$37.3M Capital Improvement
Program approved by City Council
May 29, 2015
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula News
Capital Improvements for FY 2015-2016 have a hefty price tag of about $37.3 million the City Council learned at the May 21 meeting where Interim Public Works Director Brian Yanez gave a breakdown of infrastructure breakdowns as well as new projects.
None of the funding will be from the razor-thin General Fund but rather are garnered from city enterprise funds, grants and state and federal tax pass through money.
The Planning Commission already approved the Capital Improvements Program, which will be adopted by the council when the General Fund and Enterprise Fund budgets are finalized for FY 2015-2016.
Yanez told the council that many of the projects are “routine maintenance or improvement work to existing public facilities,” on city property and right of ways and are included in the CIP for purposes of allocating funding by priority.
The 58-page CIP report noted a myriad of projects from streets to water storage.
The fiscal year CIP has targeted sidewalks with a project that will cost $200,000 and $60,000 to design; there is enough money in the city’s 2010 utility bond kitty to pay $875,000 for a slurry/rehab pavement project design that will cost an estimated $2.625 million to construct; resurfacing Steckel and Anacapa Terrace will cost $81,250 for the design and $325,000 to fix the streets.
Yanez told the council he is “working very closely” with Caltrans and the Ventura County Transportation Commission on pedestrian/bike recreational trail railroad crossings. He also noted plans for other improvements to the teeth-jarring crossings at several locations that motorists continue to complain about.
The city will also add their utility bond funds to a Caltrans grant to better the 10th Street corridor from just south of Highway 126 to Santa Paula Street, a project that had to be scaled back due to tightened Caltrans funding. The city’s contribute will add back beautification aspects of the plan.
It will cost about $67,500 to design and $310,000 to construct new pedestrian crossings throughout the city with new technology that is superior to the city’s lighted crosswalks.
Yanez told the council that the in-ground lights are un-repairable due to a lack of parts and newer technology, flashing beacons above the ground has been found to be more effective.
Funding for the $5 million storm drain project will have to be determined for the section that needs to be installed in 11th Street to convey flood waters from 12th/Santa Paula streets to the river. A $1.5 million project in the area of 12th and Harvard is also needed.
The Storm Drain Master Plan has also identified other areas in great need of infrastructure, which will be studied further.
The city is also looking at a recycled water distribution system to use treated wastewater for irrigating various city landscapes with the municipal right-of-way.
Shoring up slopes, replacing water meters with automated meters, boosting booster pump stations and rehabilitating a well are among the other projects in the CIP.
Yanez said Teague Park would see further improvements and others will have upgraded restrooms; additional cameras will also be placed in public areas for surveillance.
Councilwoman Ginger Gherardi asked when “specific” streets will be targeted for repair and Yanez said major work will be paired with water and sewer infrastructure upgrades.
And, “We recently took an inventory of the streets and compiled it into a program,” that will create a priority listing of others that need work.
By approving the Capital Improvement Program the council did not give away future oversight, as they still must approve each project individually.
