Title
Discuss and consider action to authorize the City Manager to execute a letter of committment to Travis County pledging Pflugerville's portion of approved projects that fall within Pflugerville's City Limits if there is a successful referendum including those projects.
Summary
Travis County established a list of projects to submit to a citizen bond committee in preparation for an election in November 2011. A proposed 5-6 year program with a $260 million cap is currently under discussion by the Commissioners's Court. City staff has reviewed the initial list of potential projects that Travis County Transportation and Natural Resources (TNR) staff believe should be completed and can be done within the cap. The projects applicable to Pflugerville are shown on the attached list, and a location map of each of these is also provided. The list already anticipated a roadway capacity project for Wells Branch Parkway; a roadway safety project for Rowe Lane; and replacement of a structurally deficient bridge on Weiss. The proposed scope for Weiss Lane has been reduced to upgrade the existing two-lane road with shoulders and turn lanes between Pecan Street and Cele Road.
Approximately 40%, or 0.68 miles, of the Rowe Lane project falls within the city limits and should the project be approved Pflugerville would be responsible for $1.37m that includes engineering, right-of-way acquisition and construction costs. This estimate is based upon cost trends for similar projects with a +/-25% contingency. Engineering for the entire project is estimated to be $425,000.
Approximately one-third, or 0.81 miles, of the Weiss Lane project falls within the city limits and should the project be approved Pflugerville's portion would be approximately $3.6m that includes engineering, right-of-way acquisition and construction costs. This estimate is based upon cost trends for similar projects with a +/-25% contingency. Engineering for the entire project is estimated to be $871,700.
Engineering and design of the approved projects is expected to be completed within five years, with completion of projects within seven years.
Proposed improvements to Northeast Metro Park are reflected in the attachments as well but do not require any cost partipation of the City of Pflugerville to accomplish them.
Status
According to the Travis County website, http://www.co.travis.tx.us/citizens_bond_committee/, the final Citizen Bond Advisory Committee meetings are scheduled for Thursday July 7th, Tuesday July 12th, Thursday July 14th, and Thursday July 21st. The Committee is anticipated to recommend a final list of projects to the Commissioners' Court on July 19th. Committee members and Travis County staff have inquired concerning Pflugerville's level of interest and participation regarding the portions of the projects in Pflugerville's jurisdiction. Staff met with two of the commitee members on July 6 and discussed various approaches to aiding the projects toward completion.
Prior City Council Action
This item has been discussed in February and in conjunction with the Planning and Zoning Commission's annual capital improvement plan (CIP) recommendation on May 24, 2011 and no action has been taken.
Deadline for City Council Action
July 12, 2011
Projected Future City Council Action
None at this time.
Fiscal Impact
None of these projects are currently included on the City of Pflugerville's Capital Improvement Program (CIP.) Roadway improvements of this nature are typically funded with Certificates of Obligation.
Staff Recommendation
Staff recommends authorizing the City Manager to provide a letter to the Bond Committee indicating that the City is supportive of the proposed projects in the vicinity of Pflugerville. Further, staff recommends that the City pledge future funding in the next few budget cycles for the complete engineering and design of the Weiss Lane and Rowe Lane segments should the projects be approved in the proposed November 2011 bond election. The total proposed funding is estimated at $425,000 for Rowe and $871,700 for Weiss, a total of $1,296,700. This action indicates a commitment to see the projects through to fruition.
Drafter
Trey Fletcher, AICP
Managing Director of Operations