PURPOSE:

Staff requests that the City Council adopt a resolution authorizing staff to execute Caltrans Utility Agreement No. 7UA-11409 for the purposes of relocating Burbank Water and Power water transmission lines related to the State Route 134 Ramp Project.  This agreement is required so that costs for these utility relocations to be performed by the City will be reimbursed by Caltrans as part of the overall freeway ramp project.  Staff is also requesting that the City Council direct staff to appropriate $468,500 from Unappropriated Fund 127 Development Impact Fees to complete the required water line relocations. 

BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS:

The City of Burbank must relocate a number of City water and electric facilities near the vicinity of Alameda Avenue and Hollywood Way in preparation for Caltrans to begin construction of a new westbound on ramp at the State Route 134 interchange with Hollywood Way.  This ramp project is being constructed to relieve traffic congestion at the adjacent Hollywood Way / Alameda Avenue intersection by providing an additional on ramp adjacent to the existing westbound off ramp.  Construction of this ramp requires lengthening of overpasses at Hollywood Way, Alameda Avenue, and Pass Avenue, and the utility relocations are required to accommodate this bridge work.  In particular, existing water and electric transmission lines located within the bridge structures will need to be taken out of service and replaced as part of the bridge construction.  The City of Burbank has been working with Caltrans to design these relocations so that utility service will not be interrupted during construction, and will be replaced as part of the ramp project.  Caltrans has completed the bid process for the ramp project and has selected a contractor for construction, thus, to accommodate Caltrans� construction timelines for a construction start later this year, the City must now construct these utility relocations to allow the ramp construction to commence.

This state highway project is being funded completely by Caltrans, and thus, any utility relocations or reconstructions required as part of the project will be fully reimbursed by the State.  A utility agreement is necessary to codify this commitment by Caltrans to reimburse the City for work performed on behalf of the project, and to outline the scope and probable costs for these services.  The project requires relocations to both electrical and water utility lines and thus, two utility agreements will be executed to perform work on these two systems.  This report concerns the necessary water line relocations; the electrical work required for the project is presented in a separate report with a separate utility agreement.

The construction work outlined in Utility Agreement No. 7UA-11409 for water utility work includes the relocation of one 12 inch water line in Hollywood Way, a 10 inch line in Alameda Avenue, and a 12 inch line in Pass Avenue.  These lines must be capped and removed from service so that bridge construction activities for the Hollywood Way, Alameda, and Pass Avenue overpasses can be completed by Caltrans. Once these bridge structures are lengthened for the new on ramp, but before the bridges are completed and re-opened for traffic, these three lines must be replaced within each bridge and reconnected to the water system.  In working with Caltrans on developing a utility design for these relocations, Burbank Water and Power Water Division has modeled the effects of temporarily removing these lines from service to ensure that water pressures for City customers and emergency use will not be affected by the construction work, and is requiring Caltrans to remove each of the lines separately so that water pressures are not affected.  In addition, BWP has worked closely with Kennedy Jenks, the consultant hired to design the water utility relocations, to ensure that the completed work meets the City�s specifications.

Work to remove these water lines from service and reconnect the new lines once bridge work is completed will be performed by Burbank Water and Power crews.  Work performed within the bridges themselves to replace the lines in the widened bridges is expected to be completed by the Caltrans contractor hired to construct the widened bridges and new on ramp.  All City work and materials to remove the lines from service will be reimbursed by Caltrans per the Utility Agreement.  These costs are expected to be approximately $468,500 and must be billed to Caltrans quarterly with all invoices for work submitted within 360 days of completion of construction.

Staff proposes to utilize Fund 127 Development Impact Fees to front the $468,500 required for construction until these costs are reimbursed by the State.  Under the Utility Agreement and as required by state law, Caltrans is required to reimburse the City for up to 125% of this identified replacement cost.  Thus, potential cost increases of up to 25% are covered by this Utility Agreement as a contingency.  BWP Water Division developed this estimate based upon recent experience and costs to perform similar water line work and is confident that this estimate is an accurate estimate of the project costs.  Combined with the electrical relocation work required at a cost of $3,736,606 (presented for City Council approval under a separate staff report), this combined total utility work of $4,205,106 can be accommodated by the current unappropriated cash reserves in the Development Impact Fee account.

FISCAL IMPACT:

Staff proposes to fund this utility construction work via Fund 127 Development Impact Fees.  If approved by the City Council, $468,500 from account 127.ND000.30004.0000.000000 Unappropriated Development Impact Fees to project account 127.CD33A.70002.17613.  These funds will be reimbursed by Caltrans as part of the overall freeway project.

RECOMMENDATION:

Staff recommends that Council adopt the proposed resolution authorizing staff to enter into Utility Agreement No. 7UA-11409 for the purposes of relocating Burbank Water and Power water transmission lines related to the State Route 134 Ramp Project, and to amend the Fiscal Year 2006/2007 Budget to appropriate $468,500 in Development Impact Fee funds to front the costs of this utility relocation.

LIST OF EXHIBITS:

Exhibit A:         Caltrans Utility Agreement No. 7UA-11409

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