To: Honorable Mayor and Members of Town Council
From: Bob Goebel, PE, Public Works Director
Bill Detweiler, ASLA, Development Services Director
Title
Discussion/Direction: Downtown Alley Rehabilitation Project
Body
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Executive Summary
Staff is seeking Town Council direction on the Downtown Alley Rehabilitation Project. The planned improvements include rehabilitation of four alleys in the downtown area. See referenced alley locations (Attachment A). The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), previously approved by Town Council in 2014 included $152,702 in funding and in 2015 $50,000 in funding for the alley improvement projects. The Town has entered into an agreement with Douglas County for administering the 2014 grant funds. Staff is seeking Council direction whether to complete the alley improvements as planned through use of the Council approved CDBG funds. Town Council’s recent action to decline CDBG funding for 2016 does not apply to this project.
Staff is seeking Council direction to ensure Council is comfortable with use of previously approved CDBG funding for the project.
Discussion
Staff has been planning to utilize the approved CDBG grant funds to rehabilitate multiple alleys in the downtown area. The planned improvements to the alleys will provide a paved surface for the use of vehicles and pedestrians. The proposed pavement will meet ADA standards for grade and cross slope, therefore providing accessible routes to destinations within the Downtown area. Many buildings in the downtown area have their accessible entrances in the rear of the buildings. The paving projects will provide much improved access for disabled citizens to the rear of the downtown buildings.
For the 2014 and 2015 CDBG grant cycles, staff requested grant amounts totaling $406,000 through the CDBG application process. The Town was awarded $152,702 in 2014 and $50,000 in 2015. To date, the Town has not utilized these funds. The Town has retained a design consultant, Bohannan-Huston, Inc., to prepare construction plans for paving four of the alleys identified in the Alley Location Map (Attachment A). These plans are near completion at this time.
Staff is seeking direction from Council to determine if the grant funds approved in 2014 and 2015 may be utilized for the construction of the alleys identified in the attachment (Attachment A). The following options identify the impact of accepting, or not accepting, the grant funds or portions thereof:
(1) If Council determines all of the approved grant funds may be used. The Town would supplement the grant funds with Town budgeted funds (2016 budget) and be able to rehabilitate the four alleys shown (Attachment A).
(2) If Council determines the Town should not accept any of the grant funds. The Town should be able to construct either of the following with Town budgeted funds currently designated in the 2016 budget:
a. Any two of the three alleys between Briscoe and First Streets
OR
b. Only the alley north of Seventh Street with associated storm sewer improvements.
OR
c. Return 2016 budgeted funds, ($105,000) to the Transportation Fund balance to be reprioritized to a different capital project. These funds were originally budgeted to leverage the grant funds for this project. Based on feedback from the recent Town Community survey, projects focused on congestion relief are a community priority. These funds could be saved for a future project with congestion relief as a primary goal as one option.
(3) If Council determines the Town should only accept the 2014 grant of $152,702. The Town should be able to construct either of the following with the addition the Town budgeted funds:
a. Any two of the three alleys between Briscoe and First Streets and
the alley north of Seventh Street with associated storm sewer
OR
b. All three of the alleys between Briscoe and First Streets, in addition to another alley to be determined.
Budget Impact
If Council chooses not to use the CDBG funding from 2014 and 2015 (total of $202,702) to complete the alley rehabilitation project, Town funds could be budgeted from an existing fund balance to make up the difference. If one of the options is chosen as outlined in the Discussion Section above, the impact to the budget would vary.
Staff Recommendation
Staff recommends that if Town Council chooses to return the full funding amount of both grants ($202,702), that the planned 2016 budgeted Town funds designated for this project be returned to the Transportation Fund balance to be reprioritized with the next five-year Capital Improvement Program review. This is based on congestion relief being a primary concern of the community in the most recent community survey.
Proposed Motion
Motion dependent upon option chosen:
Option 1: I move to direct staff to utilize the 2014 & 2015 CDBG grant funds, in addition to 2016 Town budgeted funds, to construct the downtown alley rehabilitation project.
Option 2a: I move to not accept the 2014 & 2015 CDBG grant funds and utilize 2016 Town budgeted funds to rehabilitate two alleys between Briscoe and First Streets.
Option 2b: I move to not accept the 2014 & 2015 CDBG grant funds and utilize 2016 Town budgeted funds to rehabilitate the alley north of Seventh Street and associated storm sewer improvements.
Option 2c: I move to not accept the 2014 & 2015 CDBG grant funds and return the 2016 Town budgeted funds, ($105,000) to the Transportation Fund balance to be reprioritized to a different capital project.
Option 3a: I move to not accept the 2015 CDBG grant funds ($50,000) and accept the 2014 CDBG grant funds ($152,702) to be combined with the 2016 Town budgeted funds and utilized to construct the two alleys between Briscoe and First Streets, in addition to the alley north of seventh street and associated storm sewer improvements.
Option 3b: I move to not accept the 2015 CDBG grant funds ($50,000) and accept the 2014 CDBG grant funds ($152,702) to be combined with the 2016 Town budgeted funds and utilized to construct the three alleys between Briscoe and First Streets, in addition to another downtown alley, to be determined.
Attachments
Attachment A: Alley Location Map
Attachment B: CDBG Program Sub grantee Agreement Template
Attachment C: Resolutions 2013-60 and 2014-90 - 2014 and 2015 CDBG Grant Application(s) Authorization