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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 10201987 - T.5 MINUTES Joint Meeting of Contra Costa and Solano County Board of Supervisors October 20, 1987 Maritime Academy Maritime Academy Drive . Vallejo, California Supervisor Osby Davis, Chairman, Board of Supervisors of Solano County, convened the joint meeting at 2 p.m. D. J. Smith, Transportation Lobbyist for Contra Costa County, commented on the actions of the Contra Costa Board of Supervisors designating the Martinez-Benicia Bridge expansion as a high priority project. He explained that the total concept of the project should not be limited to the addition of more lanes on I-680 but should include adequate accesses to the Bridge both in Solano and Contra Costa counties with the definition of the bridge program beginning at I-680 in Solano and continuing south to the Willow Pass interchange in Contra Costa County. Mr. Smith spoke on the need for a high occupancy vehicle (HOV) program; transit programs relating to the Martinez-Benicia Bridge and bridge corri- dor; Transportation System Management (TSM) types of tools that would provide for the mobility of more people over the bridge during the peak periods.. He spoke of the efforts and success of Senator Barry Keene (Solano County) and Assemblyman William Baker (Contra Costa County) in authoring legislation for a second Martinez-Benicia Bridge. He conveyed the desire of the Legislature to address this issue regionally taking into consideration the effect of traffic on the Bay Bridge as well as other bridges in the Bay Area including the need to establish a 10-year improvement program for all the bridges. He spoke of the leadership role of Senator William Lockyer in establishing a Conference Committee (Senator Keene; Assemblymen Baker and Campbell, members) in con- junction with legislation he is sponsoring with hearings to be scheduled this fall in several locations to receive input on a traffic mitigation concept that would be acceptable to jurisdic- tions within the Bay Area. Mr. Smith referred to. the first hearing held on October 8, 1987, in which several concepts became apparent. He advised that the Conference Committee determined that the project should be designed to provide for a comprehensive approach to mitigating traffic congestion with consideration given to combining the bonding issues on the bridges in some fashion so as to provide for a stronger financial base in which to make some major improvements over the next ten years; the need for additional study for a southern crossing; and the major capital. projects relative to the Martinez-Benicia Bridge including identification of the financing mechanism. He advised that consideration should also be given to the replacement or. rebuilding of the old Carquinez Bridge; a maintenance deck or special deck for the Bay Bridge; and the refurbishing of several of the other bridges. Mr. Smith emphasized that the 'Legislature wants to support a package that would include not only a new bridge but also a transit component, a high occupancy vehicle (HOV) component, and a .TSM component to get more use out of existing facilities. He advised of. the Governor' s position not to approve funding for transit improvements through increased bridge tolls. He expressed confidence that the Legislature would approve this comprehensive approach. There was discussion on the concept for a toll increase on the bridges and the reluctance of people to support this propo- sal; the feasibility of a toll-free period to relieve congestion at the toll booth of the Martinez-Benicia Bridge and the possible impact on paying the bonded indebtedness; a proposal to ask the California Transportation Commission to consider toll free commuter or carpool/vanpool lanes on the Martinez-Benicia Bridge including the establishment of a procedure to insure that establishment of a toll-free period does not impact revenue and that the payment on the investment of the bridge bond holders is not at risk; a 1 proposal to attach conditions to new developments to assist in the financing of TSM projects; the need for a regional approach to resolving traffic congestion in the Bay Area; the need for a comprehensive approach to resolving traffic congestion in Solano and Contra Costa counties; potential tax increase election to fund transportation projects; TSM across the Carquinez Straits including a high occupany vehicle (HOV) program and transit facilities to provide an attractive alternative or incentive to the single-occu- pant vehicle; and encouraging employees within the respective counties to carpool. At the conclusion of the discussion, the Board of Supervisors of Solano and Contra Costa counties requested D. J. Smith, Transportation Lobbyist for Contra Costa County, and Edward. Gerber, Legislative Advocate for Solano County, to develop a joint resolution for presentation to the State Transportation Commission urging the establishment of high occupancy vehicle (carpool-vanpool) lanes on the Carquinez and Martinez-Benicia Bridges. The Supervisors then considered the draft resolution on transportation issues of mutual concern. The two Boards agreed to further review the resolution with each Board submitting any changes to the other for possible incorporation into the final draft. It was agreed that each Board would approve the final draft. Dr. Edward Lopez , Medical Director, Solano County, reported on issues of cooperation in the delivery of indigent health care by Contra Costa County to Solano County residents. He spoke on the success of the recently established perinatal clinic. Virginia Rusk of Arthur Young and Associates provided an overview of her work in assessing the demand for services provided by Merrithew Memorial Hospital, the patient population served and health care needs of that population, and the architectural and financial considerations for constructing a new hospital. She referred to the demand for health care and the interaction between Solano and Contra Costa County in this effort. Ms. Rusk spoke on the limited financial resources available to provide for the increasing demand for indigent health care, declining access to private physicians for MediCal and other patients; increasing numbers of un- and underinsured working individuals; and the limited ability of private hospitals to absorb uncompensated care. She noted that these conflicting trends are pushing public health. care into a crisis situation. She referred to mandates placed on counties as specified in the Welfare and Institutions Code Section 17000 requiring health care access to the indigent and poor. Ms. Rusk commented on the advantages of affiliation options and shared ventures as a means for sharing resources and decreasing overhead costs while providing a wider scope of services. Board members discussed the impact of growth and urban- ization on public health care facilities and the need to solicit the cooperation of the cities to address this issue; the reluctance or refusal of nursing homes to take MediCal patients and the placement of these patients in county hospitals; the loss of MediCal support services; and the slow reimbursement rate of payment to counties as as well as the medical community for services provided to MediCal patients. At the conclusion of the discussion, the Supervisors requested Edward Gerber and Clay Jackson (Contra Costa County Lobbyist.) , to develop an action plan urging the Governor and Legislature to restore MediCal funds removed from the State budget with emphasis on the issues as discussed. Bob Pendoley, Environmental Management Director, Solano County, reported on how Solano and Contra Costa counties are coordinating the preparation of their AB 2948 (Tanner) Hazardous Waste Management Plans. He advised that each county is gathering data relative to the import and export of hazardous waste. He 2 i 1� advised of the importance in ensuring the accuracy of these figures for the development of the Hazardous Waste Management Plan. He spoke on the notion of mutual agreements as set forth in the State Department of Health' s guidelines relative to the preparation of Hazardous Waste Management Plans. Mr. Pendoley advised that there is some concern with the ideology of these mutual agreements and that planners of the two counties have raised this issue at the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) on the need for a definition. He advised that both counties are represented on the Task Force writing the Regional Tanner Plan and that a subcommittee of the task force has been established to define this issue. He questioned the legal authority of having far reaching mutual agreements between counties dealing with hazardous waste issues. There was discussion on the allocation of funds to the county for the development of its respective plans and the manner in which Environmental Impact Reports were being prepared with consideration being given to maximizing utilization of staff and funding resources. Paul Hughey, Executive Director, Coalition of Labor and Business, Contra Costa County, spoke on the Baldwin Ship Channel and how it can be used to improve economic and recreational oppor- tunities in both counties. Mr. Hughey presented background rela- tive to the deepening and widening of the existing channel from San Francisco to Stockton, the projects completed to date (Phase I and Phase II ) , and the last phase (Phase III ) remaining to be done. He noted that this last phase will allow ships to come fully loaded through the Golden Gate through the Carquinez Straits to their docks in Contra Costa and Solano counties. He advised that the Army Corps of Engineers is doing environmental studies as well as a study on current naviational practices and ship handling practices by all shippers along the channnel. Mr. Hughey advised that the Corps anticipates beginning the dredging operation in four years. However, he expressed concern with the new system recently adopted by Congress to pay for projects of this type. Paul Hughey advised that if the cost of the project is grandfathered in under the old rate, the local share would be approximately $2 million; if the new rate is applied, he estimated that local match to be $10 to $15 million. Commenting on the limited fiscal resources available to Solano and Contra Costa counties, Mr. Hughey spoke on the feasibil- ity of collecting this money from the beneficiaries using the channel, of the need to establish an entity to collect the fees and of the need to develop a financial plan to guarantee payment of the local matching funds. He noted that completion of the channel will enable companies in these two counties to operate more efficiently and economically while being able to compete with shipping inter- ests in Southern California and Puget Sound. There was discussion on the effect of dredging on the commercial fishing industry and recreational fisherman, the poten- tial of water degradation in the Delta, and the need to monitor all issues relative to the Phase III project. Therefore, staff of the two counties were instructed to investigate all the issues relative to this final phase, i.e. , the financing authority, levying of fees, and environmental issues. Staff was further instructed to submit recommendations as to the direction the two Boards should proceed. Phil Batchelor, County Administrator of Contra Costa County, and Rich Watson, County Administrator of Solano County, spoke on the impact of recently passed legislation that was to provide fiscal relief to counties. It was noted that many of the bills were amended during the last hours of the Legislative Session that created problems to the counties in the way in which fiscal trade-offs were to be received. There was discussion on the impact of SB 709 . Mr. Batchelor estimated a gain in revenue to Contra Costa County of $6. 8 million the first year becoming less each year with a project- ed cumulative revenue loss of $36 . 8 million in a 15 year period. 3 Mr. Watson commented on the impact of fines and forfeiture revenue losses to Solano County. Mr. Batchelor advised that Contra Costa has been designated by the Association of County Administrators to draft legislation to correct deficiencies in SB 709 and of Senator Bergeson' s willingness to sponsor the legislation. Supervisor Davis requested a copy of the draft legislation to afford the Solano County Board of Supervisors the opportunity to surpport it. In reference to the minutes of the meeting of June 16, 1987, Supervisor Davis requested that the minutes be corrected to reflect Solano County' s plans to participate with their Private Industry Council on a Gate Program (not Gain Program) . The minutes were then approved as corrected. There was consensus between the two Boards to meet in December 1987 in Contra Costa County. It was agreed that the agenda would provide for further discussion on MediCal issues, transportation issues, the Baldwin Ship Channel improvements, health care issues including the relationship with Solano and Contra Costa counties and the potential of sharing and resolving problems so as to provide for the delivery of good health care to the constituency in the two counties. Respectfully submitted Phil Batchelor, Clerk of the Board of Supervisors and County Administrator, Contra Costa County Jeanne O. Maglio Deputy Clerk 4