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SR-1000-001-04 (4) e \000- oot - bL1 e to Santa Monlca, Californ~a, October 15, 1979 TO }myor and City Council J/(!2 OCT 2 3 1979 FRO}-1: Ci ty Staff SUBJECT: RECO~lliNDATIONS FOR THE TRANSPORTATION DEPAR~~NT FACILITY EXPANSION AND REtIDDELING Introduction DeLeuw, Cather and Company has submitted the attached study concerning the remodeling and expanslon of the Transportatlon Department facillty. ThlS staff report requests that the Clty Councll approve the recom- mended plan (Stages I and II) contained in the study, as well as the method of financlng, and authorize the City Manager to negotiate a professional serVlces contract to lnclude architectural, engineerlng and constructlon lnspection services. Background Since 1973, patronage on Santa Monica's Big Blue Buses has increased 49.7%. To accommodate this growth, the Department's fleet has been expanded, and will reach 126 buses by the end of thlS year. In the past, some of the increased patronage could be accommodated by purchasing and operating larger coaches. Future transit coaches will contaln fewer seats due to the federal mandate that future transit buses be equlpped wlth wheelchair llfts and tiedown positions At the same time. the last few years have witnessed increasingly complex coach subsystems, including air-conditioning, environmental improvement packages. more complicated transm~ssions and power steering. These innovations have taxed the present shops beyond thelr l1mit. lie OCT 2 3 1979 e e ~ TO: }myor and City Council Page Two Addit1onally, heavy 1nvolvement with county, reg1onal, state and federal funding and coord~nat1ng agenc1es has meant the need for staff to handle these functions. As a consequence of a larger, more complex fleet and the need for add1t1onal staff, the Department's present facility has become more crowded and funct10ns less eff1ciently, w1th the prospects that this trend will cont1nue. In 1976, as part of a BCAG sponsored study of the Department, Wilbur Sm1th and Associates addressed the space shortage problem. They pointed out that the fac1l1ty needed add1t1onal maintenance work area to function eff~ciently. Also, they noted that the ['Makeshift office arrangements . ... . are inadequate and unsatisfactory. II TIns V1el.;r was conf1rmed by ATE Management and Serv~ce Company in 1ts 1978 study of Los Angeles County transit operators for the Los Angeles County Transportat1on Comm1ssion(LACTC). To help solve the space problems, the City CouneLl, on February 28, 1978, authorized the acquisition of an addlt10nal 2.1 acres of property adjacent to the existing Transportation Department. At its May 8, 1979 meeting the Councll approved a contract with DeLeuw, Cather and Company to provide conceptual plans for remodeling and expanding the facility, lneluding suff1c~ent documentation to permit the City to approach the appropriate funding agencies. Funding for the acqUisition of the land, as well as the remodeling and expanslon study, came from Transportation Development Act (SB 325) funds approved for this purpose by the LACTC and SCAG. Recently, DeLeuw, Cather completed its study and documentation, which form the basis of the attached document. According to th1S report, DeLeuw estimates that the project will cost S 4 mill~on in mid-1979 e e TO- Mayor and City Council Page Three dollars. Based on the current inflat10n rates in the con8truct~on 1ndustry, if the project were to commence immediately, this would mean a final cost of about $ 5 million. Staff's original intention was to attempt to accumulate additional TDA capital reserve funds through FY 1981 to finance the project. However, the immediate need for expanded fac111t1es and the rapidly escalating costs argue strongly for start1ng the project now. On September 13, 1979, staff contacted the County Transportat1on Commission concerning the transfer of $1.6 m11110n 1n TDA cap1tal funds from the C1ty'S people mover reserve to its reserve for the fac111ty expansion. Th1s would produce the needed $5 million. The Comm1ssion has acted favorably on th1s request and has passed it along to the Southern Californ1a Association of Governments for its concurrence. Attached is a copy of our letter of September 13, 1979 and the COrnID1SS10n staff report concerning the transfer. Alternat1ves 1. The City Council could choose not to approve the project. 2. The C1ty Council could choose not to approve the transfer of people mover reserve funds to f~nance the proJect, but instead d~rect staff to attempt to reserve sufficient funds for the project 1n the future. Each year the project is delayed, the cost of complet1on will increase by $500,000 due to inflation and will compound the space problems currently being experienced by the Department. 3 The City Counc1l could choose to approve the project, including the transferring of $1.6 million from the people mover reserve to make up the $ 5 million to complete the project. Staff also recommends that if this alternative 18 chosen, that the City Manager be authoT1zed to e e TO' }myor and City Counc~l Page Four negotiate a professional serV1ces contract to 1nclude architectural, engineering and construction 1nspect1on serV1ces to be brought before the C1ty Council for ~ts consideration at a later time. Recommendat1on C~ty staff recommends that the City Council approve the proJect, including the transfer of $1.6 million from the people mover reserve to permit 1mmediate commencement of the proJect. Staff also recommends that the C1ty Manager be authorized to negotiate a profess1onal services contract to include architectural, eng1neer1ng and construct1on inspection serV1ces to be brought before the City Council for final approval. Prepared by: Jack Hutchison Bob Ayer cc: City Attorney Director of Administrative Services DIrector of F1nance Director of General SerV1ces Attachments: ~ LoCfC e e ATTAC1:L.'1ENT # 3 v- LOS ANGELES COUNTY TRANS?ORTM10"l COMMISSION. 3Tl SC0':'H S::<~r-.S SPEET -SUiTE '2C6 .::.S ;...';'_;;:~::S CAUFCi<'iiA 9CC3 . 1213 ';:2&<)37::; October 2& 1979 JEROME C PREMO ::'XECUTNE DIRECTOR MEMO TO: FINANCE REVIEW CO~1ITTEE FROM: EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR SUBJECT: Santa Mon~ca Request for Capital Reserve Transfer Background In each of the last two years, Santa Monica Municipal Bus Lines (S~1MBL) has identified the construction of a new maintenance and a~~inistrative facility as one of their h~ghest-priority projects. The first ATE study concurred with Santa Monica1s claim that the existing facil~ty is undersized for SMMBL's present service, and far from adequate to suppor~ either their service improvement program (whose first year of implementation was recently funded by the Cowmission) or the ATE service pro- posals concerning Santa Monica. The Co~~~ssion has approved funding for engineer~ng and land acquis~tion for th~s facility, and has included the entire project in both of the last two TIP's and in the four-year countywide capital program submitted to U~1TA in January. In June of this year, the Commission approved a staff recommenda- tion to allow this project to be funded 100 percent (xather than 20 percent) from TDA capital reserve funds, without Federal par- tic1pation. This action will expedite the project considerably, and allow our fixed cornrnit.."Tlent of Federal bus capital funds to be used on other projects. Hence, the Commission's adopted TIP for this year included a new reservat~on of nearly $)<5 million in TDA funds for this project. ~ Current Req;uest Santa Monicals attached letter of SGptember 13 i.ndjcates that they wish to move the project even faster than the previously. approved schedule for capital reserve accumulation would permit& e - ~ Finance Review Committee Page 2 October 2, 1979 They are therefore requesting that other Santa Mon1ca TDA capital reserves, currently set aside for their "people mover" project, be transferred to the maintenance I adm1nis- trative facility project. This will enable them to proceed with the project immediately, and avoid the impact of an additional year's inflation on the cost of the project. Recommendation Approve a TIP amendment to effect the transfer of $1.6 million of Santa Monica Cap~tal reserve funds from the people-mover proJect to the facility construction project, as requested by San ta r-1onica. 1;::4~. ~= JM:kmr Attachment CITY 0' SANTA e MONICA CALIFORNIA SANTA MOXICA \1U~ICIPAL BGS LINES 1620 SIXTH STREET, SAXTA ',!O~ICA 90401 The ORIGI'= b,.L t"orne of the B,g Blue Buses Phone (213) 451-5445 September 13, 1979 Mr. Jerome PreMo Executive Director Los Angeles County Transportation CommissIon 311 South Spring Street, Su~te 1206 Los Angeles, California 90013 Dear Jerry: Recently, De Leuw Cather & Company completed its study of the remodeling and expansion needs of the Santa Monica ~~nicipal Bus LInes' facility. According to the report, De Leuw estimates that the project will cost $ 4 mil- lion in mid-1979 dollars. Based on the current inflation rates in the con- struction industry, even if the project were to commence immediately, th1.s would mean a flnal cost of about $ 5 millIon. Preliminary actual figures for FY 79 indlcate that due to higher revenue and lower costs, we will be able to increase our reserve for this project from $1.435 million to $ 1.925 million. In FY 1980. we expect to reserve an addi- tIonal $1.475 million in TDA funds for the project. Thus, by the end of FY 1980, we wlll have accumulated $ 3.4 million. Our origlnal intention was to accumulate addltional funds in FY 1981 to flnance the project. However, our immediate need for expanded facilitles and the rapidly escalating costs argue strongly for starting the proJect now. Prompt implementation will allow us to ~aintain reliable service and provide for the additlonal buses needed to make service iNprovements and to accommodate pas- sengers on presently overcrowded Ilnes. As you can well lmagine, we have assigned a very hlgh priority to this project. Therefore, we request that the CORmiSS10n approve the transfer of $ 1.6 ml11lon from our people mover reserve to our facility expanSlon reserve These funds, along wlth the $3.4 million reserved lTI FY 1979 and FY 1980. wll1 provide us wlth the needed S 5 mIl1lon. We would appreciate the Commission's consideratlon and approval of this request. If you have any questIons. please do not hesltate to contact me at 451-5444. Slncerely. d'~ /~~Z~ '/ J. F. HUTCHISO~ Director of Transportation JFH/RLVdg