Title
a. Receive a report on Board referral 2020.4 for three (3) small County Safety and Accessibility Infrastructure Projects including the following Projects; Pedestrian crossing measures along County Government Center at W. Alisal Street, Update security cameras at the County Government Center (W. Alisal Street) and Elections Exterior Entry Improvements (1441 Schilling Place); and
b. Provide direction to staff.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Board of Supervisors:
a. Receive a report on Board referral 2020.04 for three (3) Small County Safety and Accessibility Infrastructure Projects including the following Projects; Pedestrian crossing measures along County Government Center at W. Alisal Street, Update security cameras at the County Government Center (W. Alisal Street) and Elections Exterior Entry Improvements (1441 Schilling Place) and provide direction to staff;
b. Add 168 W. Alisal-Security Camera Upgrade Project to the approved Fiscal Year (FY) 2020/21-2024/25 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP);
c. Add 1441 Schilling Place-Elections Exterior Entry Modification Project to the approved Fiscal Year (FY) 2020/21-2024/25 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP);
d. Authorize and direct the Auditor-Controller to amend the FY 2020/21 Capital Projects Adopted Budget, Fund 402, Appropriation Unit RMA014, to increase appropriations by $100,000 for the 168 W. Alisal-Security Camera Upgrade Project financed by Capital Projects Fund, Fund 402, Appropriation Unit RMA014, Unassigned Fund Balance (4/5th vote required); and
e. Authorize and direct the Auditor-Controller to amend the FY 2020/21 Capital Projects Adopted Budget, Fund 402, Appropriation Unit RMA014, to increase appropriations by $100,000 for the 1441 Schilling Place-Elections Exterior Entry Modification Project, financed by Capital Projects Fund, Fund 402, Appropriation Unit RMA014, Unassigned Fund Balance (4/5th vote required); and
f. Authorize and direct the Auditor-Controller to amend the FY 2020/21 Capital Projects Adopted Budget, Fund 402, Appropriation Unit RMA014, to increase appropriations by $341,000 for the Temporary Off Street Parking at the corner of Church Street and W. Gabilan Street, including interim barriers at the County parking lot at the corner of W. Alisal and Capitol Streets in Salinas financed by either a decrease in appropriations in General Fund Contingencies, Fund 001, Appropriation Unit CAO020 or a release from the Cannabis Tax Assignment, BSA 001-3132 (4/5th vote required)
SUMMARY:
On January 28, 2020, Supervisor Alejo submitted Referral 2020.4, which states: “This referral requests that the Resource Management Agency implement the following three (3) small infrastructure projects: 1) Work with the City of Salinas to implement lighted crosswalks and flashing beacon lights on the two crosswalks on West Alisal Street at the cross streets of Capital and Cayuga Streets to improve pedestrian safety for county employees and the public. 2) Install updated security cameras on the County Government Center on 168 West Alisal Street due to the low resolution and quality of the existing camera technology on this building. 3) Provide improved ADA accessibility for disabled residents with wheelchairs to move easily to (enter) the County Elections Office at 1441 Schilling Place in Salinas.”
With a Board referral regarding County facilities and/or related infrastructure, staff typically provides information and receives direction from the Board before beginning work. If the subject of a referral becomes a project, the project is vetted through the Capital Improvement Committee (CIC) and the Budget Committee (BC) before being considered by the full Board,. In this case, staff had initiated work on some of these items prior to receiving the referral. As such, this report updates the Board on staff’s efforts and includes actions to allocate funding if the Board wants to pursue implementation of these projects:
1. Crosswalks. Over the past year, County and City staff have worked together on designs for the West Alisal Street (W. Alisal Street) reconfiguration “Road Diet” (Project). Reducing the width will improve safety for pedestrians crossing W. Alisal Street. A couple of minor improvements have been planned that could help reinforce safe crossing of W. Alisal Street. In addition, County and City staff are working toward a long-term plan for a shared parking structure which would reduce or eliminate the need for County staff and jurors to cross W. Alisal Street. Staff estimates the cost to implement this Project to include planned safe crossing measures would be about $341,000.
2. Security Cameras. In response to this referral, RMA assessed the campus and identified 15 potential security camera locations to improve exterior and interior visibility and coverage. In addition, staff identified four (4) obsolete exterior security cameras that could be replaced. Cameras would be strategically placed at visitor/employee parking lots, entrance/exist points, lobbies/elevators, stairwells and the Board Chambers. Should the Board direct this improvement project, with estimated cost of $100,000, to move forward, potential financing sources include Countywide Cost Allocation Plan (COWCAP) Building Depreciation and Capital Projects Fund, Fund 402 unassigned fund balance.
3. 1441 Northern Front Access (Elections). As part of the tenant improvements at the Schilling facility, RMA engaged a Certified Access Specialist (CASp) to inspect and provide a design to address the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) improvements, including the subject area. For the northern front entrance near Elections, CASp identified a few maintenance issues like door tension, door closure rate, and additional painting at the loading unloading zone that needed attention, but determined that the accessibility met ADA requirements. However, there could be some improvements, and the estimated cost for said improvements is about $100,000. Should the Board direct this improvement project to move forward, potential financing sources include COWCAP Building Depreciation and Capital Projects Fund, Fund 402 unassigned fund balance.
In addition, if the Board wants to pursue implementation of these projects, the Board would need to add these Projects to the approved FY 2020/21-2024/25 Five Year Capital Improvement Plan (5-Year CIP).
DISCUSSION:
Safety Improvement - Crosswalks at W. Alisal Street
Following development of the County’s Administrative Building at 168 W. Alisal, there are 159 off-street parking spots available at Capitol Street and W. Gabilan Street. As such, staff must either use the County parking lot across the street from the Government Center at the southeast corner of Capitol Street and W. Alisal Street or the County leased parking lot at 111 W. Alisal Street (site of the temporary warming shelter). This arrangement requires County staff to cross W. Alisal Street, a four-lane corridor in Salinas, at either a 4-way STOP at Capitol and W. Alisal Street, a crosswalk at the intersection of Cayuga Street onto W. Alisal Street or a four-way signaled intersection at the corner of Church Street and W. Alisal Street.
In 2004, the County planned to build a new parking structure at the southeast corner of W. Alisal and Capitol Streets. As mitigation, a traffic signal was planned at this intersection; however, the County removed the proposed parking structure as a capital project so the need for a traffic signal was not triggered. In accordance with the City’s Vibrancy Plan, no parking structure would be built at the corner of W. Alisal and Capitol Streets, but instead City and County staff have been pursing all employee parking via a shared parking structure at the corner of W. Gabilan and Church Streets. In the interim, in coordination with the City staff, has explored alternative measures to provide safe access for County employees to the Government Center at 168 W. Alisal Street.
Dating back to October 2018, the Board of Supervisors requested staff to explore short and long-term parking plans on the property where the former District Attorney (DA) modular buildings were located at the intersection of Church and W. Gabilan Streets. This matter was presented to the Capital Improvement Committee (CIC) and Budget Committee (BC) who supported utilizing the site as a temporary parking lot pending the construction of a shared parking structure at the corner of W. Gabilan and Church Streets. Based on input form CIC and BC, options were presented to the Board of Supervisors in October 2018 with a follow-up presentation in February 2019. Staff received direction from the board to pursue temporary parking solutions and work with City staff on a long-term solution (e.g. parking structure). Staff engaged a consultant to develop a parking lot layout, in consultation with the City and the Judicial Council of California (Courts). This project was submitted as a CIP project #8419 for a total project cost of $1.4M.
In January 2020, City and County staff met (legal counsel, Administration, RMA/Public Works) to discuss options to improve pedestrian safety for county employees and the public while crossing W. Alisal Street, specifically at the corner of Capitol Street and W. Alisal Street. The City provided an overview of its W. Alisal Street Project between Front Street and Blanco Road, which is part of implementing their Vibrancy Plan. The City’s Project, started in April 2020 and includes converting W. Alisal Street from two-lanes to one-lane in each direction with a continuous center turn lane, improved bicycle pedestrian facilities and additional ADA ramps. The Project includes removing the 4-way STOP at Capitol and W. Alisal Streets and restoring the side-street (Capitol Street) STOP only. The nature of the Project is to reduce vehicle accidents between nineteen percent (19%) to forty-seven percent (47%) by reducing speed, creating designated bicycle lanes, and creating fewer lanes for pedestrians to cross. Phase two of the City’s Project includes increasing visibility of the pedestrian crosswalk at Cayuga Street and the installation of pedestrian pop outs (curb extensions which act as a traffic calming measure) at Capitol and W. Alisal Streets.
With the design completed and construction mobilized, reintroducing a traffic signal at W. Alisal and Capitol Streets would require the County to pay for additional traffic studies, redesign, funding for construction and ongoing shared maintenance costs with the City to install a signal. The County also discussed the option of installing a lighted Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacon (RRFB) at the crosswalk to increase visibility. However, the City’s traffic engineer stated that due to the existing RRFB crosswalk at Cayuga Street and W. Alisal Street a redundant system at the intersection of Capitol Street and W. Alisal Streets does not meet the minimum space requirements between RRFB crosswalks.
As an immediate short-term action to address safety concerns, the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) issued a memorandum directing County staff to use the signalized crosswalk at the intersection of W. Alisal and Church Streets. On or about February 7, 2020, the CAO prepared and emailed a memorandum with map to all County employees which directed employees to cross W. Alisal Street at the signalized intersection at W. Alisal and Church Streets and not to cross W. Alisal Street at the Capitol Street or Cayuga Street crosswalks when crossing W. Alisal Street (Attachment A). The addition of temporary barriers at the County parking lot on the corner of W. Alisal and Capitol Streets would help in directing staff to the signalized intersection at W. Alisal and Church Streets (Attachment B).
The Five-Year Capital Improvement Program (CIP) for FYs 2020/21 through 2024/25 (CIP) includes two (two) projects for increasing additional parking at the corner of W. Gabilan and Church Streets. Project No. 8880 would build a six-level parking structure in partnership with the City of Salinas and the Judicial Council of California at an estimated cost of $81.0 million. Project No. 8888 would be to install temporary off-street parking for use by County employees at an estimated cost of $341,000 to include temporary barriers at the corner of W. Alisal and Capital Streets. The pared down, simplified solution to install temporary off-street parking would allow for a quick and simple installation of a pervious surface (e.g. gravel) with minimal infrastructure at the former DA modular site and it would not meet ADA standards. In the interim, moving forward with Project No. 8880 for a permanent parking structure with design and environmental review, staff estimates the first-year cost to be approximately $1.2M. While both projects are included in 2020/21 through 2024/25 CIP, neither were identified as priority projects being recommended for funding at this time. Building Depreciation Allocation would not be an appropriate source of funding. Other potential funding sources would be general fund contingencies, cannabis tax revenues, or identifying outside sources such as iBank.
Staff discussed additional interim safety measures such as the installation of a “barrier” at Capitol and Alisal Streets to encourage pedestrians to cross where desired. The City noted challenges in restricting the public from using a public sidewalk and street, so staff explored options that would not impact the City’s right of way (e.g.; located on County property) Staff also discussed a pedestrian bridge, but ADA accessibility would be very difficult and costly to accommodate.
Safety Improvements - Install updated security cameras on the County Administration Building, downtown Government Center, located at 168 W. Alisal Street, Salinas
In 2003-2005, the construction of the Government Center at 168 W. Alisal Street, included four (4) security cameras. In 2015, a Security Assessment (Assessment) for various County facilities, including the Government Center County Administration Building located at 168 W. Alisal Street in Salinas, was performed to determine physical security risks and to provide recommendations to improve security. The assessment at the Government Center recommended the upgrade of the four (4) existing security cameras installed in 2005, including the installation of additional cameras on the exterior and within the interior of the building. The estimated project cost is $100,000.
1441 Schilling Place-Elections Exterior Entry Modification Projects
In 2015, the County acquired the Schilling Place complex, which includes the commercial building located at 1441 Schilling Place, Salinas, for occupancy by multiple County departments. An architect was engaged to prepare tenant improvement plans. The architect, as part of the California Building code requirements, included ADA Path of Travel upgrades. California Building Code (CBC) defines Path of Travel requirements in existing buildings and facilities as an identifiable Accessible Route within an existing site, building or facility by means of which a particular area may be approached, entered and exited, and which connects a particular area with an exterior approach (including sidewalks, streets, and parking areas), an entrance to the facility and other parts of the facility. An Accessible Route is defined by a continuous unobstructed path connecting accessible elements and spaces of an accessible site, building or facility that can be negotiated by a person with a disability using a wheelchair, and that is also safe for and usable by persons with other disabilities. The scope of the Path of Travel upgrades is limited to twenty percent (20%) of the adjusted construction cost of the additions, alternations or structure repair (CBC 11B-202.4, Exception 8). At 1441 Schilling Place, this includes an ADA compliant walkway to the Elections and Civil Rights Offices.
In May 2019, RMA staff met with Elections to discuss their concerns with wheelchair accessibility of the walkway to the Elections and Civil Rights Offices (CRO) and the desire for an automatic door opener and controls on the interior and exterior doors. RMA staff was also requested to ensure the Path of Travel within the parking lot was properly identified.
While County procedures require a specific Department to fund the tenant improvements above and beyond the maintenance and operation of a facility, RMA agreed to engage, fund and manage a Certified Access Specialist (CASp) to inspect the area of concern and provide a design to address the ADA improvements based on the findings. RMA engaged an architect to complete drawings to support the building permit for the required and non-compulsory improvements (improvement of features which already conform to then current code) requested by CRO and Elections. The CASp identified a few maintenance issues like door tension, door closure rate, additional paint at loading unloading zone that needed attention but determined the accessibility met ADA requirements. RMA staff did request that the CRO and Elections fund the non-compulsory improvement construction cost as those are upgrades requested specifically for their departments and is not part of the RMA Facilities maintenance requirements. This is executed through a Reimbursable Services Agreement (RSA) that ensures the RMA will be reimbursed for the project cost and services.
The architect proposal was received and accepted by the RMA, with authorization to proceed issued July 2019. The CASp report was completed shortly thereafter with the architect drawings for the building permit completed in August 2019. RMA Staff submitted drawings with Building Services on August 14, 2019 (Attachment C). On the same day, RMA Staff submitted the RSA for execution, budget, and a copy of submitted drawing set to CRO and Elections. Shortly after sending over the budget, RMA Staff received verbal notification from the Election Finance Manager that funding of the ADA improvements was not in the Elections budget and therefore would defer the improvements while pursuing grants to fund an ADA improvement project. Staff rescinded the permit application the next day and closed out further work on the pending project to address non-compulsory improvements due to non-funding. RMA facilities has received a service request from Facilities Architectural Services and completed the CASp report maintenance issues.
OTHER AGENCY/STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT:
RMA consulted with the Chief Administrative Office, City of Salinas and County Counsel regarding pedestrian crossing of W. Alisal Street. County staff participates in monthly coordination meetings with the City of Salinas and will continue to receive updates on the Alisal Road Diet plan to ensure County access to the Government Center stays at the forefront of focus.
RMA works closely with other County Departments to ensure the best industry safety and maintenance practices are implemented.
FINANCIAL ANALYSIS:
The FY 2020/21 Adopted Budget does not include funding for the projects associated with Referral No. 2020-4. Staff would recommend that the Board approve adding the 168 W. Alisal-Security Camera Upgrade and the 1441 Schilling Place-Elections Exterior Entry Modification Projects to the approved FY 2020/21-2024/25 CIP, as these projects were not included during the development of the CIP as the estimated project costs were not known at that time. None of the projects discussed in this report have been identified as priority projects for FY 2020/21 and no funding was allocated. Should the Board approve moving forward with the 168 W. Alisal-Security Camera Upgrade and the 1441 Schilling Place-Elections Exterior Entry Modification projects, staff recommends the financing source from Capital Projects Fund, Fund 402, Unassigned Fund Balance, which has an estimated balance of $411,222 as of June 30, 2020. With project costs estimated at $200,000, this would leave an estimated Unassigned Fund Balance of $211,222. Staff recommends either General Fund Contingencies or Cannabis Tax Assignment to finance the Temporary Off-Street Parking at the corner of Church Street and W. Gabilan Street and temporary parking lot barriers at the corner of Alisal and Captial in the amount of $341,000 should the Board approve moving forward with this project. Currently, there are no identified financing sources to fund a permanent parking structure at the corner of W. Gabilan and Church Streets
The General Fund Contingencies uncommitted balance is $4,859,221; should the Board approve the release of $341,000, the adjusted uncommitted balance would be $4,518,221.
The Cannabis Tax Assignment fund balance projection as of July 01, 2020 is $24,294,676; should the Board approve the release of $341,000, the adjusted balance would be $23,953,676
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS STRATEGIC INITIATIVE:
Provision of adequate parking, increased security and accessibility supports the Board of Supervisors Strategic initiatives by promoting efficient, effective government operations at the County Government Center by affording, safe and improved constituent and employee access.
__ Economic Development
X_ Administration
_ Health & Human Serv
X Infrastructure
X _Public Safety
Prepared by: Lindsay Lerable, RMA Chief of Facilities
Reviewed by: Shawne Ellerbee, Deputy Director of Administrative Services
Approved by: Carl Holm, RMA Director and
The following attachments are on file with the Clerk of the Board:
Attachment A - Staff Crossing at W. Alisal Street
Attachment B - Conceptual Pedestrian Traffic Control
Attachment C - 1441 Schilling Proposed ADA Ramp