AgdaPkt 2008-01-28 Clsd and Reg - Laserfiche WebLink

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· Reflect Redwood City's diversity; . Enjoy broad community support; 7A Page 3 Budget The consultant team's budget for the new General Plan is $1 ,276,230. In addition to this contract .amount, a 15% contingency of $191 ,435 is proposed. The contingency would be used only if absolutely necessary to respond to unantiCipated challenges in a time- effiCient manner to maintain work quality and schedule. Staff is requesting that the City Council grant the City Manager or his designee the authority to utilize the contingency fund as needed to complete the project. The above expenses do not include another recommended planning effort: the development ofa City-wide Traffic Model. Although a Traffic Model is not technically required for the New General Plan,such models have been found to be important analytical tools, providing more consistency in the consideration of the long-term effects of various land use choices on traffic segments and intersections. Staff believes that absent the New General Plan, the City would likely consider establishing a City-wide Traffic Model to keep abreast of best practices with respect to transportation planning. Venturing to do so now at the onset of the New General Plan effort provides some advantages. For example, the Traffic Model can be used to comprehensively evaluate different land use alternatives in the Environmental Impact Report for the New General Plan. Also, development of the Traffic Model includes a number of background efforts that will be undertaken for the Traffic Impact Fee Update, which is currently pending. Thus, the present time offers an opportunity for efficient use of resources that can result in cost savings. It should be noted that a comprehensive Traffic Model will not eliminate the need to conduct traffic studies for individual development proposals. However, the Traffic Model will be of value in those cases because it will establish a higher level of consistency in the long-term analysis of each stand-alone traffic. study and will also be coordinated with the C/CAG Model. Both the Traffic Model and Impact Fee Update can be completed under separate contracts and paid tor by Capital Improvement Funds which have already been allocated. In the case of the Traffic Impact Fee Update, Council previously allocated $74,000 in FY 2006-2007. The update has not yet been initiated, and the funds remain available for this task. Staff and the traffic consultant are finalizing the scope of work for the Traffic Model which, at this time, is expected to take six months and cost approximately $200,000. It is possible that as significant development proposals are submitted to the City in the near future, there may be'an opportunity to utilize relevant new traffic system information to augment the City's work, potentially resulting in time and cost savings in the development of the Traffic Model, to the extent that it is appropriate. Approximately $300,000 remains in the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) budget for the General Plan. These funds cOl::lld be used to cover the cost of the Traffic Model and as soon as the agreement is in place tOL Council's consideration, staff will request that this fund be encumbered for the Traffic Model. The total consultant cost for the New General Plan (assuming use of the entire contingency), the EIR, and development of a City-wide Traffic Model, is approximately $1,667,665. The Traffic Fee Study Update is not considered a part of the General Plan