M I N U T E S
REGULAR MEETING OF THE
ENGINEERING COMMITTEE
JUNE 8, 2005

Call to Order and Roll Call 

The meeting of the Santa Rosa Community Services District Engineering Committee was called to order by Director Rubin, commencing at 6:00 PM at the District Office.  The following individuals were present: 

            Director Steve Rubin, Acting Committee Chairman

            Director Bryan Buescher, Acting Committee Member

            General Manager John B. Rogers

            Chief Inspector/Designer Rob Holmes 

A.        Public Comment:   

None 

B.        Approval of Minutes of the May 11, 2005 Engineering Committee Meeting. 

The minutes of the May 11, 2005 meeting were approved as submitted.

C.        Status Report: Rancho California Road  / DeLuz Road Funding Study 

Charles F. Crandall, C.P.A. of Bureau Veritas/Berryman & Henigar presented a final draft of the report prepared for the District, along with an excerpt from the County’s latest Transportation Improvement Program report dated September 25, 2004. The report also included a list of the projects proposed in the First Supervisorial District before 2007-2008.  The County has budgeted $3.4M to  reconstruct Rancho California Road in 2009-2010, and has budgeted $0.8M for De Luz Road between Rancho California Road and Carancho Road in 2007-1009.  Mr. Crandall offered several options for the work to be done earlier, including formation of an Assessment District that would incorporate the entire District plus adjacent non-District areas along Rancho California Road and in Walker Basin. Included in the report is a preliminary debt service calculation showing an annual assessment of $47 per acre for an $8.1M project to rebuild all of Rancho California Road and De Luz Road to the County line. Lesser projects could be considered at a lower annual per-acre cost. The Committee asked if there was any way the cost of through traffic between Riverside and San Diego Counties could be recovered. Multi-County assessments and voluntary payments from the Counties were discussed as possibilities.  The Committee felt that the Assessment District would be a very difficult sell, particularly now that the winter rains are over and the County has made repairs to the two roads.  Rogers pointed out that the repairs are temporary, and probably will not fare well in a future wet season.  Continued pressure on Supervisor Buster and on the Director of Transportation will be needed to assure that the projects do not slip any further.  The Draft report will be forwarded to the Board for information. Staff will look to the Board for direction on any future action with respect to the County roads.  

D.        Approval of Plans and Specifications, 2005 Reconstruction, North Central Portion Carancho Road 

Rogers and Holmes presented the plans for the project along with an Engineer’s Estimate of $591,000.  Staff is recommending a changed design concept that involves Full Depth Reclamation, an innovative process wherein the old road and sub-base material is pulverized to a depth of 10”, and Portland cement and water are added to make the finished base course.  The road is then paved with 2½” of new AC. This is similar to the process that was used last year to overcome the saturated and failing subgrade on Terreno Drive. 

The project exceeds the original budget, and also exceeds the funds currently in the Primary Zone Roadway Rehabilitation budget line item.  However, staff is requesting authorization to bid the project as designed; there is no significant portion of the road where work can be postponed, and any economies of scale will be lost if the project is cut down.  Some of the peripheral work can be eliminated after bidding if the total cost is too high. It was pointed out that other Primary Zone projects will need to be delayed to accomplish the Carancho project.

E.        Appeal of Gayle and Steven Eisenberg re: Fence Setback, 46840 Via Vaquero. 

Via Vaquero at this location, ne corner Via Vertex (an uncut cul-de-sac), east of Gillespie Court, is a primary road, 22’ wide with AC berm on the north side and a shoulder 6’ – 8- wide.  A 2:1 slope extends down to the house pad.  The house is fully visible from the road, and has no privacy.  The Eisenbergs have requested a variance to install a black vinyl fence at the top of slope.  The fence will be planted with climbing vines, and shrubs will be planted in the area between the berm and the fence.  Because of the downslope location, installing a 6’ or taller fence at the normal minimum setback of 25’ from road C/L will not screen the house from view.  Based upon a field meeting with the applicants, Staff recommended approval of a fence at the top of slope, no closer than 6’ behind the berm, but that it be limited to 4’ in height above the top of berm.  This would provide room for emergency parking off the traveled way, and the limited height would lessen the “tunnel” effect of the fence close to the road.   

The Committee agreed with Staff’s recommendation, and had no objection to the issuance of the permit with a variance as described. 

D.        Storm Damage Report 

Rogers and Holmes reported on the progress of the application process through FEMA.  FEMA Project Managers have all of our information, and we are simply waiting for a response. The mitigation projects submitted to replace three dip crossings at El Prado and Carancho Road were denied by OES; they did not meet the criteria, which at present involve mitigation only for the previous disaster, the fires in 2003.  Our applications, however, may give us standing for future mitigation funding. District Staff is currently packaging FEMA projects for bidding as soon as the approvals are received.   

E.        Project Report:  

Staff reported that work continues on the Carancho Road project as well as on the additional projects previously reported:  Via Vaquero, Buena Vista, Las Casitas, Los Gatos, Terreno Drive, as well as on the many FEMA projects.  Extensive Staff time has been devoted to a high number of permit inspections that have become active in the past month.  The possible cancellation of previous agreements with Riverside County regarding building permit clearances, along with the Tract/Subdivision inspection agreements have taken a lot of Rogers’ time.  The contractor on the Crack-Sealing project has completed all of the roads in the original contract, and the work has been expanded to include many additional roads in Zones I, II, III and V.  Money will be left over in Zones I and V. 

F.         Subdivision and Development Work. 

Staff reported that work is scheduled to start on the improvements to Sycamore Mesa Road and Shady Creek in conjunction with Parcel Maps 29808 and 29989 on June 27.  A second preconstruction meeting is scheduled for June 16 at the site.  A revised Development Agreement, incorporating minor changes suggested by District Counsel, has been signed with the developer of the ten-lot Tract at Via Santa Rosa and Via Tornado.  No start date has been discussed, but the developer of this Tract has agreed to design and construct about $200,000 worth of drainage structures along Via Santa Rosa between Via Vaquero and Via Tornado.   

F.         Adjournment. 

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:50 PM to 6:00 PM on Wednesday, July 13, 2005, or to a substitute date established by the Engineering Committee, at the District Office.

                                                                                 __________________________________                                                                                                   John B. Rogers, P.E., General Manager

ATTEST:

 

____________________________
Steven P. Rubin, Member
Engineering Committee