HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-15-2014 B3 Highland Entry MonumentCity of San Luis Obispo, Council Agenda Report, Meeting Date, Item Number
FROM: Daryl Grigsby, Director of Public Works
Prepared By: Bridget Fraser, Sr. Civil Engineer
SUBJECT: HIGHLAND ENTRY MONUMENT
RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Approve funding transfers to the City Gateways project construction account totaling
$125,000 as follows:
a) $15,000 from the City Gateways design account;
b) $55,000 from the Completed Projects account; and
c) $55,000 from the Directional Sign Program project accounts ($30,000 from design and
$25,000 from construction)
2. Approve a $125,000 match, as requested by the San Luis Obispo Council of Governments, in
support of construction of the Highland Entry Monument project.
3. Direct staff to return funds back to original accounts, in the event the Highland Entry
Monument Project does not move forward.
4. Direct staff to submit CIP Requests in the 2015-17 budget process to replace the $55,000
Directional Sign Program funds.
DISCUSSION
Background
The San Luis Obispo Council of Governments (SLOCOG) is currently managing a Scenic
Byways Gateway project which includes entry monuments for three communities – San Luis
Obispo, Cambria and San Simeon - along the Route 1 North Coast Scenic Byway. The entry
monument proposed for San Luis Obispo is located at the corner of Highland Drive and
Highway 1 (Santa Rosa) at the city limits which is also the southerly boundary of the North
Coast Scenic Byway. This SLOCOG managed project is primarily funded by a federal Scenic
Byways grant.
As part of SLOCOG’s project, the three communities were required to design their monuments
and obtain local approvals. The design for the City’s Highland entry monument was approved by
Council at their Oct 18, 2011 meeting (Attachment 1). Following that approval, SLOCOG had
to prepare the construction documents, obtain state and federal approvals, manage the funding
and oversee the bidding and construction of the three projects. The SLOCOG project is
tentatively scheduled for construction next spring.
Request for Match
SLOCOG is in the final stages of preparing of the construction documents and finalizing the
federal grant programming documents. Based on current cost estimates, SLOCOG determined
that the original grant will not cover the cost of the three projects. Consequently, they have asked
each of the three recipient agencies to contribute to the cost of construction to cover a $210,000
shortfall. Based on the cost of the Highland entry monument, SLOCOG has requested that the
City of San Luis Obispo contribute $125,000 to complete the project. The estimated cost of the
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Highland monument is approximately $250,000 for construction and contingencies (not
including the costs for preparing the bid docs, processing for approvals, project management or
construction management.) It is recommended that Council approve the match as requested by
SLOCOG. Despite the increased cost, this represents an opportunity to complete this project by
contributing one-half the construction and installation costs.
CONCURRENCES
1. The Highland Entry Monument design was reviewed and approved by the Promotional
Coordinating Committee on May 11, 2011 and the Architectural Review Commission on
May 16, 2011 and City Council on October 18, 2011.
2. At the May 14, 2014 meeting, the Promotional Coordinating Committee forwarded a
recommendation to Council to approve funding transfers to support the Highland Entry
Monument project and to approve a $100,000 match (the amount SLOCOG had indicated at
that time, was needed). The PCC also recommended that Council restore the $55,000 to the
Directional Sign account in the next budget cycle or, if the Highland Monument does not
move forward, to return those funds back to the Directional Sign Program accounts
(Attachment 2).
FISCAL IMPACT
The Highland Entry Monument project evolved from the City Gateways project identified in the
2007-09 Financial Plan, Appendix B, pages 3-446 through 3-449. The scope of the City
Gateways project originally involved improvements to existing entry monuments along Highway
101 as well as providing a new monument at Highland Drive and Highway 1. The anticipated
grant funding identified in the Financial Plan was not realized leaving only $38,000 to support
the projects. At this point, the original City Gateways project was modified to include only the
entry monument at Highland Drive. A grant was secured for construction of an entry monument
at this location through a federal Scenic Byways Grant secured by SLOCOG. Under this
relationship with SLOCOG, the City paid for and developed the design for the Highland Entry
Monument then turned the design over to SLOCOG for final preparation of the bid documents,
bidding and construction. There is currently $17,200 remaining in the City Gateways design
account.
If Council wishes to approve the $125,000 match as request by SLOCOG to support construction
of the Highland Entry Monument, staff has identified the following potential funding sources:
Account Amount
City Gateways - Design 15,000$
Completed Projects (413) Major Facility Replacment 55,000$
Directional Sign Program - Design 30,000$
Directional Sign Program - Construction 25,000$
125,000$
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There is currently $17,200 remaining in the City Gateways project account. Staff recommends
allocating $15,000 towards the match and retaining $2,200 for possible incidentals and
meter/service fees that may not be covered by the SLOCOG project funds.
Approximately $68,000 of unused funds will be transferred to the Completed Projects account as
a result of the recently completed Jack House Restroom and Gazebo project. Completed Projects
funds are balances remaining from project budgets once all authorized project work is completed
and funds are then available to other capital projects in need of funding. Staff recommends
allocating $55,000 of these unused funds towards the match and leaving the remaining $13,000
for facility maintenance projects that may have a shortfall, as significant deferrals have occurred
in this area in recent years.
The City Wayfinding Signs (aka Directional Sign Program) project is identified in the 2013-15
Financial Plan, pages 3-267 through 3-270, with allocations to support design of additional
wayfinding program components as well as allocations to support continued fabrication and
installation of directional signs. Due to the close link between entry monuments and the
wayfinding signs (both are part of the City’s Wayfinding Program), staff recommends that the
remaining $55,000 required for the SLOCOG match come from current allocations of the City
Wayfinding Signs project - $30,000 from the design phase and $25,000 from the construction
phase. Impacts to the wayfinding sign project work scope will reduce the next directional sign
fabrication and installation project by $25,000. This would reduce the proposed 34± signs by
seven, to 27±.
These signs as well as additional design tasks would be completed when additional funds are
allocated in future budgets.
ALTERNATIVES
1. Deny the request for matching funds. The City could choose to not provide the matching
funds and opt out of the SLOCOG project. Staff does not recommend this alternative.
Council has shown support for this project as well as invested staff time and funds in its
design. Grant opportunities such as this may not come again.
2. Identify other sources for the matching funds. Council could direct staff to provide the
match through the General Fund reserve. Staff does not recommend this alternative as the
recommended strategy provides funding from related projects with minimal delays to
implementation of the other phases of the Wayfinding Signs project.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Council Agenda Report of October 18, 2011
2. PCC Meeting minutes of May 14, 2014 (Excerpt)
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Promotional Coordinating Committee
Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
5:30 pm at City Hall
CALL TO ORDER: Vice Chair Sasha Palazzo
PRESENT: Cox, Franciskovich, Levi
STAFF PRESENT: Molly Cano, Tourism Manager
Meeting to order at 5:33 pm
CONSENT AGENDA
ACTION: Moved by Cox/ Franciskovich to approve the consent agenda.
Motion carried 4:0
BUSINESS ITEMS
1. WAYFINDING PROGRAM UPDATE
City Engineer, Bridget Fraser, presented a program update on the Wayfinding Sign status. She
provided a brief background on the history of the project then presented the current status. The
projects nine prototype signs, a mix of vehicular and pedestrian signs, have been installed around
downtown and the City is currently collecting feedback over the next 6 weeks to determine changes
necessary for the permanent sign fabrication and installation. First project permanent install is
expected in Spring 2015. Next project that is beginning is the downtown orientation maps- design
should being mid-summer. The third project of focus currently is the monument sign. This project
was originally anticipated to be funded through a grant with SLOCOG, however the estimated costs
exceed expectation so funds are being requested from the City for the project. SLOCOG has
requested $100,000 from the City of SLO to cover our portion of the monument sign project. Fraser
noted that staff recommended that $55,000 come from the Wayfinding Sign project budget. Fraser
presented the committee with an option of where these shortfall funds could come from including the
design and construction budgets for the directional signage. The reaming $45,000 would come from
the completed projects fund and the remaining city gateway design fund. The impact of this transfer
would be the reduction in 5-7 directional signs from the complete project
.
The committee discussed the request at great length. They were supportive of the transfer in order to
complete the monument sign project however; the committee was particularly concerned with having
the funds replaced in the budget when new funding becomes available so the project could be
completed as originally planned. They also requested to prioritize that any returned funds from the
$100,000 estimated costs for the monument project, be returned to the directional signage budget and
if the project doesn’t move fowrad that the funds are returned to the originally intended budgets.
ACTION: Moved by Levi/Cox to support the recommendation to City Council to approve funding
transfers totaling $100,000 to the City Gateways project account as follows: $55,000 from the
Directional Sign Program project account; $28,000 from the Completed Projects account; $17,000
from the City Gateways design account; and, to approve a $100,000 match as requested by the San
Luis Obispo Council of Governments in support of construction of the Highland Entry Monument
project. With the condition that if the project doesn’t move forward the funds are to be returned to the
directional signage budget; the request for the funds to be restored in the next budget cycle; and when
new funds become available for the Wayfinding Sign program they are restored to the Directional
Sign program account.
Motion carried 4:0
DRAFT
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