Infrastructure Committee Meeting: July 18, 2018 - Construction Management & Balboa Park
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Infrastructure Committee Meeting - July 18, 2018
The Infrastructure Committee of the San Diego City Council met on Wednesday, July 18, 2018, at 1:30 PM. Chairperson Kercy presided, with Vice Chair Alvarez and Councilmembers Zaf and Ward present. The meeting included a non-agenda public comment, an organized presentation on Balboa Park infrastructure, approval of the consent calendar, and an informational presentation on construction management of capital improvement projects (CIP) and private development.
Consent Calendar
- The committee approved the meeting minutes from June 20, 2018, as distributed.
- A single consent agenda item (not specified) was moved by Councilmember Zaf, seconded by Vice Chair Alvarez, and passed unanimously.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Martha Welch (non-agenda public comment, 2 minutes): Expressed frustration about aging infrastructure, specifically mentioning Pump Station 2, and alleged that County Supervisor Bill Horn has mishandled funds. She claimed the city is unable to investigate or use modern tools like social media to address problems.
- Renee Smith (organized presentation, 8 minutes): A retired Navy Supply Corps commander and MIT graduate, unaffiliated with any organization, presented a detailed analysis of Balboa Park infrastructure funding. She argued that the CIP budget has insufficiently funded the park, citing a $300 million shortfall as of 2020. Her analysis, based on 40,000 data cells from public records, showed that the Facility Condition Index (FCI) for over two-thirds of the park's buildings will exceed acceptable thresholds (FCI >15-20) by 2020. She recommended the committee provide direction to review her report, set FCI targets (e.g., 10-15), and consider public-private partnerships to address the gap. She also noted the need for proactive maintenance to avoid crises.
Discussion Items
- Construction Management of CIP Projects and Private Development: Staff from Public Works Construction Management & Field Services (CMFS) — Deputy Director Luis Charr, Assistant Deputy Directors Chris Shacklford and Wendy Gamboa — presented the first-ever report on construction management. Highlights:
- The division manages CIP projects, O&M projects, and permit projects (private development in the public right-of-way).
- Workload has grown dramatically: $500 million in active CIP projects, 350 projects in construction, 2,100 permits issued in FY18, and 220 miles of survey work.
- Key performance indicators: change order percentage under 4% (below industry standard), 94 notices to proceed issued, 66 notices of completion, 67,000 lab tests, and 84% survey milestone achievement.
- Challenges: young workforce (100 staff with <3 years experience), need for improved customer service, data hub development, and coordination with private developers.
- Looking ahead: FY19 includes high-profile projects like West Mission Bay Bridge, South Torrey Pines upgrades for U.S. Open, Pure Water Program, Nash Street, and Plaza de Panama. The division will shift to semi-annual reports (end of calendar year and fiscal year).
- Committee and IBA Questions:
- IBA Representative Andrea Teblin asked about the experience level of new staff and how customer service is managed. Staff responded that they provide bi-weekly training and plan to use project assistants to handle community inquiries, freeing inspectors for core duties.
- Councilmember Ward stressed the need for accurate constituent communication, contractor accountability, and timely project completion. Staff explained that resident engineers oversee contractor schedules and enforce liquidated damages for delays. Private development oversight is more challenging due to a two-year permit window; the city is working with DSD to strengthen notification and diligence requirements.
- Vice Chair Alvarez requested future reports include workload per section, national standards for caseload, and a tracking of project delays and contract amendments. He also raised the specific issue of the Otay Mesa Road project, which affects all San Ysidro high school students, noting that sidewalks are not expected until August and the road completion is still anticipated for fall 2018. Staff confirmed the timeline.
- Councilmember Zaf suggested using Waze or Google Maps to inform commuters of construction, rather than relying solely on door hangers. Staff noted they are developing an internal data hub for traffic control coordination and could explore sharing data with third-party apps. Chairperson Kercy encouraged collaboration with the Communications Department and praised the online CIP project map. He also highlighted the difficulty of managing private developer projects in the public right-of-way and requested that such projects be added to the CIP map, and that the committee receive a preview before the next report.
Key Outcomes
- The consent agenda and meeting minutes were approved unanimously.
- The informational presentation on construction management was received; no formal action was taken.
- Staff will return for a semi-annual update later in 2018, with a request to meet with committee members before the next hearing to incorporate specific project feedback.
- The committee adjourned at approximately 3:00 PM, with the next meeting scheduled for September 26, 2018.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon, everybody. Thank you for joining us for today's meeting of the infrastructure committee. Today is Wednesday, July 18, 2018. Let the record reflect that we have a full compliment of our committee members, including Vice Chair Alvarez, Councilmembers Zaf and Ward. We also have our City Attorney Representative, Tina May, our IBA, Andrea Teblin, our mayoral representative, actually, I think they're not going to be here today. And of course, our infrastructure committee consultant, the newly shorn, Justin Garvin. I'd also like to thank uh members of the public who are watching on TV or are with us today. We realize that you have a choice in your afternoon activities. You could be a Comic Con and you're here with us instead, and we appreciate that. Uh so with that, we'll start with non-agenda public comment, and we we will start with uh Martha Welch. Come forward, you have two minutes. Martha, I think Pumps 2. Uh it was built in 198. And the council voted a couple of minutes about millions, but it's on the um list for CP. It's not there. What's going on? Where's the money? I know, I wonder how many times you built this because it's so old. And um, I bet because uh Bill Horn um takes the checks. He's a beginal. And um that's what goes on here because it's also uh the point loneliness uh like that also. EPI, I I talked to them also, and they're coming back also because this is wrong. FI is looking to bill, I talked to them, and I convinced them to look at Bill Horn what he did. Two th two checks I told them to look in there, and it's very easy. So the so they're gonna look more and everything's coming over. Um right now, um, it's gonna happen because he medals everything in the county and you also because you're a slave to them, if that's me. Because this is going on too long. And he uh he calls um and he says he's somebody else. He likes to hide what he's doing. His office number is 5135. And he hides, he hides. He doesn't want to say he has always said another name. He's doing that for years. It changes all the time. So you know it's not the same person because he hides all the time. And you you know what you do, you like like the good, but you're not good because you you don't want to look. You can't look at anything. That's a problem. This city you can't look. You can't look at this, you can't look up Twitter, you can't look at Facebook, you can't look what's going on here. You can't look, you can't look at the what we do here. That's what goes on here. You can't look. That's what goes on. If you look, you see what's going on here. And that's gone too long because this this is wrong what you're doing here. Everything's so old and it's ancient, and it should have been fixed, but maybe it's been fixed so many times. The money's been gone, and they have the checks and signed by Bill Horn, and it's gone and gone so long. It's crazy here. It's it's it's everything's so old and doesn't work, and it's behind the time.
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