ACTION REQUESTED:
Title
Communication from the City Manager and the Director of Public Works with a Request to ADOPT an ORDINANCE Amending CHAPTER 9.5 of the CODE of the City of Peoria Concerning Erosion, Sediment and Stormwater Control and Approve a Review of the Changes Proposed to INFRASTRUCTURE DESIGN STANDARDS.
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BACKGROUND:
Information in bold font, throughout, has been added in response to discussions during the First Reading consideration of this item at the September 27 City Council meeting.
Once infrastructure is in place, it rarely goes away. Infrastructure built now will likely be in place for our children and grandchildren. The City’s current Infrastructure Design Standards or Subdivision Standards were adopted in 1972, and have not been significantly revised since that time. In 2013, Staff proposed a revised set of Infrastructure Design Standards (IDS), or Manual of Practice (MOP), to incorporate Action Items and Critical Success Factors from the City’s Comprehensive Plan. The goal of the revised standards is to improve the design of our infrastructure (streets, sidewalks, storm water management, etc.) with regard to sustainability and livability, while positioning Peoria as a desirable place to live and a competitive city for development. Per City Council direction at the March 19, 2013 Policy Session, the comprehensive 2013 effort was realigned to pursue consensus on individual standards.
In 2014, a new Steering Committee was formed and met over the next 18 months. Additional Staff and the City’s Urban Forestry Commission members were invited to attend meetings relevant to their areas of interest and expertise. Discussion at the meetings focused on the same seven topics discussed at the Policy Session, as summarized below (Refer to Items 13-121 and 13-158).
Based on the discussion and feedback from the Development Standards Stakeholder’s Group meetings, Staff is requesting City Council concurrence to move forward on revisions to the City’s Code to reflect the following recommendations for each topic, as detailed in the attached Staff Recommendations document and as summarized below:
• Street Width - Change from 34’ face-to-face-of-curb width to 28’ back-to-back-of-curb standard width. Narrower or wider sections, including boulevards can be considered.
• Pavement Design-increase minimum standard pavement designs to provide a life-cycle-cost value to the taxpayers. Alternative pavement structures can be considered with engineering analysis.
• Testing and Inspection Requirements-increase the Inspection fee from $0.40/centerline-foot to $15.00/centerline foot. Require testing of materials and inspection by third party. Eliminate warranty period.
Currently, the City requires minimal inspection and material testing of new roads, and storm sewers. Peoria also requires an informal 1-year warranty, with no bond.
It is worth noting that both IAWC and GPSD require full time inspection of their respective utilities, and pass this cost along to the Developer. In contrast, City utilities (storm sewers) and streets are self-inspected by Developers, who hire a design engineer to inspect on a part-time basis, and certify to the City that the streets are constructed to standards. The City is currently contracting with a consultant to provide limited oversight services. Developer fees cover less than 5% of the current City cost; the remaining cost is subsidized by the General Fund.
Comparing the inspection of infrastructure to the inspection of buildings: The City inspects buildings that it will not own, yet permits developers to self-certify infrastructure that the City will own. It seems logical that the City should adopt the process that is used for the sanitary sewers and take over the inspection of infrastructure.
Proposed Standards:
Staff proposes to require additional inspection and testing of public infrastructure construction by the City during the installation of improvements.
Proposed inspection requirements include full time inspection for specific tasks including city-owned utilities, trench backfill, roadway sub-base and all pavement structure.
For testing, staff proposes to add a Quality Control / Quality Assurance (QA/QC) requirement (per IDOT specifications). This places the burden for 100% of material testing on the Contractor, plus spot checking (about 20% of the tests) by a City representative. This process also puts the responsibility on the appropriate parties (contractor and supplier). Compaction testing will also be required for earthwork.
Lastly, it is recommended the City require that materials come from an IDOT certified plant.
Staff recommends assessing a developer fee of $15/LF for City inspection and testing costs. Staff recommends eliminating the warranty requirements.
Cost Considerations:
City inspection costs are estimated at $15 per centerline foot (or $560 per 75-foot lot). As a comparison, the cost for sanitary sewer inspections per GPSD requirements ranges from $130 to $1090 per lot. Inspection of streets is expected to be 5% of construction cost; whereas, developers have indicated they are currently paying only 2%. The cost for adding QA/QC should be minimal, as most contractors are already doing this as part of all work, so there should not be a cost increase to the Developer for testing the HMA or concrete infrastructure components.
Peoria currently charges forty cents (40¢) per centerline-foot (or $15 per lot). This fee has not been changed since 1972. Morton charges $3 per centerline-foot, while Washington has a per lot fee which includes water and sewer tap fees.
Note that eliminating the warranty requirements will offset some of the additional cost to the developer for increased inspection and testing requirements. Also, the developer will no longer need to employ an engineer to self-inspect the new infrastructure.
Comparative cities analyzed require varying degrees of frequency and acceptable testing authority, but almost all of them require testing. A third-party observer is typically required to be present, during critical periods of the installation process, and to make periodic inspections. The frequency of the inspections can vary with the experience and workmanship of the contractor involved. Generally speaking, it appears that Morton has more inspection and testing requirements than Peoria, while East Peoria and Washington have equal or less stringent requirements.
• Sidewalks-require sidewalks in all areas. Expedite completion of sidewalk construction in residential subdivisions: within one year after 70% occupancy of any block.
• Storm Water Management-in addition to our current requirements, provide safe conveyance of the 100-year storm event and provide storage of the first one inch (1”) of rainfall from all hard surfaces. Encourage infiltration techniques and native vegetation. See attached proposed ordinance amendment.
Staff received concerns about when this new stormwater ordinance will become effective. Staff recommends that the ordinance modifications, if approved, be in effect from and after January 1, 2017. The modifications would not apply to projects with an unexpired preliminary plat, projects that had previously received a zoning certificate, or to projects in areas covered by an agreement precluding the changes.
• Street Lights-this is an optional requirement for new, residential streets. If provided, pedestrian-scale lights will be installed every three lots on both sides of a residential street.
During the September 27 Council meeting, staff was asked to look at the feasibility and cost for installing streetlighting conduit for future use. The empty conduit system would need to include a tracer wire and handholes, so that the conduit can be located through the JULIE process. The cost for installing the conduit, tracer wire and handholes is estimated to be $500 per lot (compared to the estimated cost of $2,700/lot for a complete lighting system).
Having conduit already in place will reduce the number of future excavations, if a full lighting system will be installed, but there will still be excavations at every light pole location and to install the controller cabinet and electrical service.
If developers choose not to install street lights, staff had previously recommended that the neighborhood be ineligible for future special assessment projects for lighting (like the Lynnhurst Subdivision used). Perhaps Council could consider allowing developments to participate in a future special assessment for lighting if the empty conduits, tracer wire and handholes were installed by the developer. (It should be noted that special assessment is dependent on future funding. Currently there are no special assessment projects funded.)
• Street Trees-Provide a 10’ wide green space between the back of curb and sidewalk with a minimum of one street tree per lot (two per corner lot) at a maximum spacing of 60’. Trees will be planted by the City.
Staff has prepared a brief presentation to further explain these concepts at the Council meeting.
Attachments to this communication include City of Peoria Development Standards Staff Recommendation September 27, 2016, and An Ordinance Amending Chapter 9.5 Erosion, Sediment, and Stormwater Control.
FINANCIAL IMPACT: Staff has worked to minimize initial cost increases to developers, while incorporating the long term benefits of Complete Streets for our citizens. Further details can be found in the attachments and staff’s presentation.
NEIGHBORHOOD CONCERNS: See attached staff recommendation document for details.
IMPACT IF APPROVED: Community Development Staff will incorporate changes relative to the Unified Development Code and Public Works Staff will incorporate changes relative to and propose an amendment to the Erosion, Sediment, and Stormwater Ordinance for formal City Council consideration in October. Staff will develop an Infrastructure Design Standards Guideline document to post on our website for reference by the development community.
IMPACT IF DENIED: Provide further direction to staff.
ALTERNATIVES: Provide further direction to staff.
EEO CERTIFICATION NUMBER: N/A
WHICH OF THE GOALS IDENTIFIED IN THE COUNCIL’S 2014 - 2029 STRATEGIC PLAN DOES THIS RECOMMENDATION ADVANCE?
1. Attractive Neighborhoods with Character: Safe and Livable
2. Grow Peoria: Businesses, Jobs, and Population
3. Financially Sound City Government, Effective City Organization
WHICH CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTOR(S) FROM THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN DOES THIS RECOMMENDATION IMPLEMENT?
1. Invest in our infrastructure and transportation.
2. Support sustainability.
3. Keep taxes and fees competitive.
DEPARTMENT: Public Works