Active Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Meeting - April 17, 2019
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Active Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Meeting - April 17, 2019
The Active Transportation and Infrastructure Committee met on April 17, 2019, at 10:00 a.m. to consider several items including a train whistle ordinance repeal, taxicab program extension, major water pipeline and sidewalk project, fire station design, street resurfacing change order, and a bridge replacement design contract. All votes were unanimous. The committee also received an informational presentation on cool pavement technology.
Consent Calendar
- Meeting Minutes (March 20, 2019): Approved unanimously.
- Consent Agenda: Three items approved unanimously (motion by Vice Chair Ward, second by Councilmember Kate).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Martha Welsh (Non-Agenda): Expressed concerns about city services including water meters, road conditions, and water meters not being installed. Her remarks were somewhat unclear.
- Martha Welsh (Item 7 - Fire Station): Spoke in favor of the Fairmont Avenue Fire Station, stating it is much needed and urging faster progress.
Discussion Items
- Item 4 – Repeal of Municode 85.28 (Train Whistle Use): Duncan Hughes (Deputy Director, Transportation & Stormwater) presented. The ordinance is void under federal law; a quiet zone has existed downtown since 2012. Councilmember Moreno requested a future committee item on expanding quiet zones to other residential areas, citing train noise in San Ysidro, Nestor, Logan Heights, and Sherman Heights. Staff agreed to schedule. Motion to approve by Vice Chair Ward, seconded by Councilmember Moreno, carried unanimously.
- Item 5 – Tenth Amendment with MTS (Taxicab Program Administration): Steve Selnica presented a five-year extension of the agreement (originally from 1988). No cost to city. Motion by Vice Chair Ward, seconded by Councilmember Moreno, carried unanimously.
- Item 6 – Montezuma Mid-City Pipeline Phase 2 and Sidewalk Project: Elif Chetin (Deputy Director, Public Works) presented authorization for a construction contract up to $48.8 million and a second amendment with SOMAS consultant ($390,000 increase, extension to December 2022). Project includes 4,900 feet of 66-inch water pipeline, trenchless crossing under I-8, and sidewalk on 70th Street. Construction start summer 2019, duration 29 months. Discussion noted complexities of easements and Caltrans coordination. Motion by Councilmember Moreno, seconded by Councilmember Kate, carried unanimously.
- Item 7 – Fairmont Avenue Fire Station Phase 2 (First Amendment with RRM Design Group): Elif Chetin and Deputy Fire Chief James Gabriel presented. The station is a Citygate priority, located on a challenging sloped site. First amendment adds $365,000 (total $1.2 million) for technical studies, extension to Feb 2024. Project uses standard fire station design packages. Councilmember Kate noted prior committee discussions; Councilmember Moreno questioned initial budgeting. Motion by Councilmember Kate, seconded by Councilmember Moreno, carried unanimously.
- Item 8 – Change Order #5 for Navajo Pump Station (Street Resurfacing): Debbie Mon Martin presented a change order for $1,033,986.52 to upgrade street resurfacing from slurry seal to AC overlay on several streets. Funding from TSW and Public Utilities. Adds 160 working days; project at 95% completion. Vice Chair Ward questioned why this was not foreseen earlier. James Nagelvoort (Director of Public Works) explained it was an opportunity to coordinate with TSW’s street condition assessment. Motion by Vice Chair Ward, seconded by Councilmember Kate, carried unanimously.
- Item 9 – Agreement with RIC Engineering for El Camino Real (Half Mile to Via de la Valle): Akron Basioni presented a $2.4 million, 7-year design contract for bridge replacement and roadway widening (one to two lanes each direction, bike lanes, sidewalks). Environmental document approved in 2017. Design starts summer 2019, construction spring 2023 to summer 2026 ($27M construction cost, $20.7M grant). Councilmember Kate questioned the three-year design timeline; staff cited FHWA/Caltrans approvals. Councilmember Moreno asked about acquisition and coordination with adjacent developments (polo fields, JPA). Motion by Councilmember Kate, seconded by Councilmember Moreno, carried unanimously.
Key Outcomes
- All six action items were approved unanimously by the committee and will be forwarded to City Council (with Item 9 requiring two readings as an ordinance).
- Staff will schedule a future committee item to explore expanding quiet zones for train whistles to other residential areas.
- The committee received an informational presentation on cool pavement (GuardTop’s Cool Seal product) and discussed potential pilot projects; no action taken.
- Next regular meeting scheduled for Wednesday, May 22, 2019, at 2:00 p.m.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon, everybody. We're gonna go ahead and get started. I want to thank you for joining us for today's meeting of the Active Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Today is Wednesday, April 17th, 2019. Let the record reflect that we have a full compliment of our colleagues, including uh Vice Chair Ward and Council members Kate and Moreno. Uh we also have our City Attorney Representative Tina Ray, our IBA representative Jillian Cassie, our mayor representative Lee Friedman, and our committee consultant Justin Garber. We do have one member of the public who wishes to speak, and that's Martha Welsh. Come forward, you have two minutes. They float nowhere or creek or a river. I don't think you care about the ocean. Because it goes it's not filter or anything like that. We have dry um solids right here. And what happens to the rest goes out of our um the ocean also. Do you treat it or not? Because the ocean gets all that stuff. Station two, you voted for that. But never on CB it never built and that's built at all. So as if we beat something we pass something doesn't build. I looked at the election two thousand and eight. Now R T P C P wasn't on it failed. So it's a lie. Now the roads were like Broadway. It's all cracked up. And I went to the um to um to online and told them about that six months ago, nothing happened. The water part the water department. The consultant said the meters on the shelves and they're broken in the field right now. How do you build people if you don't have meters? I don't know. And I heard you're gonna maybe smart meters. Hope you do that because um you can't build people with water if you don't have meter. Thank you. That concludes non-agenda public comment. Any members of the committee? Any committee member comment? Seeing none. How about uh IBA, city attorney, mayoral comment? Seeing none, thank you. Uh we will turn to our adoption agenda. We've got our meeting minutes from our March 20th meeting, which I would entertain a motion to approve. Moved by Vice Chair Ward, seconded by uh Councilmember Keith. All in favor, please say aye. That carries unanimously, thank you. We will go to our consent agenda. We have three items on consent agenda today, uh, which I would also entertain a motion on. We have a motion again by Vice Chair Ward, seconded by Councilmember Kate uh to approve the consent agenda. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. That carries unanimously, thank you. We'll now move to our discussion agenda. Our first item, item number four is a presentation by our transportation and stormwater department regarding the repeal of Municode section 85.28, train whistle use.
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