Meeting_Body
REVISED
PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING COMMITTEE
JUNE 17, 2015
Subject/Action
SUBJECT: COUNTYWIDE CALL FOR PROJECTS
ACTION: APPROVE 2015 RECERTIFICATION AND DEOBLIGATION RECOMMENDATIONS
Heading
RECOMMENDATION
Title
APPROVED ON CONSENT CALENDAR:
A. recertifying $76.8 million in existing Fiscal Year (FY) 2015-16 commitments from previously approved Countywide Calls for Projects and authorize the expenditure of funds to meet these commitments as shown in Attachment A;
B. deobligating $29.1 $28.8 million of previously approved Countywide Calls for Projects funding, as shown in Attachment B. Continue to prioritize 2015 and future deobligated dollars to fund as the first priority the three previously approved County of Los Angeles Signal Call projects: 1) San Gabriel Valley Traffic Signal Corridors Project (#F3308); 2) Gateway Cities Traffic Signal Corridors Phase VI Project (#F3309); and 3) South Bay Traffic Signal Corridors Project (#F3310) that were not near-term priorities per the 2011 Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) Priority List, and the second priority, the City of Palmdale North County ITS - Palmdale Extension Project (#F7304);
C. authorizing:
1. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to: 1) Negotiate and execute all necessary agreements for approved projects; and 2) Amend the FY 2015-16 budget, as necessary, to include the 2015 Countywide Call for Projects Recertification and Extension funding in the Regional Programs’ budget;
2. Staff to amend the agreements with the County of Los Angeles to add the Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee (MSRC) grant funds for design of previously down scoped elements for three projects: 1) South Bay Forum Traffic Signal Corridors Project (#F1311); 2) Gateway Cities Forum Traffic Signal Corridors Project Phase V (#F1321), and 3) San Gabriel Valley Forum Traffic Signal Corridors Project (#F1321);
D. approving changes to the scope of work for the City of Baldwin Park - Metrolink Parking Resource Demonstration Project (#F3712);
E. reprogramming:
1. $47.1 million of previously approved Countywide Call for Projects funding, as shown in Attachment D, for those projects that applied for, but were not awarded funds through the State Active Transportation Program (ATP) according to Metro’s policy for transitioning to the State ATP;
2. Funding for the 1) City of El Monte - El Monte Clean Fuel Bus Replacement Project (#F7420) from FY 2016-17 and FY 2017-18 to FY 2015-16; 2) City of Culver City - City of Culver City Network-Wide Signal Synchronization with Video and Arterial Performance Measurement System Project (#F7303) from FY 2014-15, FY 2015-16 and FY 2016-17 to FY 2016-17; 3) City of Downey - City of Downey Woodruff Ave Fiber-Optic Traffic Signal Communication Project (#F3304) from FY 2014-15 to FY 2016-17; 4) City of Los Angeles - Stocker/MLK Crenshaw Access to Expo LRT Station from FY 2013-14 and FY 2014-15 to FY 2015-16 and FY 2016-17; 5) Los Angeles County - ExperienceLA 3.0 - Mobility in the Cloud Project (#F7703) from FY 2015-16, FY 2016-17, FY 2017-18 and FY 2018-19 to FY 2015-16; 6) City of Monrovia - Huntington Drive Phase II Project (#8211) from FY 2011-12 to FY 2016-17; and 7) City of San Dimas - City of San Dimas Intersection Improvements on Bonita Ave at Cataract Ave (#F3307) from FY 2014-15 to FY 2017-18;
F. reallocating funds originally programmed to the City of Los Angeles for: 1) Figueroa Corridor Bike Station and Cycling Enhancements (#F3510); and 2) Expo Line Bike Hubs South Los Angeles (#F5523) to Metro towards the implementation of the Countywide Bikeshare Phase 1 Pilot in Downtown Los Angeles; and
G. receiving and filing time extensions for the 112 projects shown in Attachment E.
Issue
ISSUE
Each year the Board must recertify funding for projects that were approved through prior Countywide Calls for Projects in order to release the funds to the project sponsors. The Board must also approve the deobligation of lapsing project funds after providing project sponsors with the opportunity to appeal staff’s preliminary deobligation recommendations to Metro’s Technical Advisory Committee (TAC). The Board must also receive and file the extensions being granted through previously delegated Board administrative authority.
Discussion
DISCUSSION
The Countywide Call for Projects process implements Metro’s multi-modal programming responsibilities and implements the adopted Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP). Metro is required by federal (Title 23 U.S.C. 134 (g) & (h)) and state (P.U.C. 130303) statutes to prepare a Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for Los Angeles County. The TIP allocates revenues across all transportation modes based on the planning requirements of the federal Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21). Metro accomplishes these mandates, in part, by programming revenues through the Countywide Call for Projects.
The 2015 Recertification and Deobligation process enforces the annual authorization and timely use of funds policies. Specifically, Board policy calls for consideration of deobligation of funding from project sponsors who have not met lapsing deadlines, have not used the entire grant amount to complete the project (project savings) or have formally notified Metro that they no longer wish to proceed with the project (cancellation).
Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) Appeals
On May 6, 2015, TAC heard sponsor appeals on the deobligation of funding from 32 projects (Attachment F). TAC concurred with City of Los Angeles’ request to cancel and deobligate funding pending City Council action from the North Main Street Grade Separation Project (#F3148) due to the City’s inability to identify and commit the local match funding. For the remaining 31 projects, TAC recommended one year extensions with certain reporting conditions. Staff concurs with these recommendations.
Determination_Of_Safety_Impact
DETERMINATION OF SAFETY IMPACT
The 2015 Call for Projects Recertification and Deobligation will not have any adverse safety impacts on Metro’s employees or patrons.
Financial_Impact
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Local funds (Propositions C 10% and 25% and State Repayment of Capital Project Loan Funds) for the Countywide Call for Projects are budgeted in the FY 2015-16 Subsidies to Others Budget in Cost Centers 0441 and 0442. Since these are multi-year projects, the cost center managers, Chief Planning Officer, Countywide Planning and Development, and Executive Director, Engineering and Construction will be responsible for budgeting in future years.
Impact to Budget
The sources of funds for these activities are Proposition C 10% and 25%, State Repayment of Capital Project Loan Funds, Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ), and Regional Surface Transportation Program (RSTP). The Proposition C 10% and 25% are not eligible for Metro bus and rail operating and capital expenditures.
CMAQ funds can be used for both transit operating and capital. However, there are no additional operating expenses that are eligible for CMAQ funding. Los Angeles County must strive to fully obligate its share of CMAQ funding by May 1st of each year, otherwise it risks its redirection to other California Regional Transportation Planning Agencies by Caltrans. Staff recommends the use of long-lead-time CMAQ funds as planned to insure utilizing Metro’s federal funds.
RSTP funds in this action could be used for Metro’s transit capital needs. Also, while these funds cannot be used directly for Metro’s bus or rail operating needs, these funds could free-up other such eligible funds by exchanging the funds used for Metro’s paratransit provider, Access Services Incorporated. Since these RSTP funds originate in the Highway portion (Title 23) of MAP-21, they are among the most flexible funds available to Metro and are very useful in meeting Call projects’ requirements.
Alternatives_Considered
ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED
The Board could cancel all or some of the FY 2015-16 funding commitments rather than authorize their expenditures. This would disregard previous Board approved Countywide Calls for Projects programming commitments and would disrupt on-going projects that received multi-year funding.
With respect to deobligations, the Board could choose to deobligate funds from one or more sponsors whose projects are beyond the lapse dates and are not moving forward consistent with the adopted Lapsing Policy. A much stricter interpretation of the Lapsing Policy might encourage project sponsors to focus scarce labor and other resources on projects in order to deliver them in a more timely fashion. However, this would be disruptive to the process of delivering the specific projects. On balance, the appeals process between the project sponsors and the TAC is a significant reminder that these funded projects should not be further delayed. In addition, many of the specific projects involved are now very close to being delivered.
Next_Steps
NEXT STEPS
With Board approval of the 2015 Countywide Call for Projects Recertification, Deobligation and Extension process, project sponsors will be notified and Funding Agreements (FAs) and Letter of Agreements (LOAs) will be executed with those who have received their first year of funding through the Recertification process. Amendments to existing FAs and LOAs will be completed for those sponsors receiving time extensions. Project sponsors whose funds are being deobligated will be formally notified of the Board action as well as those receiving date certain time extension deadlines for executing their agreements.
Attachments
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A - FY 2015-16 Countywide Call for Projects Recertification
Attachment B - 2015 Countywide Call for Projects Deobligation Recommendations
Attachment C - Background/Discussion of Each Recommendation
Attachment D - Reprogramming of Not Awarded ATP
Attachment E - Projects Requiring Extensions as of June 30, 2015
Attachment F - Results of TAC Appeals Process
Prepared_by
Prepared by: Teresa Wong, Transportation Planning Manager V, (213) 922-2854
Fanny Pan, Director, (213) 922-3070
Wil Ridder, Executive Officer, (213) 922-2887
David Yale, Managing Executive Officer, (213) 922-2469
Renee Berlin, Managing Executive Officer, (213) 922-3035
Reviewed_By
Reviewed by: Martha Welborne, Chief Planning Officer, (213) 922-7267
