REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
June 25, 2015
FROM: JENNIFER CLARK, Director
Development and Resource Management Department
BY: SOPHIA PAGOULATOS, Supervising Planner
Development and Resource Management Department
SUBJECT
Title
Approve the third amendment to the contract with Fehr and Peers, a California S-Corporation, in an amount not to exceed $83,700 for professional engineering services to complete the traffic analysis for the Downtown Plans and Code Environmental Impact Report and authorize City Manager or his or her designee to execute documents.
Body
RECOMMENDATION
Approve the third amendment to the contract with Fehr and Peers, a California S-Corporation, in an amount not to exceed $83,700 for professional engineering services to complete the traffic analysis for the Downtown Neighborhoods Community Plan, the Fulton Corridor Specific Plan, the Downtown Development Code (hereinafter Downtown Plans) and related Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and to authorize the City Manager or his or her designee to execute documents .
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Fehr and Peers is the traffic engineering consulting firm originally contracted in January 2010 to do the traffic analysis work related to the Downtown Plans and related EIR. The additional funds are needed to complete the work necessary for the Downtown Plans traffic analysis and to ensure consistency with the recently adopted General Plan and related Master EIR.
BACKGROUND
The planning process for the Downtown Plans began in 2010 and included a team of consultants with Fehr and Peers functioning as the traffic engineering sub-consultant on the team. Fehr and Peers was charged with overall technical oversight of the transportation-related aspects of the Downtown Plans and related EIR. In 2013, work on the Downtown Plans and related EIR was put on hold when the US Department of Transportation announced the City's $16 million TIGER grant award for the Fulton Mall Reconstruction Project, as staff's time was needed to accommodate the project's environmental clearance. Shortly thereafter, the General Plan update and Master EIR became the priority. The Downtown Plans and related EIR are now next in line and are near completion.
The additional funds are needed in order to finalize the Downtown Plans traffic analysis and to ensure consistency with the recently adopted General Plan and related MEIR. It is anticipated that the draft EIR for the Downtown Plans should be completed by the end of this year, and should be presented to the City Council for consideration in the spring of 2016. Approval of this third amendment to the contract with Fehr and Peers does not commit the City Council in any way to actually approve the Downtown Plans or certify the associated EIR. This approval will merely allow City staff to complete the Downtown Plans and associated EIR for future consideration by the City Council hopefully in the spring of 2016 at which time the City Council may decide whether to approve or not approve the Downtown Plans and EIR.
It should be noted that the Fehr and Peers contract is one of two contracts that require amendments to complete the work. The second contract is also an amendment to Michael Brandman Associates (now "First Carbon Solutions") contract to complete the EIR. This amendment will be presented to the City Council early next fiscal year.
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS
By the definition provided in the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Section 15378 the amendment of an agreement does not qualify as a "project" for the purposes of CEQA.
LOCAL PREFERENCE
Local preference was not implemented because this item is an amendment to an existing contract.
FISCAL IMPACT
This expense was already included in the Fiscal Year 2015 Budget; therefore, no additional General Fund appropriations are required for this contract amendment.
Attachment:
Third Amendment to the Contract