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HomeMy WebLinkAboutColma Creek Advisory Minutes 03 14 17_County comments - 1 - San Mateo County Flood Control District Colma Creek Flood Control Zone Citizen’s Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes Tuesday, March 14, 2017 CALL TO ORDER Helen Fisicaro called to order the regular meeting of the Colma Creek Flood Control Zone Citizen’s Advisory Committee at 3:10 p.m. on Tuesday, March 14, 2017, in the City of South San Francisco – Corporation Yard Conference Room, 550 North Canal Street, South San Francisco. ROLL CALL Present: Helen Fisicaro, Chair – Town of Colma Judith Christensen – City of Daly City Sue Digre – City of Pacifica Gail DeFries, Member at Large – City of Daly City Richard Irli, Member at Large – City of South San Francisco Kamala Cynthia Silva Wolfe, Member at Large – City of South San Francisco Absent: Irene O’Connell – City of San Bruno Mike Futrell – City of South San Francisco Ed Bortoli, Member at Large – City of South San Francisco Staff in Attendance: Ann Stillman – County of San Mateo/San Mateo County Flood Control District Jim Porter – County of San Mateo (Director of PW/San Mateo County Flood Control District) Michael Barber – County of San Mateo/Supervisor Dave Pine’s Office Brad Donohue – Town of Colma John Fuller – City o f Daly City Robert Hahn – City of South San Francisco Kari Jung – City of South San Francisco Eunejune Kim – City of South San Francisco Dave Pine – San Mateo County Board of Supervisors Staff Absent: Mark Chow – County of San Mateo/San Mateo County Flood Control District Erika Powell – San Mateo County Flood & Resiliency Rob Lecel – City of South San Francisco I. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion – Gail DeFries, Second – Richard Irli. Minutes of the December 13, 2016 meeting were approved. - 2 - II. PUBLIC COMMENT 1. No members of the public were present. III. DISTRICT PROJECTS, ETC.: SUMMARIZED IN A HANDOUT AND OPEN FOR ADDITIONAL DISCUSSION 1. El Camino Box Culvert and Mission Road Diversion Structure Ann advised that there are no updates on this section of the channel to report. 2. BART Co-op Project Ann advised that there are no updates on this section of the channel to report except that City of South San Francisco (City) is in communication with BART to finalize the terms of the agreement to allow City staff to enter onto BART property to perform maintenance activities on behalf of the District. The Town of Colma has already executed the agreement. 3. Colma Creek Improvements between Spruce and San Mateo Avenues Ann advised that there are no updates on this section of the channel to report except that the District will continue to monitor this section of channel regularly for wall movement or settlement at a segment of the south wall immediately downstream of the San Mateo Avenue Bridge. 4. Mitigation Sites downstream of Utah Avenue Ann advised that the District staff and Sheriff Work Program (SWP) participants continue to perform planting, weeding, and trash pick-ups at the five Mitigation Sites (2a, 2b, 2c, 3, and 4). The next SWP cleanup date has been scheduled for March 18, 2017. The District’s contractor, Ecological Concerns, Inc. (ECI), has continued to perform monthly maintenance at Site 4 (3/18 is the next event date) and quarterly maintenance at Sites 2 and 3. This schedule was developed based on the amount of work anticipated to maintain the sites and increase or sustain plant survival rate. A volunteer planting event was scheduled last weekend on March 11, 2017. Volunteers from two local schools (Alta Loma Middle School and S. San Francisco High School) as well as biotechnology companies were at the event. Twenty five (25) volunteers planted approximately 191 plants. District staff is also working with City staff on National River Cleanup Day and Earth Day cleanup events. Kamala Wolfe requested that she be notified by the District of future events on Colma Creek as she will spread the word and may be able to get additional volunteers. - 3 - The following table summarizes the amount of trash removed from the Mitigation Sites since 2005 and the trash pick-up dates from 2015 through 2017. An additional 15.9 CY of trash have been removed from the Mitigation Sites since the last Advisory Committee meeting. Year Amount of Trash Removed (Cubic Yard) Event Dates * 2017 13.14 1/7, 1/21, 2/4, 2/18, 3/4 2016 33.00 1/2, 1/23, 2/13, 2/27, 3/19, 4/16, 4/23, 5/14, 5/22, 6/11, 7/23, 8/20, 9/17, 9/24, 10/22, 11/5, 12/3, 12/17 (18 times) 2015 38.98 1/10, 1/24, 2/7, 2/21, 3/7, 3/21, 4/4, 4/18, 5/2, 5/16, 6/20, 7/18, 8/15, 9/13, 9/19, 10/17, 11/14, 12/12 (18 times) 2005 - 2014 503.10 12-19 times per year. Total 588.22 * Number of event dates increased per mitigation required for Channel Wall Repair Upstream of Spruce Avenue. 5. Maintenance of Existing Channel Ann advised that District staff met with the City of South San Francisco Code Enforcement, Public Works, and Parks staff on January 19, 2017 to discuss work required to clear pampas grass and other overgrown vegetation on the access road upstream of the Oak Avenue Bridge under the recently executed Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for shared services. As previously reported, the area was cited in the August 4, 2016, Notice of Violation (NOV) from the City. City plans to perform the work once staff is available or utilize contractors when the BART agreement has been fully executed as this area is within the BART agreement limits. Unscheduled inspections were conducted on January 20, 2017, and February 18, 2017, after significant storm events. The inspection of January 20, 2017, was the result of the District being notified of flooding that occurred in the apartment complex located at 842 Antoinette Lane in the City. Flows from the 12-Mile Creek went over its bank at the Antoinette Lane/Centennial Way Trail Bridge, upstream of the confluence with the Colma Creek Flood Control Channel. The bridge and the upstream channel of 12-Mile Creek were not designed or constructed by the District. Below are photos taken during the inspection showing the location of the bank overtopping and muddy driveways in the apartment complex: - 4 - Bob Hahn asked a question regarding the Westborough tie-in as part of 12-mile creek. Ann suspects that the head waters come down Westborough but needs to check the maps to be certain. Richard Irli confirmed that it is 12-Mile Creek and then comes back into an open ditch by the apartments. Helen Fisicaro asked a question whether there was debris or just water as the causation. In the maintenance binder there are pictures where a tree came down, but there are no reports of debris causing the overtopping of the bank. The Management Company of the complex is in contact regarding mitigation. The quarterly inspection of the Colma Creek Flood Control Channel was performed on February 14 and 23, 2017 (See Maintenance Matrix Binder). Representatives from the City accompanied District staff during the inspection. Issues requiring enforcement by the City or the Town have been forwarded to the respective entity. The maintenance binder was passed around to show photos from recent King Tide events. As previously discussed, the District submitted the permit applications for the long-term maintenance permit to the regulatory agencies on December 29, 2015 - 5 - and the Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND) to the State Clearing House on June 10, 2016. On October 18, 2016, the IS/MND was approved by the County Board of Supervisors. The Notice of Determination was filed with the State Clearinghouse thereafter to complete the CEQA process. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife permit has been finalized and the District is prepared to sign it once permits from the US Army Corps of Engineer and the State Regional Water Board have been issued. The US Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) has completed its informal consultation for special status species review and provided the Corps with its letter of concurrence of not likely to adversely affect the California clapper rail on January 23, 2017. However, the Corps submitted a request to USFWS on February 15, 2017, for an amendment to their letter stating state that mitigation credits would be purchased from the San Francisco Bay Wetland Mitigation Bank instead of establishing tidal wetlands in the Colma Creek channel downstream of the S. Airport Blvd. The cost for mitigation credits of 0.05 acre needed for the permit has been estimated to be $47,500. The District decided to pursue the mitigation credits because of varying policies of the agencies on tidal wetland creation that would be acceptable, which could delay the issuance of the permits. It is anticipated that the Corps permit to the District could be issued by the end of May 2017 (due to recent storm damage). In summary, the proposal to purchase 0.05 acres of mitigation credits considering the zero trash by 2020 initiative. Judith Christiansen asked a question requesting clarification of what it means to purchase mitigation credits. Ann clarified that purchasing mitigation credits satisfies the mitigation requirements, although cleaning up the trash downstream still needs to occur. The San Francisco Bay Wetland Mitigation Bank would use the funds collected to perform the mitigation. Ann suspects that as we review the financials of the mitigation costs opposed to the purchase of credits that it will be beneficial to purchase the credits and move on especially when accounting for drought years and plant survivability. The fee would be one-time, not annual. Produce Avenue – Channel Wall Project The District continues to monitor the channel walls immediately upstream and downstream of the Produce Avenue Bridge. Also as previously reported, the District authorized CDM-Smith to perform geotechnical and geophysical investigations on the cause of the wall movements, develop repair options, and prepare a report with recommendations for a Not-to-Exceed amount of $260,320. Two borings outside of the Caltrans right-of-way, as shown on the map below, have been completed (B-1 and B-2). The remaining two borings within Caltrans right-of-way, which are more difficult to access and would require coordination with Caltrans for traffic control to close the US101 southbound exit ramp to southbound Produce Avenue and temporary lane closures for both northbound and southbound Produce Avenue, will be done once the District receives the encroachment permit from Caltrans. The encroachment permit was initially - 6 - submitted to Caltrans on September 27, 2016. District staff re-submitted the permit application to Caltrans on February 17, 2017, based on Caltrans’ comments. The draft report and alternative design concepts are anticipated to be submitted to the District within 4 months after all borings have been completed. 6. Utah Avenue to Bay Ann advised that as previously reported, the District submitted to the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (CalOES) a full application for FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) funding of the flood walls downstream of the Utah Avenue Bridge on June 16, 2016. A revised application was re-submitted on September 7, 2016, to include pre-award costs and address storm surge condition (in addition to the 100-year event, 100-year tide, 3 ft. of freeboard), and the SLR for the projected useful life of the project, which increased the total project costs from $4,100,000 to $4,280,000. The additional cost would be funded with Zone revenue as the maximum allowed grant amount remains at $3,000,000. The District received a letter from CalOES dated October 28, 2016 with confirmation that the application has been put on a waiting list to be submitted to FEMA if funding becomes available. CalOES indicated that FEMA may take 3-6 months (from November 2016) or up to a year to review the applications recommended for funding. The District is proceeding with the preliminary design of the project in which case the expenditures would be considered as part of the 25% local match. The consultants selected for the preliminary design intend to perform the topographic/bathymetric surveys and geotechnical investigations during March and April 2017. The final design is anticipated to be completed in the spring of 2018. District staff performed unscheduled inspections of the Colma Creek Flood Control Channel on January 10, 2017, and January 11, 2017, during King Tide events (see photos below showing flooding of parking areas on the right side of the channel looking downstream and between Utah Avenue and Navigable Slough). - 7 - 7. Sea Level Rise Preparedness Ann advised to see discussion under Utah Avenue to Bay section regarding potential grant funds to include design elements to include SLR mitigation in the construction of the project. 8. Multi-jurisdictional Regional Stormwater Capture Project at Orange Memorial Park (SSF and San Mateo Countywide Water Pollution Prevention Program) Ann advised that the City of South San Francisco is currently evaluating the feasibility of including this project in their 2017-18 CIP package. If this project moves forward it would include funding from Caltrans (they need to meet stormwater requirements as well). 9. Colma Creek Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) Meetings Ann advised that as reported previously, the TAC recommended adding a project to the CIP list for the development of a hydrologic analysis of the entire flood control channel (may or may not include underground box culverts) for design standard similar to those required for the HGMP grant application (i.e. storm - 8 - surge condition, 100-year event, 100-year tide, 3 ft. of freeboard and SLR). The results of the analysis would be used to develop a new master plan or similar document for the foreseeable future. This has been added to the CIP list; however, District resources have not been put to this effort yet. The TAC met on February 21, 2017, to continue the discussion on collaboration between the District and SSF, Daly City, and Colma for maintenance type activities. The agreement between SSF and the County has been executed and became effective October 12, 2016. The Town of Colma has signed the MOA and forwarded it to the District for signatures. The TAC also discussed private development and public projects that could affect the Colma Creek flood control channel. The Costco Parking Lot Expansion Project has submitted revised hydraulic impact analysis report to the District for review. The City Planning Commission is scheduled to consider the approval of the environmental clearance documents of this project in April 2017. The City is finalizing plans to hire a contractor to remove two pedestrian bridges over Colma Creek. One of the bridges to be removed is the closed bridge near Antoinette Lane and the other one is a seldom used bridge in the Orange Park area. The pre- construction meeting was held on March 13, 2017, and Bob Hahn indicated that both pedestrian bridges will be removed by the end of April 2017. IV. DISCUSSION ITEMS • Sue asked a question about the moving walls (by Produce). and it was confirmed at the meeting that the pending project is planned to address this and the quarterly maintenance inspections are done to observe any additional changes. Bob Hahn pointed out that both walls are moving. Ann explained that getting to the channel is difficult especially when Caltrans is involved and closing down 101. • 3/11 cleanup – how to get into loop on these events; two days before is not enough notice o Ann requested anyone interested to send her an email on who to include. Additionally she will see what can be done to provide a longer period of notification. o Supervisor Dave Pine asked a question about who organizes the clean-up events  Ann clarified that the District organized the March 11, 2017, event but also coordinated with the City. • Helen asked a question about whether the National River Day and Earth Day events are two separate events or just one combined event? Also working with San Bruno Mountain Watch on some of these events. o Ann will check into the event details and report back. - 9 - • Colma Creek Flood Control Zone Financial Summary: Ann distributed and reviewed the updated Financial Summary (Attachment I) showing revenue for FY 16-17 thus far along with expenditures (as of the end of January). o Sue Digre asked what the meaning of “Accepted by the District” means in this context  Ann clarified that when “Accepted by the District” is indicated as “Yes” that means that the District has issued a Notice of Completion and “No” indicates that the project is ongoing. o Brad Donohue asked a question regarding District Operations, O&M costs (back page), “Is that inclusive of what is budgeted for SSF & Colma?”  Notation is based on average expenditures from previous fiscal years and does not include work not completed/performed. Make a note to include in number to pay SSF and Colma. o Question regarding Estimated Total Cost  This only includes the study fees (CDM-Smith) as per the footnote. Total is confusing unless additional phases are listed as separate project line items. • Colma Creek Capital Improvement Project (CIP) List: Ann distributed and updated the Committee with the status of the current CIP projects (Attachment II). The highlighted information has been modified/updated since the last Committee meeting. o Construction of Channel Discharge Pipe Repair/Replacement at 15 sites (S. Airport Blvd. – Utah Avenue) has been moved out due to permit timing. • Helen reported that the news stations showed how high the water level was in the channel during recent storms. o Ann clarified that the height of the water in the channel was shown, not that the water had overtopped the channel. o Members recounted previous events (1981) and commented how many improvements have been made over the years. • SSF Adopt a Drain o Are any other cities doing this or similar? o Drives citizen buy-in/ownership – proactive vs. reactive o Should be brought forward to C/CAG (Karyl Matsumoto is a good contact). • Advisory Committee members o Richard Irli will continue • Erica Powell enhanced flood control grant application to (regional resiliency) SSF, SB, COLMA, SFO $1.2M in-kind $500K • Maps of MOA with Colma & SSF o Jurisdictional • Verano – City/Town boundary on east side of creek is SSF and needs permit from BART. Residents are in Colma VII. ACTION ITEMS • None - 10 - ADJOURNMENT Helen Fisicaro adjourned the meeting at 4:18 p.m. Next meeting: Tuesday, June 13, 2017 at 3:00 p.m. City of South San Francisco Corporation Yard Conference Room 550 North Canal Street South San Francisco, CA 94080 Minutes submitted by: Kari Jung, City of South San Francisco