Council Meeting: March 23, 2004                                                                                                                                       Santa Monica, California

 

 

TO:                  Mayor and City Council

 

FROM:            City Staff

 

SUBJECT:     Resolution Authorizing the City Manager to Execute  An Agreement with the California Department of Transportation for Use of Federal Grant Funding for The Pedestrian Extension to the Downtown Transit Mall

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION

 

This report requests that the City Council adopt a resolution authorizing the City Manager to execute a Program Supplement Agreement with

the California Department of Transpor-tation (Caltrans) for the expenditure of federal grant funding on the Pedestrian Extension to the

Downtown Transit Mall Project, a pedestrian and streetscape project on 2nd and 4th Streets between Wilshire Boulevard and Colorado Avenue.

 

DISCUSSION

At a July 29, 1999 Board meeting, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) approved a future-year grant to the City of Santa Monica for a Pedestrian Extension to the Downtown Transit Mall to implement the next phase of the City’s adopted “Downtown Urban Design Plan” along 2nd and 4th Streets from Wilshire Boulevard to Colorado Avenue.  The grant is federal Transportation Enhancement Activities (TEA) funding, which is administered by the Caltrans.  Caltrans requires a jurisdiction to adopt a resolution and execute a Program Supplement Agreement in order to be eligible for reimbursement.  

 

Although the State has reduced transportation funding in the past year to address its deficit, these funds are not in jeopardy because TEA is a federally funded program.  Even though MTA, in its role as the Countywide transportation funding agency, has suspended the awarding of new projects because of concerns over the budget, it has determined that there are sufficient funds to make good on old TEA project commitments.

 

The City previously finalized a required Letter of Agreement (LOA) with the MTA and obtained approval from Caltrans to proceed with the design (“Preliminary Engineering”) phase of the project.  Based on these approvals, the City is moving forward with the procurement of a design team for the project and will return to Council for approval of a design contract this spring, 2004.  However, Caltrans requires that the Program Supplement Agreement be fully executed, including adoption of the attached resolution.,  as a necessary step before the City is eligible to process invoices for reimbursement.

 

BUDGET/FINANCIAL IMPACT

Approval of the attached resolution will allow the City to execute agreements to receive the TEA grant funding described above.  The project is fully funded by grant dollars.  The total project budget of $2,769,000, consisting of $2,169,00 TEA and $600,000 Proposition C Local Return funds, has already been programmed into Capital Improvement accounts.  No additional appropriation is required.   The revenue budget will be included in the City’s FY 04-05 budget.

 

 

 

 

 

RECOMMENDATION

Staff recommends that the City Council adopt the attached resolution authorizing the City Manager to execute a Program Supplement Agreement with the California Department of Transportation for the receipt of grant funding for the Pedestrian Extension to the Downtown Transit Mall project.

 

 

 

Prepared by:  Suzanne Frick, Director

 Ellen Gelbard, Assistant Director

                         Planning and Community Development Department

 

ATTACHMENT:        RESOLUTION