San Diego Infrastructure Committee Meeting – June 19, 2019
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San Diego Infrastructure Committee Meeting – June 19, 2019
The Infrastructure Committee of the San Diego City Council convened on June 19, 2019, at 10:15 AM. Committee members present included Vice Chair Ward, Councilmember Kate Moreno, Councilmember (unidentified), City Attorney Representative Tina Ray, IBA Representative Jillian Cassie, Mayoral Representative Lee Friedman, and ATI Committee Consultant Justin Garber. The meeting covered non‑agenda public comment, adoption of minutes, consent items, a TransNet funding amendment, an emergency storm drain change order, and informational updates on downtown mobility and regional bike planning.
Consent Calendar
- Minutes from May 22, 2019 were adopted unanimously.
- Consent Items 1 & 2 were pulled by Councilmember Moreno for questions. Items involved five‑year as‑needed consultant contracts with Dudek and ICF Jones & Stokes for specialized studies (biological, historical, traffic, air quality, etc.).
- Councilmember Moreno asked about performing the work in‑house and requested a cost analysis by the IBA. She also noted both contractors fell short of equal‑opportunity contracting goals and asked for action plans prior to full Council docketing.
- Christian Silva (Program Manager for EcoTech Contracting) stated that Dudek has an EEO plan on file expiring November 2019 and that ICF would be monitored similarly.
- Councilmember Moreno made a motion to approve the items, which was seconded and passed unanimously (two separate votes).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Martha Welch spoke on non‑agenda items: she criticized the city’s water system as outdated and lacking maintenance, urged gray‑water use, complained about scooter compliance with parking zones, and said road resurfacing with slurry alone is insufficient. She called for better oversight and more frequent updates.
- Jennifer Hunt (San Diego County Bicycle Coalition) spoke on the downtown mobility plan. She expressed full support for building out the plan quickly, noted that funding for Phase 3 is unidentified, and highlighted that only 8% of the $80 million resurfacing budget (430 miles) includes improved bike/pedestrian paths, compared to over 50% in 2013. She cautioned against complacency due to safety rankings.
Discussion Items
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Item 3: TransNet Local Street and Roads Program – 2018 RTIP Amendment
- Presentation by Gene Matter (Assistant Director, Transportation/Stormwater) and Ben Bitalia. The amendment would align the RTIP with the adopted FY2020 TransNet budget of $35.3 million (30% maintenance, 70% congestion relief). The city’s TransNet fund balance at SANDAG has been reduced 50% since FY2016, to an estimated $27.5 million by year‑end. A clean FY2018 audit was noted.
- Councilmember Moreno proposed an amendment to dedicate 5% of TransNet funding ($1.5 million) to the street‑light backlog ($41.9 million). She argued the city should exercise more authority over allocations and cited a missed state‑grant opportunity for SR‑163/Friars Road.
- Councilmember Kate questioned the 5% figure, noting capacity issues and potential impacts on other projects. Vice Chair Ward expressed concern about disrupting schedules but agreed priorities should shift in future budgets. No second to Moreno’s motion was given.
- Vice Chair Ward made a motion to approve staff recommendation as submitted. Seconded by Councilmember Kate. Passed unanimously.
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Item 4: Construction Change Order No. 1 – Cardinal Storm Drain Emergency Replacement
- Presentation by Elief Chetin and Jiang Choi (Public Works). The original contract with Flat Iron West was for an emergency storm drain replacement after a sinkhole formed in December 2018 adjacent to a three‑story apartment building. The scope increased due to design‑as‑you‑build: a jacking pit, temporary access road, and soil remediation to protect the building foundation. The change order requested up to $1.7 million from the commercial paper/general fund. Construction is 30% complete, with completion expected September 2019.
- Motion to approve made by Councilmember Kate, seconded by Vice Chair Ward. Passed unanimously.
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Item 5: Downtown Mobility Plan and Bike Program Update (Informational)
- Presentation by Everett Houser (T&SD). Phase 1 cycle tracks (J Street, 6th Avenue, Beech Street) are completed or near completion. Phase 2 (design complete, advertised in 30 days, 10‑month construction) is fully funded. Phase 3 lacks construction funding; staff is pursuing grants. The bike program reported San Diego was ranked #1 large safe city by PeopleForBikes and earned bronze‑level Bicycle Friendly Community status.
- Discussion: Vice Chair Ward emphasized complete‑street opportunities during resurfacing, better community outreach timing, and bike‑lane enforcement. He asked about coordination with SANDAG’s regional bikeways. No motion required.
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Item 6: SANDAG Regional Bike Plan Early Action Program Update (Informational)
- Presentation by Linda Culp (SANDAG). The $200 million TransNet program aims to build 77 miles of regional bikeways; 70 miles are in development. Key city projects include: two‑mile Rose Creek coastal rail trail (open summer 2020), 7.5‑mile North Park/Mid‑City bikeways (bid opening soon, construction fall 2019), 4.5‑mile Uptown bikeways (4th/5th Avenue, construction 2021), Eastern Hillcrest bikeway (partnered with Normal Street promenade), and Barrio Logan Bayshore Bikeway segment (plan check submitted).
- Committee members thanked SANDAG for leveraging state/federal grants and asked for continued coordination with city resurfacing schedules. No motion required.
Key Outcomes
- Unanimous votes: Adoption of May 22 minutes; approval of consent items 1 and 2; approval of staff recommendation on TransNet RTIP amendment (Item 3); authorization of change order for Cardinal Storm Drain (Item 4).
- Directives: Staff to work with IBA on a cost analysis for in‑house expertise (from consent item); action plans from contractors on equal‑opportunity goals to be provided to Council before docketing; a strong message to staff to better incorporate street‑light funding in future budget cycles.
- Next steps: The committee’s next regular meeting is scheduled for July 24, 2019, at 2:00 PM.
Meeting Transcript
Committee members here today, including Vice Chair Ward and Councilmembers Kate Moreno. We also have our City Attorney Representative Tina Ray, our IBA representative Jillian Cassie, our mayoral representative Lee Friedman, and our ATI committee consultant Justin Garber. I'd like to thank everybody who's here watching us on City TV. We'll start as always with non-agenda public comment. We do have one member of the public who would like to speak on an item not on the agenda. That is Martha Welch. Please come forward. You have two minutes. To me, it's an old system. It needs to be updated if you really care about water, not to pollute. It should be gray um water and uh everything like that, but um if you care about the ocean and mission bay, you should do that. Right now we have no maintenance, that's probably the problem. You know, um only go out when there's storms only, you know. That's the problem. They don't make they don't manage it all the year, they don't do that also. Um we um have scooters, even though we have those little zones some places, and they don't put them everywhere in the zones all the time. So who's gonna um comply, make them comply with that because the scooters are all over those streets and still on bikes or all over the evening they have the little boxes. Some are in the boxes, but not all of them. Who's gonna make them do that stuff? I don't know. Now on the road, Broadway downtown has cracks and potholes are building in building up that's the kitchen and mode, but most of our roads also. I think we need more updates. What's going on here? What kind of a surface you're using? You know, you just slurry, is that all you're gonna do? Some roads need other things like that here also. And um, we've heard about how you do you you're behind me if you ask me. We need more updates and pictures of what you're really doing, make sure it really works. That concludes non-agenda public comment. Do we have any committee member comment at this time? Seeing none, how about city attorney IBA mayoral staff comment? Seeing none, we'll turn to our adoption agenda, our meeting minutes from May 22nd. We'll have they have been distributed, and I would accept a motion to adopt those. Uh motion by Councilmember Morano, seconded by council member Kate. Uh all in favor, please say aye. Carries unanimously, thank you. Uh, we do have two items on our consent agenda today, and I understand that Councilmember Moreno would like to make some comments. Yes. Uh oops. So I'd like to pull uh the consent agenda item one and two uh for questioning. I don't need a presentation on this, but I do have some questions on on both of them. Uh first off, uh I'll let you guys I'll wait until you guys. Okay, thank you. Um is it possible to perform this type of work in-house with city employees? Okay, good afternoon. My name is Alex Garcia, Deputy Director for uh Public Works. Um regarding uh doing work with our own staff. We do have staff uh who works on these type of projects, however, they are planners. Um the type of work that we are requesting today is for as needed consultants who work on biological, historic historical, cultural, paleontological, traffic, air quality um studies. So they're very, you know, uh all all of these are uh very specific uh and we don't have the expertise in house to do all these type of work.
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