City Council Meeting: September
25, 2007
Agenda Item: ITEM 8-C
To: Mayor and City Council
From:
Carol
Swindell, Director – Finance
Subject: Council Actions to Implement Stormwater
Management Projects Funded by the Measure V Clean Beaches and Ocean Parcel Tax.
Recommended
Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. review and
conceptually approve the proposed phase I plan for use of Measure V funds;
2. approve Measure V low income waiver provisions
and adopt implementing resolution;
3. approve proposed membership, scope and
responsibilities for Measure V Citizens Oversight Committee; and
4. direct staff to proceed with preparation of
analysis and recommended actions to borrow
capital funds for proposed Measure V capital projects through issuance of
revenue bonds supported by Measure V revenues.
Executive
Summary
The
Low income
waiver guidelines and an implementing waiver resolution are presented in the
report for discussion and Council action. Recommendations are also presented related
to the membership, scope and responsibilities of the Citizens Oversight
Committee that was authorized by Measure V to audit the use of funds.
Following
conceptual Council approval of the first phase Measure V implementation plan,
staff will prepare as part of the mid-year budget review a financial analysis
and budget recommendations, including debt issuance to finance capital projects
as well as staffing and operating budget increases that are necessary to
implement the adopted Watershed Management Plan. In addition, following Council
approval of the low income waiver provision, staff will work with the Rent
Control Board and its staff to finalize their approval of a pass-through of the
tax to tenants.
Background
The goals of the Watershed Management Plan are to
reduce urban runoff pollution; reduce urban flooding; increase water reuse and
conservation; increase recreational opportunities and open space; and increase
wildlife and marine habitat. Measure V
generated revenues can be used for necessary capital as well as operations and
maintenance costs related to storm drainage systems and multipurpose capital
improvement projects that improve the quality of stormwater, as well as paying
for any indebtedness incurred for these purposes. The urban runoff management and pollution
prevention activities of the Plan will assist the City in complying with
National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit requirements,
meeting the goals of the Clean Water Act and new regulations promulgated by the
Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board relating to Total Maximum
Daily Loadings (TMDLs). Compliance with these regulatory standards over the
next several years will require a significantly enhanced effort by the City,
and the consequences to cities that do not comply with the urban runoff
requirements could be severe.
The
Proceeds of the
Discussion
Proposed
Measure V Projects
The following projects are proposed as the priority stormwater projects to be funded by Measure V during the first phase of Watershed Management Plan implementation. The projects have been selected based on both an initial evaluation of their potential water quality benefits, consideration of existing grant and multi-jurisdiction partnership opportunities and an assessment of their readiness to be implemented within a reasonable time period. The preliminary costs that are listed represent the estimated total project costs. It is anticipated that some of these costs will be offset by outside grant funding sources that will be pursued by City staff on an ongoing basis. The estimated total cost of these proposed projects is $25.0 million.
Other stormwater
mitigation projects applicable to implementation of the Watershed Management
Plan are already under construction or in the design process by the City and
will augment the proposed priority list below. In addition, staff will continue
to look for opportunities for other appropriate stormwater projects that can
either be financed by private developments or funded in partnership with other
public agencies such as the
Construction of a
subsurface stormwater treatment, storage and reuse project at
Airport Watershed BMPs
Construction of
curb extensions, infiltration chambers, porous concrete strips and other urban
runoff best management practices within the Airport watershed that would be
coordinated with the construction of the
Pico-Kenter Storm Drain Upgrades
Construction of improvements at the Pico-Kenter stormdrain outfall to improve the reliability of diversions to the Santa Monica Urban Runoff Recycling Facility (SMURRF) and ensure that 100% of dry weather runoff is diverted either to SMURRF or to the sewer system to prevent any urban runoff from entering the ocean during dry weather periods. Approximate cost: $2.0 million.
Pier Storm Drain System Upgrades and
Pollution Prevention Reduction
Increase the size of the existing Pier Storm drain diversion to the sewer for flows that exceed the capacity of SMURRF, and replace the deficient storm drain under the Pier to reduce runoff flows onto the beach. The project also includes implementation of structural measures to better mitigate ocean pollution from birds and other activities on or near the Pier. Approximate cost: $2.0 million.
SMURRF Water Storage Reservoir
Increase the reliability and effectiveness of the Santa Monica Urban Runoff Recycling Facility by constructing a supplemental finished water reservoir to store recycled water used for landscape irrigation or toilet flushing by SMURRF customers. The project will increase the total volume of recycled water use and provide needed redundancy for periods when SMURRF is shut down for repairs or maintenance. Approximate cost: $3.0 million.
Construct curb drains, parkway swales and retention areas, and permeable retrofit features for one block of a residential street as a demonstration project. Approximate cost: $1.0 million.
As part of a
larger urban design improvement project for the portion of Ocean Park Boulevard
between
Beach
Implement additional beach parking lot greening projects to create permeable recreation space that will still be usable for beach parking during the heaviest beach parking demand days. Pursuit of additional project opportunities will be tied to the successful implementation of the current project to remove asphalt paving from the South Beach Parking Lot. Approximate cost: $1.0 million.
Multi-Benefit Urban Runoff Pollution
Control Projects
Install various types of Best Management Practice technologies at City parks, school sites and other existing and new open spaces within the city to harvest, reuse and infiltrate storm runoff; and construct areas of porous concrete, asphalt and other appropriate materials in alleys, gutters and streets to infiltrate dry and wet weather runoff. Approximate cost: $4.5 million.
Analysis of
Capital Financing Needs
The revenues
that are received by the City from the
Staff currently expects to seek up to $25.0 million of the $50 million in needed capital funds through regional, state and federal grant sources. Even with the successful receipt of grant funds, however, there will still be insufficient cash flow available from Measure V proceeds to meet all the local share of CIP project funding over the next ten years. In order to plug this cash-flow gap, it is proposed that funds be obtained through the issuance of stormwater revenue bonds that will be repaid with ongoing Measure V tax revenues. The bond financing options will be explored by staff and a final bond funding recommendation will be presented to City Council within the next few months.
Low Income
Exemptions
The enabling ordinance for the Clean Beaches and Ocean Tax authorizes the City Council to establish by resolution special exemption procedures and eligibility criteria based on income, age or disability. Staff recommends that Council adopt the attached resolution that will exempt all property owners and renters from the tax who meet the following income eligibility limits for FY 2007-08. These are the same thresholds that are currently used for the City’s Senior Citizens Utility User’s Tax Exemption Program.
a. $25,002 annual gross income for single person households.
b. $28,650 annual gross income for two or more person households.
Thereafter, the income eligibility limits will be increased annually by the December to December change in the Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County Consumer Price Index for Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W).
The total
exemption amount for an eligible single family property owner would be $84.00
per year, and the exemption amount for an apartment renter would be
approximately $24 per year. Although it
is not possible to precisely estimate the fiscal impact of the proposed
exemption, it is roughly calculated that the
Citizens
Oversight Committee
Measure V created a Citizens Oversight Committee for “audit responsibility” over use of Measure V revenues. The Measure indicated that the membership, scope and responsibilities of the Committee shall be determined by Council. After evaluation of various committee options, staff recommends that Council establish a Citizens Oversight Committee for Measure V that is comprised of five persons selected by their respective board or task force colleagues as follows:
· One member of the Task Force on the Environment
· One member of the Recreation and Parks Commission
· One member of the Sustainable City Task Force
· One member of the Planning Commission
· City’s representative to the Metropolitan Water District Board
It is recommended that the Citizens Oversight Committee initially meet once every three months, which can be adjusted based on the issues that need to be reviewed or discussed. The responsibilities of the Committee are proposed to be solely advisory to the City Council and would fall into three categories: review of proposed capital and operating expenditures from Measure V funds for the next calendar quarter; review of actual Measure V expenditures for the proceeding calendar quarter; and review of proposed Measure V capital projects to confirm consistency with the generally or specifically established water quality improvement goals of the program. The project review activities of the Committee would include providing assistance to staff in ensuring that the proposed projects will meet the goals of the Watershed Management Plan. The staff liaison to the Committee shall be designated by the Director of EPWM.
Budget/Financial Impact
The
budget impact from approval of the low income waiver resolution will be a
Prepared by:
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Approved: |
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Forwarded to Council: |
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Director
– Environmental and Public Works Management Department |
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P. City Manager |
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Carol Swindell Director – Finance Department |
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