AgdaPkt 2011-09-12 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

8.A. - Page 2 To date, the Subcommittee held three meetings on December 13, 2010, February 9, 2011, and June 24, 2011. Through these meetings, three main objectives were achieved. • Regional collaboration — A multi - jurisdictional collaboration meeting was held on March 25, 2011 to share a common understanding of the flooding issues and challenges, to recognize that mitigation measures require a regional approach, and to encourage staff to collaborate and compose mitigation alternatives. The multi - jurisdictional collaboration meeting was attended by policymakers and /or staff from Redwood City, Menlo Park, Atherton, Woodside, and San Mateo County. • Matrix of Regional Flood Mitigation Alternatives — After some collaboration and analysis, staff prepared an alternatives matrix, which provides a rough comparison of regional flood mitigation alternatives based on factors such as cost of construction, cost of long -term operations and maintenance, duration of execution, mitigation effectiveness (level of flood protection), environmental and permitting requirements, easement requirements, and involvement of other jurisdictions. The matrix was presented to the Subcommittee at the February 9 subcommittee meeting. It was also presented to the multi - jurisdictional technical collaboration meeting on May 3, 2011 to seek feedback and collaboration at staff level from other jurisdictions. • Grant Opportunities — on April 15, 2011, staff submitted a grant application for the Department of Water Resources' Integrated Regional Water Management Stormwater Management Grant funded by Proposition 1 E. The grant request is for $8 million for the Fifth Avenue Pump Station and Bayfront Drainage Improvement Project, which is estimated to cost $16 million. Grant award announcement is anticipated in September 2011. Staff will also pursue another grant opportunity in October with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Pre - disaster Mitigation Program. Staff evaluated and discussed various alternatives with other jurisdictions ranging from increasing the capacity of the channel to diverting portions of the flow into other slough areas. Staff recommends the most promising alternative for continued study which includes improvements to the Fifth Avenue Pump Station and constructing a sheetpile floodwall along the Bayfront Canal and portions of the Atherton Channel to protect low - lying areas. This alternative provides the greatest amount of flood protection without modifying historic drainage patterns, or significantly increasing long term operations and maintenance costs. The next step is to move forward with a detailed engineering study and environmental evaluation in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act. Cost estimates are intended to provide orders of magnitude at this time as a basis of comparison. As the study progresses and the alternative is developed, a clearer understanding of likely costs will evolve.