Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Nicholas J. Calderon, Parks Director
Subject: Funding agreement with the San Mateo Resource Conservation District for project management, permitting, and engineering services for the Pescadero Creek County Park Bridge Project
RECOMMENDATION:
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Adopt a resolution authorizing:
A) The President of the Board of Supervisors to execute a funding agreement with the San Mateo Resource Conservation District for project management, permitting, and engineering services for the Pescadero Creek County Park Bridge Project, with a term of September 13, 2022 through September 12, 2025, and for an amount not-to-exceed $468,705; and
B) Waiving of the County’s formal Request for Proposal Process (RFP) to select the San Mateo Resource Conservation District, a public entity; and
C) The Parks Director, or the Parks Director’s designee, to execute amendments to the Agreement to modify the County’s maximum fiscal obligation by no more than $25,000, and/or to modify the Agreement’s terms and/or services, so long as the modified term(s) and/or services is/are within the current or revised fiscal provisions.
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BACKGROUND:
The San Mateo Resource Conservation District (“RCD”) is a non-regulatory, public entity that provides landowners and land managers with technical support during the implementation of restoration projects that achieve watershed protection goals. The Parks Department (“Department”) has worked with the RCD on numerous past occasions, including to implement projects such as sediment reduction and stream crossing repair projects, water infrastructure improvement projects, and various stream habitat and fish passage improvement projects.
The Pescadero Creek County Park Bridge Project (“Project”) consists of making critical upgrades to two bridge crossings within Pescadero Creek County Park (“Park”) - Baker Bridge and Trestle Creek Bridge. In July 2021, it was discovered that a large tree had fallen across Baker Bridge, damaging it beyond function or repair and rendering it a hazard to park users and stream habitat. Because the damaged bridge is deteriorating, it has a high risk of breaking apart further with any pieces that may fall into the creek likely to damage spawning habitat for threatened and endangered anadromous fish and/or downstream structures. This Project will remove Baker Bridge entirely, thus preventing these potential impacts from occurring and allowing for interim emergency access until the Department can replace the bridge at a later date to be determined. For Trestle Creek Bridge, the Project will repair erosion and scour identified around the bridge abutments. Completion of this work will prevent further erosion from occurring and the abutments from being undermined. This Project is necessary, as both bridges provide critical emergency access throughout the Park by providing access to Old Haul Road from the north and east. CAL FIRE considers both Old Haul Road and Baker Fire Road to be critically important for firefighting in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
Although Baker Bridge’s removal ideally would have occurred shortly after it was damaged in 2021, its removal requires specialized construction, and the terrain, environmental considerations, and access to the site pose significant implementation challenges. Therefore, the bridge removal was delayed allowing for necessary engineering and construction planning to occur in partnership with the RCD.
The current scope of the Project does not include replacement of Baker Bridge. Although the Department prioritizes replacing the bridge crossing at this location, there are additional engineering design, procurement, and permitting steps necessary to complete the bridge replacement that can’t occur until the existing bridge has been removed. The Project thus focuses on removing immediate hazards posed by the damaged bridge until its replacement can occur.
DISCUSSION:
The Project consists of (i) demolishing and removing the damaged Baker Bridge and (ii) repairing and stabilizing the Trestle Creek Bridge. In accordance with the terms and provisions of the proposed agreement (“Agreement”), the RCD will provide services for the Project including administration support, permitting support, design and construction oversight, monitoring, and reporting. The RCD will also be responsible for selecting licensed contractor(s) and entering into contracts with the selected contractor(s) to perform the above-described work. Finally, the RCD will acquire all pre-construction permits required for the Project. By the terms of the Agreement, the Department will reimburse RCD for all project-related costs for the Project.
The Department recommends that the Board approve the Department’s waiver of the competitive solicitation for this Agreement pursuant to County Administrative Memorandum B-1 (May 9, 2022), Section IV(B)(2) of which states that the competitive procurement requirement may be waived for “agreements with other public entities, including governments, universities, schools, or other organizations acting as governmental agencies.” The RCD is a special district, a form of local government created by the community to meet a specific need and established under California law to be locally governed with independent board of directors that are accountable to our local communities. In addition, the RCD is a division of the California state government under Division 9 of the Public Resources Code.
The County Attorney has reviewed and approved the resolution and Agreement as to form.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The total not-to-exceed amount of the Agreement for the Pescadero Creek County Park Bridge Project is $468,705. Sufficient appropriations for the Project are included in the Parks Department’s FY 2022-23 Recommended Budget and will be included in future budgets. There is no impact on Net County Cost.