Special Notice / Hearing: None
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Michael P. Callagy, County Manager
Subject: Grant of Public Utility Easement Over San Carlos Airport Property
RECOMMENDATION:
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Adopt a resolution authorizing:
A) The President of the Board of Supervisors to execute a Public Utility Easement Deed in favor of Silicon Valley Clean Water over an undeveloped portion of the San Carlos Airport; and
B) The County Manager, or his designee, to accept or execute on behalf of the County any and all notices, consents, approvals, terminations, and other documents in connection with the Public Utility Easement Deed.
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BACKGROUND:
Silicon Valley Clean Water (“SVCW”), a joint powers agency created by the cities of Belmont, San Carlos, and Redwood City as well as the West Bay Sanitary District, provides wastewater treatment and disposal services to a number of communities in incorporated areas within the County. SVCW owns and operates a wastewater conveyance system that includes a 48-inch force main that runs in part under the taxiway of the San Carlos Airport. The aging force main has had reliability issues in recent years, and repair of the force main has at times caused disruption to Airport operations. SVCW is in the process of implementing a significant capital improvement program in part to replace the force main with a new 10-foot gravity pipeline constructed dozens of feet below the Airport surface using a tunnel boring machine. To construct and operate the new gravity pipeline, SVCW desires to obtain temporary and permanent easements from the County under the San Carlos Airport.
DISCUSSION:
SVCW’s gravity pipeline project will provide substantial public benefits, both because it will enhance the reliability of a wastewater conveyance system serving a significant number of County residents, but also because the replacement of the aging force main reduces the long-term risk of disruption to the operations of San Carlos Airport (SVCW plans eventually to convert the existing force main to a more reliable reclaimed water distribution system). The new gravity pipeline will run the length of the San Carlos Airport, including under undeveloped parcels to the north and south of the runway that lie within the runway protection and/or approach/departure paths. Implementation of the gravity pipeline project therefore requires a complex coordination to ensure that neither temporary construction activities, including the insertion of the boring machine and removal of tons of excavated dirt, nor the permanent operation of the new pipeline conflict with the operation of the Airport or the County’s regulatory and other legal obligations in connection with the Airport.
County staff from Airports, DPW, and Real Property have been engaged in discussions with SVCW for months regarding the temporary and permanent property rights that SVCW will require to complete the project. While those discussions are ongoing with respect to SVCW’s permanent and construction activities in the areas directly under active Airport operations as well as the area to the north of the Airport, SVCW’s requested permanent property rights are more straightforward with respect to the parcel to the south of the runway comprising a portion of Bair Island (APN 095-030-230) (“Approach Parcel”). The Approach Parcel is comprised mainly of filled marshland adjacent to the National Wildlife Refuge and located within the runway protection and inner approach zones and has very limited development potential. The proposed Public Utility Easement Deed (“Deed”) concerns only SVCW’s desired subsurface rights under the Approach Parcel as well as surface rights over the parcel so that SVCW can construct an approximately 25’x25’ improvement for an air intake facility. The Airport does not have any plans to develop or improve the area required for SVCW’s easement.
Because SVCW’s acquisition of the easement over the Approach Parcel is a necessary pre-condition for the approval of SVCW’s pending permit application to the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission for the gravity pipeline project, at SVCW’s request, Real Property Services agreed to present the Deed for Board approval while the County and SVCW work finalize the remainder of the property interests SVCW will require from the County. SVCW will pay the County $5,000 for the permanent rights granted by the Deed. Real Property Services has reviewed the valuation of the easement and believes that the above payment, in combination with other benefits to the Airport and the public provided by the gravity pipeline project, represents fair consideration for the easement.
County Counsel has reviewed and approved the lease agreement and resolution as to form. The Director of Public Works and Airport Manager concur in this recommendation.
Approval of this easement contributes to the Shared Vision 2025 outcome of a Collaborative Community by facilitating the installation of improvements that benefit the residents of several communities in the County.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The $5,000 paid to the County for the permanent easement will be deposited in the Airport Enterprise Fund.