AgdaPkt 2009-11-23 clsd and jnt Meeting with Planning

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6.1H age 1 REPORT To the Honorable Mayor and City Counci.1 From the Ci Mana er November 23, 2009 SUBJECT Incremental Acceptance of Performed Work - EI Camino Real "Grand Boulevard" Streetscaping Project (Broadway to Brewster Avenue) RECOMMENDA nON By motion, authorize as required by federal law (49 CFR 26.29) 1. Acceptance of performed work in increments as approved by staff, and 2. Payment of retention, subsequent to the acceptance of specific work and prior to final acceptance. BACKGROUND Council awarded the EI Camino Real uGrand Boulevard" Streetscaping project on September 14, 2009. The project is the first in an anticipated sequence of improvements along EI Camino Real ("ECR") and consists of pedestrian, streetscape and landscape improvements to ECR from Broadway to Brewster Avenue, approximately 1/10th of a mile. The improvements are consistent with the principles of the Grand Boulevard Initiative ("GBI") adopted by the Council in December, 2007. The GBI is a collaborative effort involving 19 cities and both San Mateo and Santa Clara counties to transform ECR into a "grand boulevard" for the length of the Peninsula Corridor. Construction began on November 2, 2009 and is expected to continue through April 201 O~ The work of this project is intended to improve pedestrian safety, enhance the pedestrian experience at the intersection of ECR and Broadway, and achieve better pedestrian access to the city's central business district and downtown transportation center. Included as part of this project, is the addition of a median refuge area and street frontage improvements that will reduce the distance and time required for pedestrians to cross the street. Improved lighting and landscaping are also included between Brewster and Broadway. The roadway improvement portion of this project is funded by $1,162,000.00 in grants from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) and the California Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program (CMAQ). Staff continues efforts to comply with new and changing policies and reporting requirements introduced by the grantors. Federal grant (ARRA) requirements call for the city to incrementally accept portions of the work and release retention based upon these acceptances (49 CFR 26.29). The city's policy is to withhold 100/0 from each progress payment. This retained amount - "the retention" -- is paid upon final acceptance of the project by Council. In this case, staff requests authorization to accept portions of the work as it progresses, so that retention may be released as the work progresses in compliance with the terms of the federal grant funds.