OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

San Diego Infrastructure Committee Meeting – April 25, 2018

Active Transportation & Infrastructure Committee — Wednesday, April 25, 2018
BodySan Diego, California
SessionActive Transportation & Infrastructure Committee
DateWednesday, April 25, 2018
StatusFILED
Video Record
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0:00

Our city attorney representative Tina Ray.

0:03

We have our IBA representative, Gillian Casey, and our mayoral representative, Lee Friedman.

0:09

As well, of course, as our infrastructure committee consultant Justin Garber.

0:13

Want to thank everybody for uh being with us or watching us on TV today.

0:16

We will start with non-agenda public comment, and we have none.

0:19

So that concludes non-agenda public comment.

0:22

We'll turn to committee comment.

0:24

Any members of the committee.

0:25

Mr.

0:26

Warden.

0:26

Just thank you, Mr.

0:27

Chair.

0:27

Just really briefly, I wanted to thank Transportation Stormwater and Public Works for their efforts on Washington Street and University Avenue just recently this past month.

0:35

We finally got that uh pipeline project completed with a new fresh overlay.

0:40

And in addition to that, we finally got some class two bike lanes uh throughout uh Hillcrest, which has been a real difficult challenge uh to transact east to west and get bikers safely across that neighborhood.

0:50

So thank you if you haven't been up there.

0:52

I encourage you to go see what a wonderful job they've done.

0:55

And uh, we got more coming, so thank you.

0:59

Thank you, Mr.

1:00

Ward.

1:00

Like that suit, by the way.

1:02

Let's see.

1:03

City attorney, IBA mayoral staff comment.

1:06

None.

1:07

Moving on to our adoption agenda, our meeting minutes for March 15th will stand approved as distributed, unless there are any objections.

1:13

Hearing and seeing none is are approved.

1:15

So we'll turn to our consent agenda.

1:17

We do have three items on consent today.

1:20

So I would be willing to entertain a motion on the agenda.

1:22

I actually have to pull item number three for a real brief discussion, but happy to move the balance of the consent agenda.

1:27

Okay.

1:28

We have a motion by Mr.

1:30

Ward for items one and two.

1:32

Second by uh Ms.

1:33

Zeff.

1:35

All in favor, please say aye.

1:37

Aye.

1:37

That carries unanimously.

1:39

Okay, so we'll turn to item number three.

1:43

You need a staff presentation on that, Mr.

1:44

Ward?

1:45

If staff is available to address the Georgia Street improvements.

1:50

And no presentation is needed.

1:52

I recognize that the action today is really just a minor amendment of 75,000 to our um engineering contract, and as well uh $500,000 that we'll be accepting for federal funds, and those will be reimbursing Transnet.

2:05

Is that correct?

2:07

Good afternoon, Akron Bass Union.

2:09

Yeah, and that is correct, yes.

2:10

Okay, $510,000.

2:12

Um I I really just wanted to bring this up for only a minute or two to uh have the opportunity to talk about Georgia Street and what has gone just from my perspective horribly wrong uh with the delays that we've had to endure through this project.

2:24

It was originally begun in July of 16 with a uh promise to the community a deadline, well not deadline, a uh hope uh full completion date of July 2017.

2:35

Uh and here we are in April of 2018, and we're on our fourth contract amendment.

2:41

Um the there are 146 working days behind schedule.

2:45

And uh when I my staff was inquiring in recent weeks, it said, well, you know, there's change orders, there's rain delays.

2:50

We haven't had a lot of rain this winter.

2:52

I see a lot of inactivity on that project site, and this of course is a major artery connecting North North Park and Uptown.

2:59

Can you talk briefly about what is going on with this project and why we're why we're having such unforeseen delays?

3:06

Sure.

3:06

So I'll give a brief and then uh Luis is here from uh construction management field services you can add on more if he'd like to.

3:13

Um some of the things we've encountered uh unforeseen during construction um were you know some of the soil behind the wall.

3:20

Uh we found boulders and things that we did not anticipate.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Public Works██████████████████████22%
Public Facilities Financing Plan██████████████████18%
Budget████████████12%
Engineering And Infrastructure█████████9%
Public Improvements████████8%
Transportation Safety██████6%
Public Transportation█████5%
Development Impact Fees████4%
Public Engagement████4%
Summary of Proceedings

San Diego Infrastructure Committee Meeting – April 25, 2018

The Infrastructure Committee met on April 25, 2018, to consider a consent agenda, several discussion items, and contribution agreements. Key actions included approving a $75,000 contract amendment for Georgia Street improvements despite delays, authorizing an $80 million commercial paper issuance for capital projects, and forwarding two contribution agreements (for the North Embarcadero Visionary Plan and the UTC Transit Center) to full City Council. Votes were mostly unanimous except for the two contribution agreements, which passed 3–1.

Consent Calendar

  • Items 1 and 2: Approved unanimously without discussion. Item 3 was pulled for discussion.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No public comments were made on non-agenda items or any agenda items except for a brief statement on Item 11 by Gary Smith (President, San Diego Downtown Residence Group), who urged caution about the precedent of refunding development impact fees (DIF) to the Port for improvements the city would not own or control.

Discussion Items

  • Item 3 – Georgia Street Improvements (Amendment): Councilmember Ward raised concerns about extensive delays (146 working days behind schedule, originally promised completion July 2017, now expected open to traffic in July 2018 and punch list by August 2018). Staff cited unforeseen conditions (boulders, asbestos pipe, trolley tracks, inaccurate as‑built records). Ward requested enhanced supervision of the contractor. The item was approved unanimously.
  • Item 4 – Regents Road Widening MOA with AT&T: Staff presented a memorandum of agreement for AT&T to reimburse the city up to $250,000 for redesign costs after AT&T’s facilities conflicted with construction. The committee approved unanimously (with Chair Kersey recused).
  • Item 5 – $80 Million Commercial Paper for CIP: Staff (Tracy McCraner, Adam Jones) outlined a four‑tier allocation: $4M to complete active construction, $1.1M to restore projects that funded the South Mission Beach Lifeguard Station, $47.7M for street resurfacing (Tier 3), and $27.2M for high‑priority design/engineering projects (Tier 4). The IBA supported the approach but noted the city’s long‑term capital needs exceed available financing. Councilmember Alvarez requested a list of resurfacing projects and breakdowns by asset type before council vote. Approved unanimously with direction to provide additional information.
  • Item 6 – FY18 Park & Recreation Amendments: Staff (Andy Field) explained reallocation of funds between District 2 and District 3 drainage and park projects, with no impact on schedules. Approved unanimously.
  • Item 7 – Tory Meadows Drive Overcrossing: Staff presented a cooperative agreement with Caltrans for a two‑lane bridge over SR‑56 (construction fall 2018 to spring 2020). The project includes bike lanes, sidewalks, and utility connections. The committee approved unanimously.
  • Item 8 – Murphy Canyon Trunk Sewer Repair & Rehab: Consultant agreement with Michael Baker International. Approved unanimously without discussion.
  • Item 9 – Development Impact Fee (DIF) Annual Report FY17: Staff (Marco Camacho) reported $88.7M collected, $414M ending balance, 94% of funds held over five years appropriated to CIPs. Councilmembers Ward and Alvarez questioned low interest earnings and timing of reports. Staff committed to providing a mid‑year update. Approved unanimously.
  • Item 10 – Carmel Valley PFFP and DIF Fee Schedule FY18: Staff (Megan Sheffield) proposed an 8% fee reduction (single‑family from $34,116 to $31,387; multifamily from $33,881 to $21,971) due to the community’s near‑build‑out and sufficient fund balances. The Carmel Valley Planning Board recommended approval unanimously. Approved unanimously.
  • Item 11 – Contribution Agreement for North Embarcadero Visionary Plan (NEVP): This unique agreement would refund $2.18M in DIF paid by the developer of Lane Field (hotel project) to the Port, for a public setback park and 271 public parking spaces valued at $15M. The developer also agreed to reinvest the refund in additional public improvements (traffic signal, mobility upgrades). The IBA and City Attorney reviewed the agreement; Councilmember Alvarez opposed due to concerns about precedent and procurement. Motion passed 3–1.
  • Item 12 – Contribution Agreement with SANDAG for UTC Transit Center: Staff (Steve Selniker) explained a $4M contribution (from North University City FBA) to SANDAG for the completed transit center. The agreement includes an escrow mechanism to ensure Westfield (developer) resolves prevailing wage allegations before receiving funds. Councilmember Alvarez opposed, citing unresolved prevailing wage issues and lack of city control. Motion passed 3–1.

Key Outcomes

  • Consent Calendar (Items 1&2): Approved unanimously.
  • Item 3 (Georgia Street): Approved unanimously; staff instructed to enhance contractor oversight.
  • Item 4 (Regents Road): Approved unanimously (Chair recused).
  • Item 5 ($80M Commercial Paper): Approved unanimously with direction to provide additional project lists to council.
  • Items 6, 7, 8: Approved unanimously.
  • Item 9 (DIF Report): Approved unanimously; staff to provide mid‑year update.
  • Item 10 (Carmel Valley PFFP): Approved unanimously.
  • Item 11 (NEVP Contribution): Approved 3–1 (Alvarez opposed).
  • Item 12 (UTC Transit Center Contribution): Approved 3–1 (Alvarez opposed).
  • The next regularly scheduled meeting is May 23, 2018.

Meeting Transcript

Our city attorney representative Tina Ray. We have our IBA representative, Gillian Casey, and our mayoral representative, Lee Friedman. As well, of course, as our infrastructure committee consultant Justin Garber. Want to thank everybody for uh being with us or watching us on TV today. We will start with non-agenda public comment, and we have none. So that concludes non-agenda public comment. We'll turn to committee comment. Any members of the committee. Mr. Warden. Just thank you, Mr. Chair. Just really briefly, I wanted to thank Transportation Stormwater and Public Works for their efforts on Washington Street and University Avenue just recently this past month. We finally got that uh pipeline project completed with a new fresh overlay. And in addition to that, we finally got some class two bike lanes uh throughout uh Hillcrest, which has been a real difficult challenge uh to transact east to west and get bikers safely across that neighborhood. So thank you if you haven't been up there. I encourage you to go see what a wonderful job they've done. And uh, we got more coming, so thank you. Thank you, Mr. Ward. Like that suit, by the way. Let's see. City attorney, IBA mayoral staff comment. None. Moving on to our adoption agenda, our meeting minutes for March 15th will stand approved as distributed, unless there are any objections. Hearing and seeing none is are approved. So we'll turn to our consent agenda. We do have three items on consent today. So I would be willing to entertain a motion on the agenda. I actually have to pull item number three for a real brief discussion, but happy to move the balance of the consent agenda. Okay. We have a motion by Mr. Ward for items one and two. Second by uh Ms. Zeff. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. That carries unanimously. Okay, so we'll turn to item number three. You need a staff presentation on that, Mr. Ward? If staff is available to address the Georgia Street improvements. And no presentation is needed. I recognize that the action today is really just a minor amendment of 75,000 to our um engineering contract, and as well uh $500,000 that we'll be accepting for federal funds, and those will be reimbursing Transnet. Is that correct? Good afternoon, Akron Bass Union. Yeah, and that is correct, yes. Okay, $510,000. Um I I really just wanted to bring this up for only a minute or two to uh have the opportunity to talk about Georgia Street and what has gone just from my perspective horribly wrong uh with the delays that we've had to endure through this project. It was originally begun in July of 16 with a uh promise to the community a deadline, well not deadline, a uh hope uh full completion date of July 2017.

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