TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Mark Danaj, City Manager
FROM:
Tony Olmos, Director of Public Works
Joe Parco, City Engineer
SUBJECT:Title
Appropriation in the Amount of $60,000 for As-Needed Development Engineering Services (Public Works Director Olmos).
APPROVE
Line
_________________________________________________________
Recommended Action
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council appropriate funds in the amount of $60,000 for As-Needed Development Engineering Services.
Body
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Available funding in the amount of $60,000 is available in the Unreserved General Fund Account.
BACKGROUND:
Aside from the delivery of Capital Improvement Projects (CIP), the Public Works Engineering Division is also responsible for the review and inspection of private development projects, which include private utility projects as well. Plans for private development projects are reviewed to ensure that any impact from their projects onto the public right-of-way is appropriately mitigated via project conditions. These project conditions, which usually involve construction of an improvement (i.e.: driveway or sidewalk, curb and gutter), must be completed by the applicant prior to project approval.
In addition to inspecting City CIP projects, the Public Works Inspector currently assists the City Engineer in reviewing the private development plans and inspects the required improvements during construction. With the increase in construction from both residential development and the increase in the City's Capital Improvement Program Projects for FY 15-16, the Public Works Engineering Division requires as-needed development engineering services to ensure the timely delivery of plan-check and inspection services of private development projects.
DISCUSSION:
The Public Works Engineering Division currently provides assistance to private development engineers and contractors at the City Hall public counter from Monday through Thursday from 9:30 to 11:30, or by appointment. During this time, the Public Works Inspector issues public works right-of-way and encroachment permits, reviews and plan checks private development projects and answers questions. Outside of these Public Works counter hours, the Public Works Inspector also inspects the improvements conditioned by the Public Works Engineering Division for private development projects. Given the amount of private development work, the Public Works Inspector spends approximately 30 hours per week on private development review and inspection related tasks.
Staff proposes to utilize the on-call professional design service contracts previously approved by City Council for this effort. The as-needed consultant is expected to spend approximately 10-15 hours per week assisting the Engineering Division on the plan check and inspection of private development projects for the remainder of this fiscal year. The total estimated cost for this effort is $60,000. Staff will manage the hours to assure that the amount is not exceeded.
CONCLUSION:
It is staff’s recommendation that the City Council appropriate funds in the amount of $60,000 for As-Needed Development Engineering Services.