HomeMy WebLinkAbout04.05.2023 SP Minutes @6:30
CALL TO ORDER Committee member Zemke called the meeting to order at 6:41
p.m.
ROLL CALL Chair Del Rosario, absent
Vice Chair DeGuzman, absent
Committee member Zemke, present
Committee member Brosnan, absent
Committee member Rey, present
AGENDA REVIEW
No changes.
REMOTE PUBLIC COMMENTS
No public comments made.
WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS
Finance Director Karen Chang introduced City Manager Sharon Ranals, Capital Projects
Director Jake Gilchrist, Principal Engineer Matt Ruble, Assistant City Attorney Claire Lai, Deputy
Finance Director Jason Wong, and Secretary Amanda Parker. Committee member Zemke served as
Chair of the meeting.
MATTERS FOR CONSIDERATION
1. Motion to approve the Minutes from the meeting January, 23, 2023.
Committee member Zemke moved the motion to approve the Minutes to the next meeting since
there was no forum.
2. Presentation and discussion on Measure W revenues, expenditures, and project updates on
Measure W funded projects.
Finance Director Chang provided a brief overview and update of financials. Director Chang
stated that the budget for the whole year was expected to be about $13.8 million from Measure W
sales tax revenues, expenditures would be $4.8 million for Civic Campus, and $8.3 million for debt
service. It was anticipated that at the end of the fiscal year, revenues over expenditures would be
MINUTES
SPECIAL MEETING
MEASURE W CITIZENS’ OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE
CITY OF SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO
Wednesday, April 5, 2023
6:30 p.m.
IN-PERSON MEETING
MEASURE W COC SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES April 5, 2023
PAGE 2
around $600,000. She later stated that about $8 million was received in Measure W sales tax from
July 1st – February 28th. The expenditure total was about $2.7 million, with $2.5 million for debt
service. Since more revenue was collected than expenditures, there was about $5.4 million in
excess. The sales tax was about two months behind, so the $8 million in revenue reflects the
collection through December. Director Chang stated that since sales tax was not coming in evenly
due to the uncertainty of the economy, $13.8 million was still a good estimate. Director Chang then
handed it off to Capital Projects Director Jacob Gilchrist for a project update on the Library, Parks
and Recreation (LPR) building.
Capital Projects Director Gilchrist went over the project update of LPR through the PowerPoint
slides. He stated that the opening is around six months away. Everything was going well. The
carpets and all electrical were in, so there’s permanent power now. Director Gilchrist said that the
park component of it is a little behind schedule due to the rain, but it’s not a critical path to the
opening. The foreground will have a garden, synthetic turf, and an activity field. The ring of the
field was already defined, and the concrete was poured. The LPR building will include a medium
event space, a large event space, and a Council Chamber. Utilities were installed, so it was about
two weeks away from having light on it at night. Director Gilchrist stated that they are doing well
with the construction contingency. A significant portion of the contingency is to add additional
technological infrastructure so more of the spaces can be flexible for zoom meetings. They also
started to make adjustments and incorporate new ways everyone can learn and collaborate with
since the building was designed before COVID-19. Director Gilchrist also stated that there were
about 200 parking spaces for LPR, and they were planning to install more ADA parking spaces. The
housing developer received a transportation grant in which they were planning to build an extension
of Oak Ave across Mission Road to essentially be a fourth row of parking for LPR. The plan is to
begin the work in late 2024 – early 2025. Committee member Zemke asked how the number of
parking spaces for LPR compared to what is at Municipal Services Building (“MSB”). Director
Gilchrist stated the MSB had around 180 parking spaces, but it has increased since the Police
Department moved out.
Director Gilchrist then gave an update on the Sports Field Project and the Aquatic Center. The
Sports Field Project, which was part of the 2022 bond sale, was doing well. Director Gilchrist stated
that the project was underbudget, and they were not planning to use all the construction
contingencies. The concession building that was used for the Sports Field was donated from
Genentech about 8-10 years ago. Director Gilchrist also explained that they were expecting to open
for May or June, but the rain keeps pushing the date out. The Aquatic Center is scheduled for
construction later this year. They had gone for a design and review that went well. The construction
won’t begin until Fall 2023. Committee member Zemke asked how many trees would have to be
taken out for construction. Director Gilchrist explained that it wouldn’t be too many and that they
wanted to keep as many as they could. Committee member Rey asked about the longevity of the
landscaping. Director Gilchrist answered that all their designers and staff are Bay friendly certified.
They made sure the plants used were compatible with the region with low water use. It would feel
more like a contemporary garden design. Committee member Zemke asked what the plans were for
landscaping in front of the building along El Camino. Director Gilchrist stated that they would be
matching the Grand Boulevard Initiative (GBI) Program with planters and wildflowers in between.
Committee member Zemke then asked how much space is between the curb and the building.
Director Gilchrist explained that since they are removing the painted buffer and adding a bike lane,
the curb line would be moved to the left four feet to accommodate a three feet wide planter and
wider sidewalk. Committee member Zemke then stated that some of the comments he has been
receiving are that the frontage of El Camino is a little harsh. Director Gilchrist answered that the
MEASURE W COC SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES April 5, 2023
PAGE 3
building had to be made narrow and pushed as close as possible to El Camino for everything to
function correctly. He agreed it was a legitimate complaint but with the trees and the bike lane, the
sidewalk would be bigger. Committee member Rey asked whether there would be actual books in
the library adult room or if it would be under one umbrella of libraries. Director Gilchrist answered
that one side of the 3rd floor would be the entire adult library and explained they were going in the
direction of less media. Director Gilchrist then passed the floor to Principal Engineer Matt Ruble.
Principal Engineer Matt Ruble went over a PowerPoint presentation that was put together to
accept their construction project that utilized Measure W funds. Principal Engineer Ruble stated that
it was a success story overall because they had the opportunity to utilize the Measure W funds and
take advantage of the historically low interest rates to front load massive paving projects, catch up
work, and/or do a small project every year. Principal Engineer Ruble explained they were able to
save about $2 million a year on ongoing paving maintenance and significantly improved our
roadways. Principal Engineer Ruble stated that the actual project put out was about $19.7 million
and treated about 21 miles of our roadways, which is about 18% of all our roadways. Principal
Engineer Ruble then moved on to discuss their focus on trying to be as green as possible and
utilizing the latest technologies available. He explained they’ve been utilizing cold in-place
pavement recycling, in which they grinded up existing roadways, treated the material, and put it
back. This saved money and prevented it from having to be dumped in a landfill. Principal Engineer
Ruble stated that the utilization of hot rubberized asphalt was even more innovative and helpful. He
said they were able to win a grant to cover the cost and team up with Brisbane to have a larger ask.
With the hot rubberized asphalt, Principal Engineer Ruble stated the roads are better, more fuel
efficient, and last longer than before, and they were able to divert about 44,000 tires from a landfill.
With the new roadways done, there was the chance for new striping on top of the pavement.
Principal Engineer Ruble said they added about 3.6 miles of class 2 and an additional 2.3 miles of
class 3 of share-the-road markings and that all supposed lanes were added to the project as well.
Since the roadways were being repaired, there were triggers for ADA accommodations for curb
ramps and other drainage improvements. Principal Engineer Ruble stated new tree wells went in
and 259 ADA compliant curb ramps were installed. He explained that the project has really been
setting them up for how they are going to move forward with road maintenance. He said their plan
was to divide the city into different zones, do those streets, and rotate around the city every 5 years.
Principal Engineer Ruble stated that it gave them predictability and allowed them to coordinate
better. Committee member Rey asked what the difference in longevity was for the pavement with
the hot rubber asphalt than the pavement without Principal Engineer Ruble answered that it lasts
about 10-15 years without the rubber and about 15-20 years with it. He stated that the goal was to
maintain the life of it and leave it there indefinitely. It’s a lot cheaper to keep a road in good
condition than trying to repair it when it’s already in a deterioration curve. That concluded the
presentation and Director Chang opened the floor for questions and discussions.
Committee member Zemke asked what kind of cushion would be left with the addition of
funding for the swimming pool. City Manager Ranals stated that she doesn’t know how much of a
cushion they’d have, but they did have projections. As these projects were completed, there was still
capacity there. Director Gilchrist stated that projections were done for the 2022 bonds sale. Deputy
Finance Director Wong stated they didn’t bond fund for the entire project of LPR. That was a
combination of bonds and cash to use from excess Measure W. The excess revenue over debt
service was used to complete the cash contribution of LPR through fiscal 2024. After fiscal 2025,
excess revenues would be available for additional projects that the City Council could decide to use.
Director Gilchrist stated they didn’t anticipate that the bids would come to $28 million below for
LPR when discussing the 2021 sale impact. The project was estimated to be around $98 million,
MEASURE W COC SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES April 5, 2023
PAGE 4
and the bids came in right around $70 million. He said the savings resulted in a lower second bonds
sale, which they anticipated to use in the third bond sale. This is why the aquatic center became a
project. They were expecting $130-140 million, and it was $103 million. Deputy Finance Director
Wong also stated that they added solar panels for around $2 million and took advantage of low
interest rates. He explained that he pushed to get bonds issued earlier because they were anticipating
going to the bond market in September or October. It was important to get it done in March before
the Federal Reserve raised their interest rates. Director Gilchrist stated that they were able to end up
with a low bid price on LPR because contractors were panicking about how to keep their crews
working. He stated they got three bids, and they were all close to each other. He had seen that those
contractors were struggling to meet those bid prices. Committee member Zemke asked if the supply
chain was holding them up on anything or if it was a thing of the past. Director Gilchrist answered
that it was still affecting them in some ways. He stated the Police Department had to move some of
the furniture that was in the old PD over temporarily because there’s been a run-on foam for
furniture back in 2021-2022. Director Gilchrist explained that it’s mostly on the furnishing side and
FFE fixture and that the contractors haven’t had an issue with it. City Manager Ranals stated
they’ve been given a much longer lead time. They’re not planning to open for six months and have
already ordered furniture, technology, and workstations. She stated that they still have to order some
of the equipment though. City Manager Ranals also stated that they couldn’t do the concert at the
park anymore with the construction on the pool. She suggested moving it to the Library, Parks &
Rec for a soft opening for the donors.
ADJOURNMENT
Being no further business, Committee member Zemke adjourned the meeting at 7:30 p.m.
Submitted by: Approved by:
_____________________ ______________________________
Amanda Parker Bill Zemke
Secretary Committee Member
Approved by the Measure W Citizens’ Oversight Committee: / /