16. Other funding sources should be explored to construct the Delta Trail 17. Construct a bikeway on the north side of SR4 to connect to the existing Delta DeAnza Trail and construct another bikeway further from the freeway towards the shoreline. 8 18. Road improvements (Willow Pass Road, Bailey Road) 19. Redevelopment plan for Bay Point Waterfront (local roads and trails) March 18, 2008: Comments on the Draft Navy Mitigation Fund Expenditure Plan from Bay Point Town Hall meeting convened by Supervisor Glover at Ambrose Recreation and Park District office, Bay Point 1. There are graffiti-covered freight railroad cars across from my home in Shore Acres, who do I need to talk to, to get them moved? [Staff asked her to provide more specific info by phone or e-mail and he will try to find out whose rail cars they are] 2. If Concord would move the golf course, it would allow for the Evora Road Extension. 3. The proposed two left-turn lanes on Evora will cause traffic jams as people try to merge from the left one to the right one to get onto the freeway ramp, and the stop sign is better than a new traffic signal because cars move through it better. [Staff explained some of the operational details of how the signal and the turn lanes would operate.] 4. Get rid of the pedestrian tunnel. 5. We need to build schools in Bay Point. 6. The plan doesn’t provide enough traffic relief, too much money on trails. When Port Chicago Highway closed, we lost a road. We need to get a road back. 7. Get rid of the curving “free right” freeway off-ramp from SR 4 westbound to Bailey southbound; have all Bailey traffic use the other off-ramp, come to the traffic signal and then turn left or right onto Bailey. This will eliminate the need for the pedestrian tunnel. 8. Landscape the Bay Point cloverleaf, it’s an entrance to the community and it should look nice. 9. We need signal timing improvements along Willow Pass Road. 10. Trail safety surveillance is needed. 11. The pedestrian tunnel route doesn’t work for wheelchair users, who can’t get up the hill to get to BART. 12. Make public transit more accessible. 13. Port Chicago Highway was the only flat route for bicyclists between Bay Point and Concord. The draft plan would replace it with another flat route, which bicyclists want. 9 14. The Great California Delta Trail is now part of the East Bay Regional Park District’s Master Plan. 15. Oak Hills community supports the Great California Delta Trail. 16. The Bailey pedestrian/bicycle safety projects don’t mitigate the loss of the Port Chicago Highway. 17. Use the Bailey funds for the Clyde trail linkage to the Delta Trail. 18. The mitigation money should be used for roads, period. 19. The draft plan provides a good mix of projects and meets the purpose of the Navy Mitigation Fund. May 6, 2008: Comments on Draft Navy Mitigation Fund Expenditure Plan from the Transportation Area Committee of the Bay Point Municipal Advisory Council 1. Paratransit service for senior citizens isn’t good enough, needs to be improved. The rules for riding are too strict. 2. The fund is being used to pay for things that other entities should have paid for. BART should have paid for the Bailey Road pedestrian safety improvements, homebuilders should have paid for the landscaping along Driftwood Drive, and the homebuilders should pay for the extra left-turn lane on Evora Road at Willow Pass Road. Navy Mitigation Funds shouldn’t have to be used for those. 3. Oak Hills Community Group and the Friends of the Delta Trail both support the expenditure plan including the recommendations for the Great California Delta Trail. The plan meets the goals and the funds will be well spent. 4. Ambrose Recreation and Park District supports the plan. 5. The proposed plan wastes a lot of money. Why should Driftwood Drive landscaping be paid for? The homeowners should pay for that. The left turn lane on Evora and the Bailey Road pedestrian improvements seem like good ideas. 6. Some trails are closed, like the one behind Casa de Serena senior citizens’ facility. It’s closed so it can’t be used. 7. We shouldn’t do any of the recommended projects except the Evora Road Extension. We should wait and see if the City of Concord builds it, and if they do, then we can use the Navy Mitigation Fund for these other things. 10 8. Friends of the Delta Trail says we need this plan and we support it. 9. A question was asked as to whether the Navy Mitigation Fund Expenditure Plan would bring more revenue to Bay Point. County staff and staff of the East Bay Regional Park District responded to this question. May 6, 2008: Comments on the Draft Navy Mitigation Fund Expenditure Plan from County Service Area M-16 (Clyde Parks) 1. This sounds like an opportunity to landscape the entrance to Clyde, similar to what Concord has done on some of their streets. We could put trees up and have an attractive entryway to the community. 2. A question was asked to whether the County still intended to extend two local streets westward to Port Chicago Highway. Public Works staff responded. 3. A question will be asked as to whether there will be parking for users of the new trail. Staff will consider this as we plan the access to the trail. 4. A question was asked as to whether utility poles would be moved or undergrounded as part of the project. Staff will consider this as trail planning is conducted. 5. Port Chicago Highway is a drag strip. We need more enforcement of speeding, and we should reduce the speed limit. 6. A question was asked about the width of the UP right-of-way. Staff responded the right-of-way is 60 feet, but only 8 to 10 feet will be paved. This is a typical trail width. 7. Several comments were made about flooding. Public Works will look into this. 8. The Clyde trail should connect to the Great California Delta Trail. 9. We should begin planning the trail now, we don’t need to wait until all the interagency matters are settled. 10. A question was asked whether Concord will expand Port Chicago Highway to support the new growth that will come in with the Reuse Project. Staff will look into this. 11. A question was asked about the chances that Port Chicago Highway will be reopened. Residents indicated they wouldn’t want it to be reopened. Staff replied that reopening is not likely.