San Diego Infrastructure Committee Meeting - February 1, 2017
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San Diego Infrastructure Committee Meeting - February 1, 2017
The Infrastructure Committee of the San Diego City Council met on February 1, 2017, to discuss the third iteration of the five-year capital improvement outlook, which projects $4.3 billion in capital needs against $3 billion in available funding, leaving a $1.274 billion gap. The committee also heard public comment, received updates on streamlining measures, and discussed specific infrastructure projects.
Committee Member Introductions
- Vice Chair Chris Ward (District 3) expressed excitement about representing neighborhoods with aging infrastructure and monitoring the committee's work.
- Councilmember Georgette Gomez voiced enthusiasm for adding a community voice and finding ways to increase resources and quality of life.
Consent Calendar
- Items 1 through 5 were adopted unanimously via motion by Vice Chair Ward, seconded by Councilmember Zapf.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Martha Welch (public comment): Expressed concerns about privatization of city services, poor maintenance of public buildings, and lack of parking for the stadium. She criticized the condition of public facilities and stated that the city's list of projects "stinks."
- David Modi (Chair, Community Planners Committee): Supported restarting community engagement on the capital outlook, noting that planning groups value the process for educating communities and differentiating between low- and high-impact projects. He stated that CPC would host staff presentations in March and April/May 2017.
Discussion Items
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Five-Year Capital Improvement Outlook (FY2018-2022) – Staff presentation by James Negelvort (Director of Public Works), Marnell Gibson (Assistant Director/City Engineer), and project manager Mastanay.
- Key Assumptions: Seawalls/coastal assets due to sea level rise not included; convention center expansion not included; facility condition needs ($800M for 699 facilities) to be phased over 10-15 years; information technology excluded; maintenance activities (e.g., slurry seal) excluded; outdated Citigate data not used; grants only if in hand; development impact fees projected only one year; Prop H infrastructure funds assumed for capital.
- Funding Gap: $4.3 billion in needs, $3.03 billion in available funding, gap $1.274 billion. Enterprise-funded assets (water, sewer) nearly fully funded; gap almost entirely in general fund-supported assets. Gap has shrunk from $1.7 billion (first report) and $1.4 billion (second report) due to increased revenues.
- Asset-Specific Gaps: Stormwater ($328 million gap – largest), sidewalks ($101 million), bridges, street lights, bike facilities among others with significant shortfalls. Street repavement is fully funded.
- Stadium Debt: $47 million outstanding on 1997 renovation bonds, not callable until 2020; lease termination payment of $12.5 million received from Chargers.
- Capacity: Staff targeting $500-600 million annual expenditure; $600 million/year needed to meet outlook; capacity is dependent on consultant and contractor availability, with much of the increase driven by Pure Water program (14 projects).
- Climate Action Plan: Not fully integrated; some projects (solar, bike lanes) included but many obligations yet to be priced.
- Streamlining: Committee has supported multiple rounds of streamlining; staff uses multiple delivery methods (design-bid-build, design-build, MAC, job order contracting). Standard designs for fire stations and comfort stations are in progress.
- Community Engagement: Staff to present to Community Planners Committee in March and April/May 2017.
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IBA Comments (Charles Modick): Noted the outlook's improvement, emphasized that the $1.3 billion gap is entirely in general fund assets, highlighted stormwater as the largest gap ($328M), and cautioned that new facilities add operating costs. Recommended clear methodology for allocating deferred capital bonds.
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Committee Q&A:
- Chair Kercy: Highlighted positive trend of shrinking gap; discussed capacity and need for continued streamlining; proposed using $12.5M lease termination payment to pay down stadium debt.
- Councilmember Zapf: Asked about standard designs for fire stations/comfort stations (still in progress); questioned why Ocean Beach lifeguard station need is listed for 2022 despite current need; staff explained that new facilities are shown under specific asset lines while repairs are in general facilities line.
- Councilmember Gomez: Requested specific project list for climate action plan; questioned low funding for bike facilities ($750K/year) vs. road pavement; asked about urban forestry as capital cost; inquired about Civic San Diego projects and LAFCO funds; staff noted bike facilities are leveraged through resurfacing projects and that urban forestry is not currently considered capital.
- Vice Chair Ward: Followed up on stadium debt (cannot prepay before 2020); asked about capacity ($600M/year doable given industry conditions); discussed delivery methods; asked about bridges ($149M in FY2018 for Mission Bay Bridge), fire stations ($58M in FY2022 for future stations), sidewalks (33,000 linear feet per year from assessment), and traffic signals (DIF not projected beyond FY2018 due to volatility).
- Avenida de la Playa Project (La Jolla Shores): Staff reported that the storm drain system failed after construction; redesigned with new design team; repairs expected to be completed before summer 2017 moratorium; fully funded project not in outlook.
Key Outcomes
- The committee unanimously approved a motion (by Vice Chair Ward, seconded by Councilmember Zapf) to accept and receive the Five-Year Capital Improvement Outlook report.
- The next regularly scheduled meeting is March 1, 2017.
- Staff will provide additional information on climate action plan project lists, bike facility plans, and lifeguard station specifics.
- Discussion on using the $12.5 million Chargers lease termination payment to reduce stadium debt will continue during budget deliberations.
- Community engagement on the capital outlook will resume with CPC presentations in March and April/May 2017.
Meeting Transcript
We're gonna get started in just one minute. Let the record reflect that we are joined by kind of new composition of the committee here. We have uh Vice Chair Chris Ward as well as Councilmember Zapf returning. We appreciate that. And uh new council member uh Gomez as well. So um we of course have our city attorney representative Mark Mercer back. We have our IBA representative uh uh not Andrea, it says Andrea on here, but not Andrea, clearly uh Charles, as everybody could see. Uh our mayoral representative Marshall Anderson as well as Lee Friedman, our committee consultant. Like to thank the members of the public who are with us today are watching on City TV. We'll get started with non-agenda public comment. We do have one member of the public who would like to speak, and that is Martha Welch. If you'd please come forward, you have two minutes. I see like the county going private also on this agenda. Water is GE, water. Now, why do we have um pre-water and um and P and Sandy Oak water? Why? Is it a shell game or something? Every time I go uh uh that's for looking. They don't know what they're doing because I see the projects over here, over here, and here all the time. Now it privatizes I don't think you have workers sometimes. Because you don't have main you know maintenance. We heard about that already. Now we have no lambshapers or um all this stuff. Um now on the tape, the man was out there uh uh um with um what do you say um streets and everything? Are the really are they really or I don't know. I think you're have I think you're up um heavy because the everybody had 11 percent uh right, you know. That's what I think is going on here. Now the stadium, you know. If you all the plans I've seen about that, you have no parking. Now, how are you gonna do that with a TV? You have to have at least two of them, probably, because it's international. You know, you might have three trucks for the maybe it's gonna be uh Spanish, Portuguese, and uh English, maybe. So I don't know. I don't know how you're gonna do that if you don't have um parking there. Now I am. We also saw on this meeting we say it's SAP, and he can't come there to have another another one, another uh another one uh another way to do maintenance. We don't have maintenance. He said that right there. I can believe that because what do we have in the city? Um poor condition housing, uh poor uh buildings. Now I don't think that's very proud. I don't think that's being proud about that because you're the most owners you give the the worst ever. Because everything all the public buildings in this uh right now, like Babel and everything is is crumbling. But you don't care. I see because I walk everywhere and I see this stuff, and I saw your your list, and I think it stinks because you this is going on for years. It can be poor edition if you didn't um it doesn't overnight. Thank you. That concludes non-agenda public comment. It takes us to committee comment. We do have a couple of new members as uh previously indicated.
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