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HomeMy Public PortalAboutPublic Comment i PAT 3 ter„ Contractors Association ofIntim'Ilia September 30, 2009 The Honorable Dr. Mark Brown Mayor • Vice Mayor Dee and Council Members Anderson, Green, and Jones Town of Truckee 10183 Truckee Airport Road Truckee, CA 96161 RE: Agenda Item 6.3 — Measure V/DLPOA & Mahoney Drainage Improvements Dear Mayor Brown and Council Members: Thank you again for this opportunity to offer our thoughts on the Measure V agenda item. Our connection to this issue is the use of Measure V monies over the long term. The merits or need for the drainage improvement are not the issue. As you have probably guessed, we are opposed to Measure V monies being used for this project as presented in the staff report. I will not belabor that point and do not intend to speak to this issue during public comment. We are not asking you to pull this from the Consent Calendar but wonder if there is enough information to make an informed decision. Any additional information that staff can provide to us would be greatly appreciated and can be as simple as an email response next week. So here are the comments /questions that come to mind as we read the Staff Report: 1) The Town has known about this problem for two years, per the Staff Report page 1. The August 6, 2009 Staff Report creating the Miscellaneous Measure V CIP states, "The Fiscal Year 08/09 budget programmed $110,000 in General Fund dollars toward the South Shore Drainage System CIP (60- 03 -09). The purpose of this CIP was to allocate funding for miscellaneous improvements to drainage along South Shore Drive as opportunities for partnerships with property owners developed. No such opportunities arose throughout the 08/09 Fiscal Year and so the South Shore Drainage System CIP was removed as part of the 09/10 Fiscal Year budget." In retrospect; it is a shame that the $110,000 in GF monies was not used last year and CIP 60 -03 -09 was removed from the 09/10 budgeting process. 2) What is the selection criteria being used to determine how or why the DLPOA culvert repair warrants funding from Measure V as opposed to other available monies? 3) Is there a threat to sue by the Mahoney family? (i.e. are we selecting projects where litigation might be a factor ?) Threat to sue was a reason provided by Dan Wilkins at the last meeting when describing the Ireland propert-y`� 4) When the culvert was plugged up, did neighboring properties also incur some collateral damage or erosion? If yes, is it reasonable to expect the neighbors to be next in line requesting Measure V funded improvements? j 7 5) If DLPOA created the problem, why aren't they repairing it? This project contradicts the use of Measure V monies as depicted in the 8/31 /09 Matrix (emailed to you September 17) where problems created by a property owner are not appropriate uses of Measure V monies. Granted, the matrix is a CATT document created by me so we could better understand what the Town thought appropriate. However, it was done with Dan Wilkins commenting on the various line items. Please see Dan Wilkins September 3 email (attached). 6) Town staff wants a.permanent drainage easement and repair work done on the last 20 -50 feet or so of a culvert/proposed culvert on DLPOA property that empties into Donner Lake but says nothing about another culvert on DLPOA property another 100' or so away. Why is that? 7) Town staff does not mention using Measure V monies to secure a drainage easement on the 150' or so of the culvert traversing through private property (Mahoney) south of the DLPOA property, which seems inconsistent with the approach taken for the DLPOA property (permanent drainage easement and ongoing maintenance). Why is that? 8) And indirectly related to Measure V, do we need a longterm, Town -wide "Drainage Improvement Plan"? There is no cost estimate of the annual maintenance cost for all new drainage easements being created and assumed by the Town. Looking at "drainage" holistically seems to be a common -sense way to go rather than a piecemeal approach. It may be the right time to think about a workshop to understand the Town -wide "drainage" issue with these topics as a start: Inherited (before Town incorporation) and post - incorporation drainage problems Annual cost estimates for ongoing maintenance Available pots of money to pay for drainage improvements Funding criteria to select which improvements to pay for and which will not be Town - funded, etc. I look forward to receiving the additional information. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions (530 -550 -9999 or pat @ca- tt.com) Sincerely, CONTRACTORS ASSOCIATION OF TRUCKEE TAHOE ‘12? 1 Pat Davison Executive Director Attachment: emails to /from Dan Wilkins re Measure V Matrix • x AEASURE V - Examples of Potential Projects and Funding Matrix - DRAFT v 2 r. (/31109 - Davison Fits within Measure V constraints 'ROJECT YES NO MAYBE NOTES 1 Paving & associated repairs to driving lanes x . 2 Paving and repairs for parking adjacent to driving lanes x 3 Upslope /downslope /under street drainage for roadways x on Town property or within Town right of way 4 Safety- related road signs (curve, school, speed limit, etc.) x 5 Points of Interest road signs (park, historic site, bus stop) x 6 Guardrails x Was funded by Measure A • • 7 Traffic cameras/embedded traffic detectors x Was funded by Measure A • • x Yes, if bridge carries town roadway 8 Bridges 9 Onstreet bike lanes /routes (paving, striping, signing) x 10 Traffic signals, warning lights x 11 Upslope /downslope drainage on private property * x Yes, if the drainage affects town road or town road affects drainage No, if the homeowner caused the problem 12 Planning /Engineering of a RAB, street, drainage facility x Was funded by Measure A x Was funded by Measure A 13 Construction Management 14 Upslopeldownslope drainage on other public property * - x Yes, if the drainage affects town road or town road affects drainage (CATT - would like to see shared costs) 15 Acquisition of Easements x * NOTE: The Town may encounter unique situations not reflected t in the e xamples above. Those situations will be reviewed on a case by case basis with public notice. • • Davison/Wilkins emails August 31- September 3, 2009 Thanks Danl From: Dan Wilkins fmailto :DWilkins(altownoftruckee.com1 Sent: Thursday, September 03, 2009 4:49 PM To: Pat Davison Cc: Tony Lashbrook Subject: RE: Meas V draft matrix Looks Okay to me Pat. Dan W. From: Pat Davison fmaiito:pat(alca- tt.coml Sent: Monday, August 31, 2009 3:02 PM To: Dan Wilkins Subject: Meas V draft matrix Hi Dan - cc File: Meas V matrix.xls » Here is the same matrix with revisions from earlier today. I added Points of Interest and bus stop to #5 and other changes highlighted in yellow. Please look this over to make sure it reflects what you think about uses of Measure V. When this accurately reflects your point of view, I will send out to our members. As I said, our next LGAC meeting is September 15. 1 do not know if Mitch will want you there and he is on his way to Burning Man right now. If September 15 doesn't work out, October 20 is the next meeting date or we could call a special meeting. Thanks for your time today! pat Pat Davison Executive Director Contractors Association of Truckee Tahoe 12313 Soaring Way, Suite 1G, Truckee, CA 96161 phone 530 -550 -9999 fax 530 -550 -9998 pat(a ca -tt.com • Cmuactors WSW ol1ndiee Tahoe September 17, 2009 The Honorable Dr. Mark Brown Mayor • Vice Mayor Dee and Council Members Anderson, Green, and Jones To of Truckee 10183 Truckee Airport Road Truckee, CA 96161 RE: Agenda Item 7.3 — Use of Measure V for Private. Drainage Improvements Dear Mayor Brown and Council Members: • Thank you for this opportunity to comment on the use of Measure V monies. I want to thank your Town Public Works Director Dan Wilkins for his time with me on August 31 and again with our Local Government Affairs Committee on September 15. This Association has been interested in the progress of Measure V for several reasons: Good roads signify a community that takes pride in its appearance Good roads mean a community has prioritized roadways over other demands Good roads make travel easier for the worltorce, residents, and visitors Good roads mean someone in the construction industry is getting work • We have raised the question in the past of what are appropriate uses of Measure V. We • have attempted to capture potential uses on the attached Matrix. , I prepared this with Dan on August 31 to show what the Town thinks are appropriate uses. We have some questions about some of these uses and suffice to say there may be some disagreement. Measure V monies not only have strings attached as to how they may be spent, the pot of Measure V money is not enough to cover all ongoing maintenance of all Town roadways. That is a fact known from the earliest days of Measure A and then as Measure A was reformulated into Measure V. We oppose your approval of the agenda item tonight for the following reasons: 1) Drainage improvement on private property may not meet the voter's intent when Measure V was on the ballot. Here is the ballot language text: • In order to continue funding for paving, drivepa i an roving our Town's ' roads to enhance roadway safety f related upgrades to drainage to protect local water quality, shall the Town of .Truckee continue its current half -cent sales tax for a period not to exceed-20 years, with mandatory annual audits, independent citizen oversight, and all money spent on Truckee roadways without raising taxes? The text does state "including related upgrades to drainage to protect local water quality." The key word is "related." "Related to the roadway" is how we read that phrase. Is this improvement "related" to the roadway ? ?? Maybe yes and maybe no. If the drainage improvement is not done, will the roadway deteriorate? That result was not disclosed in the staff report and it is hard to say without more information. Additionally, the campaign materials all show or state that "roadways" are the primary use of Measure V funds. No where was a photo of drainage on private property shown to voters nor did the Impartial Analysis by the Town Attorney state that drainage on private property would be improved through Measure V. In the Council's Resolution 2008 -45 accompanying action (July 16, 2008) to place the re- authorization measure on the ballot, it says, "As funding permits, the funds may also be used to improve existing roadways including widening of shoulders for safety and the inclusion of bicycle and pedestrian facilities within the roadway right of way, and associated safety and drainage improvements." There.is no widening proposed, no pedestrian or bicycle facilities, and the "associated" draiiia.ge improvements are vague — associated to what ? ?? Again the issue is not whether the improvement is a good idea. Of course it is! The question is: should this improvement be done with Measure V monies? We think not. That leads to another fiscal question: Has the Town considered t range of funding mechanisms (i.e. the other pots of money like TSSAs) to remedy these inherited drainage problems? 2) Liability Assumed and Precedent Established — If the Town is now assuming liability for upslope (above roadway) drainage problems on the south side of Donner Lake, we expect to see more property owner requests for assistance from around the Lake, and elsewhere. Measure V cannot pay for all roadway maintenance — how will Measure V be stretched to fill all these other requests? The Town is also making. a decision on one project but may decide to reject another project. There is no criteria thafwe have seen describing what type of private property drainage improvement will or won't be funded by Measure V except the note on the Matrix regarding a homeowner created problem (won't be funded). As an alternative, we respectfully ask you to defer a decision on this improvement until after your Citizen Oversight Committee has met this winter and discussed the various projects on the Matrix and provided some suggestions for implementation. The staff report recommends the drainage work for this agenda item will be completed "next summer." That is the end of your current fiscal year or beginning of the next fiscal year. You have time to work out the details. Thank you for listening. I am happy to answer any questions you may have. Sincerely, CONTRACTORS ASSOCIATION OF TRUCKEE TAHOE Pat Davison Executive Director Attachment: draft Measure V Matrix