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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/21/1992, C-8 - CAPITAL PROJECT COORDINATION AND COMMUNICATIONI�IIIII�III�I I 11/ r MEETING QQ&g. IpHU�� c� 0 SdYI LUIS oBiSpo 1- 21 -97., I d, COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT" NUMBER: ^� FROM: Ken Hampian, Assistant City Administrative Office SUBJECT: Capital Project Coordination and Communication CAO RECOMMENDATION: Adopt a resolution establishing a policy for coordination and communication in the completion of capital improvement projects in the downtown area, and in other portions of the community as appropriate. DISCUSSION: Last Fall, the Business Improvement Association (BIA) raised several concerns regarding the coordination of capital improvement projects in the downtown area. The BIA Board of Directors submitted 14 suggestions for improvement. Staff met internally on several occasions to develop a response to these suggestions, and meetings were also held with BIA staff and Board members.. Ultimately, a program for improved communication and coordination was outlined in a November 6, 1991 letter from the CAO to the BIA Board of Directors. Both the BIA suggestions and the staff response to those suggestions are outlined in this letter, provided as Attachment 1. City staff is committed to the successful implementation of this program, and many of the commitments outlined in the November 6th letter have already been implemented. Among all of the actions to take place, perhaps the most important will be the quarterly "coordination meetings" to be held by the BIA, the City, and the utility companies. These meetings will establish a process for regular communication, planning, and problem solving. The first such meeting has been scheduled for January 20, 1992. Although the improvement program is well under way, the Council has directed that the principles of improved communication and coordination be memorialized in the form of a City Council resolution. This will assure that these practices become City policy and will be carried out through successive city councils and regardless of changes in City or BIA personnel. CONCURRENCES: Public Works, Utilities Department, and BIA staff have reviewed and concur with the proposed resolution. The BIA's comments are outlined in Attachment 2, and with the exception of the parking issue, have been incorporated into the resolution (Attachment 3). Staff feels that the parking concern is more of an operational issue, and will work with the BIA in an effort to satisfactorily address the concern in the near term. FISCAL IMPACT: While there will be some additional staff time associated with the increased communication/ coordination efforts, the cost is difficult �� ►� ►►�iluililllllil��'j�I�III city of san t. osIspo COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT Page 2 to estimate. However, it is not expected to be significant in comparison to the benefit. Project costs could also increase somewhat depending upon project scope, complexity, and sensitivity (due to more rigorous specification requirements). 'Again, however, the potential for some increase should not discourage improvements in this area. ATTACHMENTS: 1 - November 6, 1991 Letter to BIA 2 - BIA Comments on Draft Resolution 3 - Final Proposed Resolution ���������i�►►���Illl�lllla� °1611 City O SAn hues OBISPO 990 Palm Street /Post Office Box 8100 • San Luis Obispo, CA 93403.8100 November 6, 1991 BIA Board of Directors c/o Lynn Block, BIA Administrator P. O. Box 1402 San Luis Obispo, CA 93406 Dear Board Members: Thank you for your memorandum of October 15, 1991 outlining numerous suggested strategies for enhancing public relations and information with respect to City capital projects in the downtown area. We agree that there is room for improvement and consequently staff has met over the last couple of weeks to develop specific responses to your suggestions. Although we do not concur with every suggestion, I believe our proposal is very responsive to your requests, which says much about the quality of your suggestions and our interest in working with the BIA on this issue. Prior to outlining our individual responses to your suggestions, I would like to say that a most productive action has already been taken, the creation of a joint BIA -City staff- utility company group which will hold quarterly meetings for purposes of project coordination. These meetings will either fully or partially respond to many of the BIA'S 13 suggestions, and we look forward to getting started with that process. With that in mind, outlined below are the BIA'S suggestions and the City's specific responses to them. 1. The BIA should receive copies of all Public Works, Utilities, and private construction projects scheduled for the downtown core 30 days in advance of projected start date. The BIA will publish project description, scheduled dates, and small maps in the monthly newsletter. The Public Works Department will sere as the lead department in coordinating with the BIA. Dave Romero has been designated as the primary BIA contact person for the time being. Dave will see that the BIA receives project maps, schedules and project descriptions at least 30 days in advance of start of work scheduled in the downtown core. Staff will notify affected businesses in writing 30 days in advance of start of work. This will apply firmly to work contracted by the City, but will include only "best available information" regarding utility projects and private construction projects. We will provide BIA with quarterly updates, through the quarterly meetings process which has been established with the BIA and utility companies. (This will not cover emergency projects because, by their very nature, they cannot be anticipated.) 2. Projects that have a lengthy completion schedule should include a BIA representative in the scheduling. process to avoid any complications. The BIA will assist in the coordination of projects in the downtown core to avoid adverse impact from undertaking several projects simultaneously. ATTACHMENT 1 eQ3 BIA November 6, 1991 Page 3 6. The City should analyze the lost revenue from projects to determine the benefit the promotional and communication plans will have to the City. We do not believe that there is a meaningful way to analyze 'lost revenue from projects", either on an individual business basis or a city -wide basis. In fact, it can be argued that maintenance of public infrastructure actually enhances revenue in the long term. Certainly cities which have not done so have suffered dire economic consequences, including the deterioration of the commercial sector. We are willing, however, to improve our communication efforts and will work diligently with the BIA to do so, as outlined earlier. 7. The City should send written or hand delivered notices to all businesses. On long term projects, an informational update should be sent on the status of the project. The Public Works Department agreed to this some months ago and it is now a part of department written practice. This practice will be extended for all appropriate City projects in the downtown, including those managed by other departments. Updates will be prepared on long term projects. 8. Community meetings or public forums should be called on. large complex projects. These should be held near the proposed site. All parties involved in the project should be notified in writing 10 days before the meeting date. This is a good idea and we will be glad to participate in community meetings on City projects of interest to the BIA in the downtown area. We will ask that the BIA play a key role by helping us identify which projects warrant such meetings and in helping to set up the meeting place and time, and in promoting the meetings. In other words, we are ready to make presentations on any projects of interest to the BIA, and we will work with you to do so. 9. The contractor should be asked to make positive Impacts on construction area. For instance, utility companies may be required to slurry seal the entire street to give the whole street a brand new appearance. While this does add to the cost, it certainly improves the public relations aspect of the project. By written directive, City engineering staff has been asked to write and enforce tighter specifications in the downtown area, so as to minimize inconvenience to individual businesses and the general public. There is a point of negative return with this, however. If contractor operations are too severely restricted, the jobs could take substantially longer and cost more. We will try to achieve improvements without causing delay and high cost. We will seek a balance. The following pages Were omitted from the "Capital Pi.ject Coordination and Communication agenda report, IIC -8: They should.be insertld as indicated oar the bottom right -hand corner of each page: I BIA MEETING AGENDA C% November 6, 1991 DATE �ITEM#= Page 2 We will be happy to have a BIA representative assist City staff in coordinating construction projects in the downtown core. Again, we think this will occur through the quarterly meeting process. Perhaps it goes without saying, but we would like to emphasize that schedules are difficult to adhere to because so much of the timing of projects is beyond staff control. Delays are caused by such things as funding delays (grants), utility company budgeting, private business loans, delays in environmental review, continuation of agenda items due to City Council overload, changing priorities on design, delay of a related project, and unforeseen emergencies which pull staff from design work. The City will have to adjust scheduling periodically, perhaps quarterly. The key is to keep the BIA informed of these changes as they become known (and we will do so) and for the BIA to help "oet the word out" to those affected by the changes. 3. The BIA should be notified before bids are accepted for projects with specific timeframes. The annual budget process would serve as a perfect time to provide advance notification of scheduled projects. Regular communication on project schedules through the quarterly meetings and other forms of communication should address this suggestion. 4. The BIA should be provided with a fact sheet detailing rationale and benefit of all City projects downtown. This information should be shared with all City agencies including the Chamber of Commerce and community representatives. The City will provide a fact sheet, which includes rationale and benefit information, with our quarterly report to BIA and with the 30 day advance notice. Much of this information can also be derived from the City's Capital Improvement Plan and we have enclosed a copy of the 1991 -93 Plan for your review. 5. The City should participate in the promotion of the specific project area during projects to protect the vitality of businesses during these potentially threatening projects. The BIA and City should develop a uniform program for carrying out this promotion. If "promotion" means enhanced notification practices, then. we are fully supportive,. as noted above. However, If "promotion" means a financial contribution to a special advertising program, then we cannot provide a "blanket" concurrence with this suggestion. There may be times when a project is of such an extraordinary magnitude that the disruption to specific businesses is equally extraordinary and long term (e.g., the 1989 Higuera Street storm drain project). We are open to considering participating in a promotional program for such extraordinary projects on a case -by -case basis. e8 JX BIA November 6, 1991 Page. 4 With regard to "cosmetic" treatment of streets for public relations purposes, the BIA is suggesting a slurry seal on streets. This would represent an increase in costs for the City, for utilities, and for the business property developer or business owner who had to extend a utility trench into the street. It would also extend the time to complete each job because of the required street closure with a slurry seal or other pavement treatment. Also, fog seals and slurry seals can sometimes be somewhat "messy" jobs with consequences which may not be desirable in a dense downtown area. In summary, we are open to the idea, but think that there are reasons to more fully discuss the concept with the BIA in the context of the quarterly meetings to assure that we both truly believe this is a 000d idea. The City is planning a resurfacing (paving) of all downtown streets, now scheduled for 1994 -95. This is to allow all needed major infrastructure replacements to be completed first. 10. City agencies with authority to impose street closures should be linked to one central clearing authority to avoid multiple closing in one area causing intensified traffic impact and congestion. A directive has been sent to Public Works and Utilities crews to avoid scheduling routine maintenance work requiring street closure, if it will conflict with other construction activity. (Emergency work is exempted.) All street closures will require clearance through Jerry Kenny or Mike Bertaccini of the City Engineer's office in order to assure proper coordination. '. 11. The contractor should be held responsible for the control of street parking, construction staging, signage, traffic. control, and weekend and evening street openings to ease the effect of projects on merchants. Contractors on City jobs are already responsible for these items, although stronger oversight by the City may be necessary at times. Design staff has been directed to review and tighten specifications and enforcement to some reasonable degree so as to reduce adverse effect on businesses, but without lengthening the jobs to any significant extent. Again, we will seek an appropriate balance. 12. City staff should be informed about' the progress and scheduled completion dates of projects to maintain continuity between responses to merchants. The project manager and the inspector for each job should have current information on job status. Generally, public inquiries should be referred by City staff to one of these two most knowledgeable individuals. However, it is not practical to keep A other City staff completely up to date on the many City jobs �8_T/ BIA November 6, 1991 Page 5 • going on at one time. Occasionally, a member of the public insists on talking to other staff members. When this happens, it is our expectation that those staff members will first check with the project manager or inspector before giving out specific information. This has been long time City practice, although at times communication still gets "muddled" as a result of the sheer number of individuals that sometimes are drawn into a given situation. We will do our part by trying to diligently follow our established communication practices. The BIA can help by trying to the extent feasible to direct inquiries to the right people. Identifying project managers early on through the quarterly meetings will help us all know who the key players are "up front'. 13. The City paper is useful, not only as a legal notification, but as a way to contact large segments of the population. Arranging face -to -face interviews with local reporters to discuss the project is vital to facilitating communication. The City has recently stepped up its efforts to increase publicity and public awareness of City jobs, using several different means. For example, attached are examples of "pre -job" information distributed relative to the Wastewater project. We will continue these aggressive efforts on major City projects. 14. Press releases with maps to all local papers are critical and keep the press up- to -date. This should include a follow -up phone call by City staff. We agree and shall do so; please see our response to item 13 above. Given the complexity and extent of major capital improvement projects, even the most diligent efforts probably will not "make everyone happy all of the time°. However, we do believe that by working more closely together we can do a better job of completing necessary projects with the least possible amount of disruption and misunderstanding. The successful implementation of the plans outlined in this letter will go a long way toward that end. We look forward to working with the BIA in this effort. Sincerely, _ nn City Administrative Officer c- City Council Hampian Romero Hetland Bertaccini uoyd BIo:bw ��•S BIA-MY TO: Ken Hampian, Assistant City Administrative Officer FROM: Lynn Block, Administrator BUSIN M ROE T DATE: January 9, 1992 AS S O CI RE: Capital Project Coordination and Communication The following comments are suggested additions /changes SAN LUI to the staff report on Capitol Projects Coordination and Communication. The BIA would like to see some mention of the parking procedure /policy that contractors must follow. If this is to specific for the proposed resolution then it should be addressed at the January 20, 1992 meeting. The concern over parking lies in the abuse of the meter bags contractors are allowed to utilize during projects. The BIA would like to see restrictions implemented to control the use of-the meter bags. Clarification on the procedure for notifying the businesses effected by projects would be helpful. The BIA understands that the contractor is responsible for notifying the effected businesses on all major projects. Secondly, the inclusion of a statement specifying the Holiday Season (Thanksgiving to Christmas) as an inappropriate time for the scheduling of projects would be appreciated. Finally, comments expressing the cities concern for maintaining a positive business environment and interest in protecting the vitality of the core businesses during projects would be appreciated. The effort on behalf of the BIA coordinate the projects downtown The results of these efforts are positive impact on the downtown. ATTAM ENT 2 by the city staff to is great appreciated. already having a C8- !0 3 EGRAM-TRIBUNE County & region A -4 Settucsy: July 111992 In Luis Obispo Couary (Calif.) ` The main line Inconvenience for -SLO. motorists; but results will aid environment By David Eddy Telegram- Tnbune Orange canes are sprouting on the streets of San Luis Obispo as construction of a new sewer pipeline and improvements to the sewage treatment plant are underway. Progress on the instanation of the sewer main, which w-M handle all the sewage from Late west side of the city, has just reached M- a Street. 32 -mile, 46 -inch pipe wi]l'eventuaDy extend from the Prado Road plant to 13on'a1ban Street at Hatbway Avenue. Several streets will be torn up to install the pipe, forcing the closure of some traffic lanes. But no streets will be entirely blocked during the construction, which will take M -where fi•om five to 10 months. Besides Mguera, other major streets affected include Match, Aipomo and Cborro. However, none of the streets in the down - towm area will be disrupted during Christ - mas shopping season. At 65 MWo4, the sewer pipelme is a s "aD part of the overall project, which has a :oval price tag of 595 mtllioa ' Most of the money ag pay for upgrading he plant,. specifically cleaning and cooling be sewage Af a grotmd-breaking ceremony+ at the ?last Tbursday morning, Mayor Ron Dania said the treated water the plant extracts -om the sewage will be among the dearest n the state: Besides being a boon to the animals. that ive in and around San Luis Obispo Creek, xbere the water Is dumped, Dunin noted the Droject will provide a direct benefit to the Ctrs residents ' "By using this water for irrigation,° said Junin, speaking in front of a huge sewage digester, "v4 will make more potable water avaDable" Of course, those benefits won't come cheap to city residers. Even though the city was able to secure a 9S percent loan from the stale, sewage bills will eventualh double. Each Juh, sewage bills are being raised S2 to pay for the project The first increase occurred one year ago, and there will be four increases in all, raising the average sewage bill from se to $36 per month. The city had little choice but to spend the money. The state Regional Water Quality Control Board has fined the city several times over the years for sewage spills, and since 1986 the city bas been under state order to purify the treated sewage water it dumps into the creek Citing the tin's rocky relationship with the water quality board, Dunin smiled as he told board members I hope you all put your attention to another city.° . ch Tom Petersen, the board's vice airman, bailed the groundbreaking as a momentous ocrzvon. "AD streams in California are important, but San Lvis Obispo Creek is particularly. so," be said, noting it had the. state's southernmost steelhead trout run The steelbead population has been de- stroyed by the sewage the city had been dumping into the creek he said. Cleaning up the lagoon that forays at the . mouth of the ova in Avila Beach is another good• reason for the project; said Petersen. 7be lagoon is a' popular wading and dreg spot, particularly for young dtil- Tbe project is due to be finished in the fall of 3999. E isn'1'finished In time, the city could be liable for more fines from the water qualllyboard. Source: ChyofSL0 Ken MvCaIV Telegram-Tribune 0 ban §� J O CN New SLO sewer main route �r- 1 a' High Street 101 ° o, South Street a addae SL is N _ Aa Pr �9� VJ SLO sewage treatment plant Source: ChyofSL0 Ken MvCaIV Telegram-Tribune RESOLUTION NO. (1992 SERIES) POLICY FOR IMPROVED COORDINATION AND COMMUNICATION IN THE COMPLETION OF CITY CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS WHEREAS, it is essential to maintain and upgrade City infrastructure in order to provide reliable municipal services and to maintain a healthy local economy; and WHEREAS, the completion of necessary capital improvement and maintenance projects can sometimes cause inconvenience to businesses, particularly in the downtown area, and to City residents; and WHEREAS, most businesses and residents are willing to accept ,a level of inconvenience, provided that projects are coordinated and managed carefully, and that the need for a project is understood; and WHEREAS, the BIA has requested certain enhancements in the coordination of capital projects in the downtown core, and in the level of communication between the City and the BIA regarding project purpose and status; and WHEREAS, the City shares the BIA's concern for maintaining a positive business environment, including protecting the vitality of businesses to the extent feasible during City construction projects. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the City Council of the City of San Luis Obispo does hereby set forth the following policy to be followed in the completion of capital improvement projects in the downtown and, as appropriate, elsewhere in the community: 4!-f - 7 Page 2 Resolution No. (1992 Series) 1. The City will provide ample notification to businesses and residents, either directly or through its contractors, regarding planned - capital improvement projects, particularly those planned in the downtown core; and 2. All reasonable steps will be taken by the City staff to ensure ample communication and coordination relative to planned City projects (non- emergency) in the downtown, including: a) A minimum of 30 day notification to the BIA prior to construction; _ b) The preparation of project "fact sheets" for the BIA to fully explain project purpose and other important information; C) Participation in quarterly "project coordination meetings" with the BIA and the utility companies; d) Attending or conducting community meetings and /or forums and making presentations for larger complex projects when requested by the BIA, or as determined by staff; e) Assurance that project specifications require adequate contractor responsibility for notification, signage, and procedures to minimize impacts on affected businesses to the extent feasible; and f) Avoiding scheduling projects between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Page 3 Resolution No. (1992 Series) 3. The BIA shall be responsible for communicating with its membership regarding project plans and status following receipt of project information from the City; and 4. The City staff will make every effort to ensure that: a) All involved staff members share and communicate accurate information; and b) That projects managed by different departments are properly coordinated. , Upon motion of , seconded by and oa the following roll call vote: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: the foregoing resolution was adopted this day of 1992. ATTEST: Mayor Ron Dunin City Clerk APPROVED: rIS dministrative officer kh:bw \princI pt 6p-- 6