Study mandated by state; panel also may OK $250K bus hub funding pact with STA

Benicia City Council will review a state-required progress report on its General Plan on Tuesday, including some recommended changes suggested by the Planning Commission.

The plan was adopted June 15, 1999, City Manager Brad Kilger wrote the Council March 13. Each year, cities must send the state an annual report on the status of their plans and how far along they have come in completing their directives.

But before Benicia employees can do that, the Council must review the report, he wrote.

The report lists all the Benicia General Plan’s goals, policies and programs, Kilger wrote. In assembling each annual report, Planning Division employees meet with those of other city departments to compose a comprehensive update.

In addition, a copy of the city’s Housing Element implementation report, adopted Nov. 18, 2014, and the current Strategic Plan, adopted along with the 2013-15 city budget, will get Council review tonight, Kilger wrote.

The Planning Commission recommended March 10 that the Council clarify what regulations are in place for work-live studios and to consider further evaluation of their use; and asked for clearer descriptions of several programs.

Since the Council last reviewed a General Plan report, in April 2014, city employees have added links to relevant plans and policies to the General Plan page of the city website, in compliance with the panel’s directive.

Financial and time constraints have prevented employees from composing a comprehensive concept paper on technical updates that would bridge a gap between the General Plan and changes in state law and county and regional planning policy documents, Kilger wrote.

As an interim measure, he wrote, they have compiled a list of documents adopted in the past 10 years that provide an overview of those changes.

Since the document’s adoption, California has new statutory requirements governing military compatibility, air quality, consultation with Native Americans, flood control, complete streets and traffic circulation, disadvantaged communities and fire hazards.

Regional policies have changed in the areas of traffic circulation and other transportation, greenhouse gas emissions and air quality and land use and what the Association of Bay Area Governments and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission call “smart growth” planning.

Stormwater management also has changed in the past 15 years, Kilger wrote, and the current drought is a reminder that the municipality needs to think both comprehensively and long-term about its water supply, particularly if California no longer can count on the snowpack for its water supply.

If climate change is causing the drought, he wrote, “the conditions currently experienced due to drought may become permanent over time.”

The city’s General Plan is considered an older document, and during the Planning Commission review of the report members heard that before long, the city would be urged by the state to give it a comprehensive updating.

But that’s a 24- to 30-month process, Kilger wrote — and it could cost between $750,000 and $1 million and would include a full California Economic Quality Act Environmental Impact Report.

The Council will be asked to accept the report and authorize the Planning Division to send it to Sacramento.

In other matters to be considered Tuesday, the Council will be asked to approve a $250,000 funding agreement with the Solano Transportation Authority (STA) to fund the construction of the Benicia Industrial Park Bus Hub project, to agree to its design and to authorize the seeking of construction bids.

Public Works Manager Graham Wadsworth wrote March 27 that the bidding documents are being prepared and construction may start after July 1.

The project is being underwritten by Regional Measure 2 (bridge toll) funds, city traffic impact fees and regional traffic impact fees.

However, the latter funding might not be available for five years, Wadsworth wrote, so additional funds have been secured in the meantime through STA.

He wrote that the project’s estimated construction cost, including property acquisition and design, is $2.11 million.

Once finished, the hub is expected to provide easy access to Interstate 680 for those who want to park their cars and use the Fairfield and Suisun Transit Route 40 bus, which takes travelers to the Walnut Creek BART station.

“It will also be possible for people living along Route 40 or taking BART to get to the Benicia Industrial Park for work,” Wadsworth wrote.

In addition, SolTrans General Public Dial-a-Ride buses would provide connecting service to other places in Benicia, he wrote.

Plans call for widening Park Road to a three-lane road, with two bike lanes in front of the hub property. The hub will have two bus turnouts with bus shelters, 46 parking spaces and two places for food trucks.

A “kiss-and-ride” dropoff area also will be built.

In the city’s agreement with Barragan Brothers Properties, former owner of the 1-acre site, Benicia officials promised that 10 of the 46 parking spaces would be for 20-minute parking, with five more spaces that would be 20-minute parking spots for the first two years of operation.

The Barragans agreed to build and maintain a restroom and a food truck area. The family has been operating its food truck on the site for more than 20 years.

The Council also will be asked to authorize the sale of an aerial ladder truck to Contra Costa County Fire District.

Because the offer, $50,000, exceeds the city limit of $25,000, Council approval must be given, Fire Chief Jim Lydon wrote in a March 24 report.

The truck was bought used on March 15, 2011, but because of the maintenance requirements for the truck, Lydon wrote, “it was determined that the truck was not the best fit for the city’s needs.”

Contra Costa County Fire District officials have said they plan to use the truck for training.

Lydon also will ask the Council to approve a resolution establishing “portal-to-portal” compensation for mutual aid employees.

A California Fire Assistance Agreement Committee, formed by the California Office of Emergency Services, was formed to negotiate the terms of the 2015 California Fire Assistance Agreement (CFAA), he wrote. This year’s edition has a major change from past agreements, requiring all agencies to file a resolution or to amend department memorandums of understanding to reflect that their employees receive compensation from “portal to portal.”

“Portal-to-portal” reimbursement is based on 24 hours a day, starting from the time of dispatch, according to information provided by CFAA.

This removes the requirement to reimburse department employees on assignments, for working around the clock regardless of hours committed to an incident, Lydon wrote.

“The fire department currently receives portal-to-portal reimbursement,” he wrote. “Adoption of the proposed resolution will keep Benicia in compliance with the provisions of the 2015 California Assistance Agreement.”

That agreement is responsible for the systematic mobilization, organization and operation of needed fire and rescue employees and equipment in times of disaster.

It’s also the negotiated reimbursement mechanism for local governments’ fire agency responses, Lydon wrote.

The state Office of Emergency Services, Cal Fire and the Federal Fire Agencies usually use the agreement for engines, water tenders and overhead once local agreement resources are exhausted, or if no other local agreement is in place, he wrote.

Also on Tuesday’s agenda are proclamations in recognition of National Library Week, National Volunteer Week and Volunteer of the Year Mike Caplin, National Public Safety Telecommunicators’ Week, April 9 as Stand Up for Transportation Day and the month-long National Mayor’s Challenge for Water Conservation.

Mayor Elizabeth Patterson will make about 15 appointments, subject to Council affirmation, and the Council will hear the Arts and Culture Commission’s annual report.

The panel also will hear updates to the city’s water use and management and to the conversion to Marin Clean Energy community choice aggregation’s purchase of electricity for Benicia power customers.

The Council meeting starts at 7 Tuesday night in the Council Chamber of City Hall, 250 East L St.