Title
Support approving CAO response to Board Referral No. 2015.09 (10/20/15) to identify funds necessary to finance the Third and Final Funding and Reimbursement Agreement for the proposed Interlake Tunnel project.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Budget Committee take the following actions:
a. Support assigning $1.9M to the Interlake Tunnel project from unassigned FY 2015-16 fund balance;
b. Support directing staff to negotiate a Third and Final Funding and Reimbursement Agreement between the County of Monterey and the Monterey County Water Resources Agency (WRA) for the Interlake Tunnel project, for consideration by the full Board at the earliest opportunity;
c. As a condition of a Third Funding Agreement, support requiring WRA to hire a financial advisor to evaluate debt issuance and financing options for the Interlake Tunnel project; and
d. As a condition of a Third Funding Agreement, support requiring WRA to make quarterly reports to the Budget Committee and Board of Supervisors regarding:
i. Overall progress, design and permitting for the project;
ii. Activities of the Agency to procure grant funding for the project; and
iii. Progress with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to resolve the white bass transfer issue.
SUMMARY:
The Interlake Tunnel project connects overflows from Nacimiento reservoir with San Antonio reservoir via an underground tunnel. A second portion of the project, the San Antonio Spillway Modification, increases the storage capacity of Lake San Antonio. Taken together, the tunnel and spillway modification provides significant water storage capacity increases as well as flood control protections. The County of Monterey, through a series of funding and reimbursement agreements, has advanced funds for design and permitting work on the project with the expectation of repayment pending a future Proposition 218 (Prop 218) assessment of benefited property owners or other financing mechanism to repa...
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