City of Palo Alto (ID # 4882) City Council Staff Report

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City of Palo Alto (ID # 4882) City Council Staff Report Report Type: Consent Calendar Meeting Date: 12/15/2014 Summary Title: Easements for San Francisquito Creek Joint Powers Authority Initial Flood

1 City of Palo Alto (ID # 4882) City Council Staff Report Report Type: Consent Calendar Meeting Date: 12/15/2014 Summary Title: Easements for San Francisquito Creek Joint Powers Authority Initial Flood Protection Project Title: Grant of Easements to Santa Clara Valley Water District, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, City of East Palo Alto and East Palo Alto Sanitary District for the San Francisquito Creek Joint Powers Authority s (JPA) Initial Flood Protection Project (Highway 101 to San Francisco Bay) From: City Manager Lead Department: Administrative Services RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends that Council: 1. Authorize the City Manager or designee to approve and execute the attached City of Palo Alto grant of easement to Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and to accept the attached quitclaim deed from PG&E to the City of Palo Alto for abandonment of an existing easement; and 2. Authorize the City Manager or designee to approve and execute additional City of Palo Alto Grants of Easements to Santa Clara Valley Water District (SCVWD), PG&E, City of East Palo Alto, and East Palo Alto Sanitary District (EPASD) to be granted in the future and accept additional quitclaim deeds from PG&E, as needed, for the implementation of the San Francisquito Creek Joint Powers Authority s (JPA) Initial Flood Protection Project (Highway 101 to San Francisco Bay). EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The San Francisquito Creek (see attachment A) Flood Reduction, Ecosystem Restoration, and Recreation Project Highway 101 to San Francisco Bay (the Project ), which affects City owned parcels APN (portion) and APN (portion), is a joint endeavor of the JPA and its member agencies to realign San Francisquito Creek (Creek) in order to provide flood protection between Highway 101 and San Francisco Bay. The Project includes creek widening, construction of new levees and floodwalls, wetlands restoration, and improvements to the Baylands trail network. In order to support the construction of the Project, several existing utility facilities, including PG&E gas and electric lines and an EPASD sanitary sewer pipeline, will need to be relocated, requiring new utility City of Palo Alto Page 1

2 easements to be granted across City-owned land. In addition, the modifications to the Creek width will require the SCVWD and the City of East Palo Alto (the agencies that will assume maintenance responsibility for the Creek improvements) to acquire new flood control easements across City-owned land. In order to provide rights for future land use, access, maintenance and utilization of the land area, the City of Palo Alto will need to grant various real estate access rights in the form of right of entry, permanent easements, and temporary construction easements to the SCVWD, PG&E, the City of East Palo Alto and the EPASD. BACKGROUND In April 1999, the cities of Palo Alto, Menlo Park, and East Palo Alto, the Santa Clara Valley Water District and the San Mateo County Flood Control District formed the San Francisquito Creek JPA in order to cooperatively pursue a flood damage reduction and ecosystem restoration project for San Francisquito Creek. For the past three years, the JPA has been pursuing the implementation of a locally-funded Initial Flood Protection Project that would provide 100-year flood protection for properties downstream of Highway 101. In 2009, the JPA contracted with HDR Engineering, Inc. to design and prepare construction documents for the Project and with ICF International, Inc. to prepare an Environmental Impact Report to identify and analyze potential project impacts and to describe appropriate mitigation measures to address those impacts. The design consultant has completed 95% construction documents for the Project, and the JPA Board certified the Final Environmental Impact Report for the Project on October 25, The Project will accommodate a 100-year flow in conjunction with a 100-year tide, with additional design considerations to meet FEMA freeboard requirements consistent with the National Research Center s highest estimate of potential Sea Level Rise over the next 50 years. This Project is the first in the Bay Area to take such a progressive approach towards planning a flood protection and ecosystem restoration project that considers the best available scientific evidence of potential environmental and climatic change that could be experienced during the design life of the project. The Project s goals are to improve flood protection, habitat, and recreational opportunities within the project reach, with the following specific objectives: Protect properties and infrastructure between Highway 101 and the San Francisco Bay from 100-year San Francisquito Creek riverine flood flows in conjunction with a 100-year tide and projected 50-year Sea Level Rise; Accommodate future flood protection measures upstream of the Project that may be constructed; Enhance habitat along the project reach, particularly habitat for threatened and endangered species; Enhance recreational uses; and Minimize operational and maintenance requirements. City of Palo Alto Page 2

3 The primary Project elements proposed to improve management of flood flows along San Francisquito Creek from Highway 101 to San Francisco Bay include: Reconfiguring levees; Creating a marsh plain terrace to convey high flows; Installing floodwalls; Widening of the Creek channel; and Constructing access roads for maintenance purposes. DISCUSSION In order to enable the relocation of utility facilities associated with the Project and to convey temporary and permanent access rights to the agencies with maintenance responsibility for the Project, real estate access and easement rights will need to be granted by the City of Palo Alto to various public agencies and PG&E. At the present time, the JPA is waiting to obtain the necessary permits from the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board (Water Board) and other state and federal resource agencies to begin the Project. Once all of the permits have been acquired, the Project will start. By authorizing the City Manager to approve the easements needed to accommodate the Project, the necessary real estate documents can be approved quickly after they have been reviewed and approved by Public Works, the Real Estate Division of ASD, and the City Attorney s Office. Over the past two years, City staff have been meeting and working with the staff of the agencies seeking new or revised easements to develop and review the plats, legal descriptions, and real estate rights that will be included in the easements to be granted to facilitate the Project. The City will be granting the following agencies easement rights in conjunction with the Project: Santa Clara Valley Water District: The SCVWD will be administering the construction of the Project on behalf of the JPA. The SCVWD will also assume permanent maintenance responsibility for the Creek improvements on the south side of the channel (the portion within the City of Palo Alto corporate limits). Therefore, the SCVWD will require both temporary construction easements and permanent flood control easements from the City. The purpose of a permanent non exclusive easement and a temporary construction easement is to facilitate the water management and/or storm water drainage system installation to prevent future flooding and to support the construction of the Project. The new permanent easement will be used to construct a new earthen levee, which will be set back from the existing levee in order to increase channel conveyance. That new setback levee will extend from the vicinity of Geng Road to just beyond the Friendship Bridge. The existing ramp at Geng Road will be reconstructed to provide access to the new levee for maintenance vehicles and bicyclists and pedestrians utilizing the Bay Trail segment along the levee. Upstream of Geng Road, a sheetpile floodwall will be constructed with a widened channel, extending to the US Postal Service property. The City bike/pedestrian trail on top of the existing levee will be restored atop the new levee. The temporary construction City of Palo Alto Page 3

4 easement will be used to allow access by equipment and material during construction of the Project. PG&E PG&E will be relocating two electric transmission lines and one gas transmission line to accommodate the creek widening included in the Project. PG&E will quitclaim current easements for its existing gas and electric facilities to the City. The City will grant three new permanent easements to PG&E for the relocated gas and electric facilities. The City will issue the following new easements to PG&E: 1) 60kV Transmission Wood Pole Line: A new easement will cover electric transmission lines along the wood pole line, which have already been relocated by PG&E. (see attachment B) 2) 230kV Steel Tower Line: Two new easements will be granted for relocated overhead electric facilities. These facilities needed to be relocated and raised because one of the steel towers will be within the widened creek channel. Because of this change, the original easement s area of use will need to be widened. 3) Gas Transmission Line 101: This easement will address an underground gas transmission line that will be relocated to facilitate the creek widening. PG&E has established a conceptual alignment for the relocated gas line. It will be relocated to the east side (within the Golf Course) of the new easterly levee. The City will be granting easement rights of ingress and egress to construct, reconstruct, replace, remove, maintain and use for the transmission of electric (or gas) energy, and for communication purposes. The existing easements to be quitclaimed by PG&E are: The easement (see attachment C) granted by City of Palo Alto to PG&E on April 20, 1966, for the gas line which would be relocated into the new easement area at a later date. City of East Palo Alto The City of East Palo Alto will assume permanent maintenance responsibility for the Creek improvements on the north side of the channel (the portion within the City of East Palo Alto corporate limits). The County of San Mateo holds existing permanent easements along San Francisquito Creek between O'Connor Street and Daphne Way that will be relied upon to construct the Project. The County of San Mateo will transfer their existing easement rights to the City of East Palo Alto. However, the planned construction activities of the Project may extend beyond the existing easements on City-owned lands. If it is determined that additional land rights will be needed for construction, the City of East Palo Alto would seek from the City City of Palo Alto Page 4

5 of Palo Alto new temporary construction easements in the subject area. The easements would be required for construction activities related to building the new levee on the East Palo Alto side of the Creek, and for the traversal of equipment and materials from a staging area near O'Connor Street to the rest of the Project site. The easement would be in place for a two-year period, the beginning of which shall be determined during the drafting of the easement agreement. East Palo Alto Sanitary District The EPASD will be relocating its sanitary sewer trunk pipeline to accommodate the creek widening included in the Project. A 20-foot wide sanitary sewer easement is needed for the legal installation of the relocated sewer pipeline and manholes, and their ongoing inspection and maintenance. The sewer infrastructure is routinely inspected and maintained to ensure proper operation. The easement provides the EPASD the legal right to access and perform maintenance as needed. RESOURCE IMPACT As a policy, public agencies waive easement preparation fees when they are working together with other government agencies on publically-sponsored project. The City s easement fee of $1,363 set forth in the Municipal Fee Schedule has been waived for SCVWD, East Palo Alto, and EPASD. City also waived the easement fee for PG&E since they will be undertaking work that has been requested by the JPA to support the San Francisquito Creek Flood Reduction Project. POLICY IMPLICATIONS Granting the easement rights to PG&E and other public agencies to support the San Francisquito Creek flood prevention project is consistent with policies and programs in the Comprehensive Plan, promoting public safety and infrastructure investments to develop a safer regional area and to work in cooperation with neighborhood cities to solve regional issues that impact many residents and communities. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW An Environmental Impact Report for the Project, including the related utility relocations, has been adopted by the JPA. Attachments: Attachment A: Map of the San Francisquito Creek (DOCX) Attachment B: Easement Deed (PDF) Attachment C: Easement Quitclaim Deed (PDF) City of Palo Alto Page 5

6 ATTACHMENT A 1 P a g e

7 ATTACHMENT B Page 1 of 7

8 ATTACHMENT B Page 2 of 7

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14 ATTACHMENT C Page 1 of 5

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CITY OF FORT COLLINS NATURAL AREAS AND CONSERVED LANDS EASEMENT POLICY

CITY OF FORT COLLINS NATURAL AREAS AND CONSERVED LANDS EASEMENT POLICY Adopted January 3, 2012 PURPOSE: The purpose of the policy statement is to clarify the policies and procedures of the City of Fort