HomeMy WebLinkAboutColma Creek Advisory Minutes 12-12-17Page M1 of M7
San Mateo County Flood Control District
Colma Creek Flood Control Zone Citizens Advisory Committee
Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, December 12, 2017
I. CALL TO ORDER
Helen Fisicaro called to order the regular meeting of the Colma Creek Flood Control Zone
Citizens Advisory Committee at 3:10 p.m. on Tuesday, December 12, 2017, in the City of South
San Francisco – Corporation Yard Conference Room, 550 North Canal Street, South San
Francisco.
II. ROLL CALL
Present:
Helen Fisicaro, Chair – Town of Colma
Judith Christensen – City of Daly City
Mike Futrell – City of South San Francisco
Gail DeFries, Member at Large – City of Daly City
Richard Irli, Member at Large – City of South San Francisco
Ed Bortoli, Member at Large – City of South San Francisco
Absent:
Irene O’Connell – City of San Bruno
Sue Digre – City of Pacifica
Kamala Cynthia Silva Wolfe, 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)
Mark Chow – County of San Mateo/San Mateo County Flood Control District
Erika Powell – San Mateo County Flood & Resiliency
Brad Donohue – Town of Colma
John Fuller – City of Daly City
Eunejune Kim – City of South San Francisco
Kari Jung – City of South San Francisco
Staff Absent:
Michael Barber – County of San Mateo/Supervisor Dave Pine’s Office
III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Motion – Gail DeFries, Second – Mike Futrell.
Minutes of the September 12, 2017 meeting were approved.
IV. PUBLIC COMMENT
No members of the public were present. An email sent by resident Michael Harris regarding
clean up area of Bart Bridge. Mike Futrell confirmed that the City portions of his comments have
been parsed out to Public Works and are being addressed by Eunejune Kim.
Mr. Harris arrived mid-way through the meeting and was allowed to speak prior to meeting
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adjournment.
Mr. Harris introduced himself as a South San Francisco resident from June of 1959, before the
channel was built. He regularly walks the area from Oak Avenue to Salvation Army and stated
that the County did not complete the job. When he walked the area by the Bart Bridge 2 days ago
(12/10/17), he noted that the concrete is broken away and by Kaiser a large portion is eroded
away.
Mr. Harris believes that the bridge at Oak Avenue is dangerously broken (loose)
Against Costco covering over creek, engineering knew nothing about.
Mr. Harris noted that, in his recollection, prior to the channel being built, that the area only
flooded about two times.
The drainage pipe ditch going into creek is a potential clog (goes two different directions to flow
into the creek).
Mr. Harris has a pending request with the Department of Public Works for a pipe map.
Mike Futrell relayed to Mr. Harris that his letter was read and discussed.
V. DISTRICT PROJECTS, ETC.: SUMMARIZED IN A HANDOUT AND OPEN FOR
ADDITIONAL DISCUSSION
El Camino Box Culvert and Mission Road Diversion Structure
Ann reminded the committee that the District has selected the consultant firm CDM-Smith to
perform a condition assessment of the box culverts starting approximately 300 feet north of the
intersection of El Camino Real and “A” Street in Daly City to the beginning of the BART
section at the Treasure Island Mobile Home Park. The total length of culvert to be inspected is
approximately 8,660 feet or 1.6 miles, which includes the segment under Mission Road that is
approximately 1,089 feet and consists of a double box (two boxes placed side by side).
The District submitted to Caltrans an encroachment permit application for the consultant to
access the box culverts in El Camino Real (State Route 82) on October 5, 2017, and received the
permit on October 31, 2017. Due to the start of the rainy season, the District and the consultant
agreed that it would be prudent to delay the start of inspection until late spring or early summer
2018, as the work is dependent on weather (requires manned entry) and amount of flows in the
culvert/boxes. The anticipated duration to complete the project is 3-4 months. Delaying the start
did not affect the consultant’s cost proposal.
BART Co-op Project
Ann shared that, with authorization from the District, the Town of Colma performed vegetation
management and graffiti abatement on the upstream segment of the BART project (McLellan
Drive to Mission Road) under the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for shared services.
District hired contractors also completed removal of pampas grass (including root balls) on the
access road adjacent to the Oak Avenue bridge, spot repairs of concrete within the channel and
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fences. Some of the completed repairs were items on the BART punchlist. Additional BART
items within the channel between McLellan Drive and Mission Road will be done in the summer
2018. Costs associated with items on the BART punchlist, which have not been determined at
this time, will be invoiced to BART for payment. Below are before and after photos of areas
where recent maintenance work was completed:
Before After
Helen inquired about the work shown was not in the channel itself and Ann confirmed that the
work completed was on the banks or channel walls above the active flow. Mark clarified that the
vegetation clearing work could have been done without the permits but waited for the permits so
that the concrete work could be done as well. Ann explained that the removal of the root balls is
required to prevent the regrowth of the Pampas Grass, and the seeds propagate with the winds.
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Colma Creek Improvements between Spruce and San Mateo Avenues
Ann reported there are no specific 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.
Mitigation Sites downstream of Utah Avenue
Ann shared that 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
District was recently contacted by a representative from Staywell, a health engagement company
located in Daly City that helps its clients engage and educate people to improve health and
business results, for an employee participant volunteer effort to pick up trash in the Colma Creek
watershed. We have scheduled this cleanup event for December 21, 2017. A planting event is
also being coordinated to occur in January 2018 for Site 3 to increase the number of native plants
and help with meeting the performance criteria for this site.
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 10.61 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 40.05 1/7, 1/21, 2/4, 2/18, 3/4, 3/11, 3/18, 4/1, 4/22, 5/6,
5/20,
6/17, 7/15, 8/19, 9/16, 9/30, 10/21, 11/18, 12/2
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 615.13
* Number of event dates increased per mitigation required for Channel Wall Repair Upstream of Spruce Avenue.
Maintenance of Existing Channel
Ann reported that the quarterly inspection of the Colma Creek Flood Control Channel was
performed on November 17, 2017 (See photos from inspection in the Maintenance Matrix
Binder). Representatives from the City of South San Francisco accompanied District staff during
the inspection. Several homeless encampments were observed under bridges, on access roads,
and within Mitigation Site 2. Large amounts of illegal dumping of garbage, furniture, and
construction debris along the channel walls in the vicinity of Mitchell Avenue (between S.
Airport Blvd. and Utah Avenue) is a significant problem. Issues requiring enforcement by the
City of South San Francisco or the Town of Colma have been forwarded to the respective entity.
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Produce Avenue – Channel Wall Project
Ann shared that there is no specific update on this project and that the District continues to
monitor the channel walls immediately upstream and downstream of the Produce Avenue
Bridge. The consultant CDM- Smith continues to work on developing preliminary concepts for
the repair strategy for the channel walls. The maintenance matrix binder includes pictures of
movement on walls.
Utah Avenue to Bay
Ann reminded the committee that, as previously discussed, the District submitted to the
California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (CalOES) multiple applications for FEMA
Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) funding of the flood walls downstream of the Utah
Avenue bridge since June 2016. On November 30, 2017, CalOES informed the District that it
has completed its review of the application and has submitted it to FEMA for grant review and
funding consideration. While the District continues to wait for a decision from FEMA the
preliminary design of the project is in progress. The consultants selected for the design
completed the 65% design submittal in November 2017. The 65% design and other technical
studies are currently being reviewed by District staff. The final design is anticipated to be
completed in the spring of 2018.
Sea Level Rise Preparedness
Ann reported that there is no update on this item.
Multi-jurisdictional Regional Stormwater Capture Project at Orange Memorial Park (SSF and
San Mateo Countywide Water Pollution Prevention Program)
Ann reminded the committee that a funding agreement between the City of South San Francisco
and Caltrans for this project was approved by the City Council on April 26, 2017, as previously
reported and that the City anticipated awarding the design contract to the consultant(s) selected
through the Request for Proposals process in November 2017. Eunejune Kim advised that the
consultant Lotus Water had been selected (Erika Powell was on the consultant selection
committee), pending council approval. Lotus Water is local to the Bay Area and the proposal
included several sub-consultants including Callander Associates (San Mateo) and several others.
Utilizing a local team was a key criterion for the selection team. The City plans to take the
proposal to Council to award in late January 2018. The design plans and specifications will begin
to be developed late January 2018, and are scheduled for bidding in Spring 2019.
Colma Creek Technical Advisory Committee (TAC)
Ann reported that the TAC met on October 10, 2017, to continue the discussion on collaboration
between the District and SSF, Daly City, and Colma for maintenance type activities. Work is
being performed or scheduled by City and Town staff or contractors under the MOAs. District
staff also briefed the TAC on the progress of the maintenance and capital improvement projects
currently in progress (discussed above).
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VI. DISCUSSION ITEMS
Colma Creek Flood Control Zone Financial Summary
o The next report will include Property Tax Revenues.
o Expenses are largely bond (debt service) payoff.
o Three (3) current projects show amounts updated ($1M to date) as well as place
holders for proposed projects.
o One Time costs – added other items
o On-going costs – bond financing, City of South San Francisco invoices, Town of
Colma (invoices to be produced), Emergency Repair fund
Helen inquired regarding the Long Term Maintenance (on-going) costs
wherein the column header lists “Annual Cost” but note indicates as “Actual
Cost” from FY 2009-10 forward as a combined amount. Mark Chow
confirmed that this is an actual and combined amount from FY 2009-10
forward and not an annual projected amount.
Colma Creek CIP Project List
o The format of this list is evolving. Designations (colored highlights) of updated and
reallocated amounts have been added.
o Helen indicated that she would be interested in seeing what was budgeted vs. actual
spent.
o Project #2 (Side Walls Utah Avenue to Navigable Slough) now includes Design &
Permitting Estimates for FY 2018-19 as well as 25% Project Administration.
o Project #3 (Wall Repair – Produce and U.S. 101) – The County would like the
opportunity to review information for the U.S. 101 / Produce Avenue Interchange
Project
Mike Futrell indicated that there is an animation available and that there are
no creek crossings (from San Mateo Avenue to Produce Avenue to Utah
Avenue, never touching the creek). In total cost, the project is estimated at
$150 Million.
Eunejune Kim confirmed that the project is in the environmental review
phase.
Advisory Committee Members – San Mateo County Board of Supervisors on October 31,
2017, approved the reappointment of Richard Irli to the Committee as an “At Large” member
from the City of South San Francisco for the term expiring on March 31, 2021.
The City Appointed terms for Helen Fisicaro, Judith Christensen, and Mike Futrell are set to
expire on March 31, 2018. The Board of Supervisor Appointed terms for Ed Bortoli and Gail
DeFries are set to expire on March 31, 2018.
o Judith Christiansen confirmed that the City of Daly City did complete the
reorganization on December 11, 2017, but did not go through committees. She is still
interested in remaining on the Colma Creek Advisory Committee and will follow up
with the City Council. Gail DeFries confirmed her interest to be reappointed.
o Mike Futrell confirmed that he will bring both his and Ed Bortoli’s reappointments to
City Council.
o Helen Fisicaro indicated that while she is technically termed out, she is interested in
remaining on the Council and will address at the Town of Colma’s next Council
meeting. Ann Stillman will follow up with Helen by email regarding any steps
required.
VII. ACTION ITEMS
Approve Committee Meeting Dates for 2018 – Proposed dates are: March 13, June 12,
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September 11, and December 11
VIII. ADJOURNMENT
Helen Fisicaro adjourned the meeting at 3:56 p.m.
Next meeting: Tuesday, March 13, 2018, 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