City Council

Agenda Request

Agenda Of:

February 06, 2007

Agenda Request No:

IV B

Initiated By:

dale rudick, Intergovernmental realtions director

Responsible Department:

intergovernmental relations

Presented By:

dale rudick, intergovernmental realtions director

Department Head:

dale rudick,

intergovernmental relations director

 

 

Additional Department. Head (s):

n/a

Subject / Proceeding:

fort bend county  mobility project  Resolution 07-03

Exhibits:

resolution NO. 07-03

Clearances

Approval

Legal:

Joe Morris, city attorney

Executive Director:

joseph esch

business & intergovernmental relzations.

Purchasing:

N/A

Asst. City Manager:

N/A

Budget:

N/A

City Manager:

Allen Bogard

Budget

Expenditure Required:  $

n/a

Amount Budgeted/Reallocation:  $

n/a

Additional Appropriation:  $

n/a

Recommended Action

 Consideration and Action on Resolution No. 07-03 and provide additional direction, if necessary.

 

Executive Summary

Fort Bend County is planning for a 2007 Mobility Bond Referendum to be decided by the voters later this year.  For a May election date, a decision would need to be made by Commissioners Court by March 12, 2007. 

 

In 2005, the Mobility Planning Committee issued a call for projects for a future mobility bond issue.  As a part of that call for projects it was required of each agency to prioritize their submitted projects.  The City’s projects submitted in prioritized order and the amount of construction funding requested from the County were as follows:

 

1)      University Boulevard (U.S. 90A to Missouri City ETJ);                         $12,992,000

2)      Dulles Avenue (U.S. 90A to SH 6);                                                      $  4,290,000

3)      Dairy Ashford/Spur 41 Widening (Julie Rivers to US 59);                     $     830,000

4)      Spine Road (Commonwealth to Missouri City ETJ);                              $  2,330,400

5)      Lexington Boulevard (Oxbow Drive to University);                               $     850,000

Total                                                                                                                $21,290,400

 

The County began formulating a process and establishing a list of criteria in which the projects were to be ranked.  Based on this county established criteria, the projects were ranked and distributed to the Mobility Planning Committee on December 4, 2006.  All five of Sugar Land’s projects scored above the tentative funding line of $150 million out of more than $450 million worth of projects being considered. 

 

Commissioners Court held two workshops in January of 2007 where they prioritized the solely sponsored county projects located within the unincorporated county and pared down their list of more than $250 million to approximately $104 million.  Each of the cities had already prioritized their projects 

 

At the January 23, 2007 Council workshop, staff presented an update of the process that has been ongoing by both the Commissioners Court and the Mobility Planning Committee.  As you are aware, the selected $104 million worth of projects within the unincorporated portions of the county have been already deemed priority one by Commissioners Court.   The balance of funds for an approximate $150 million bond package would be distributed between the cities contingent that they provide a local match. 

 

The City recognizes the importance of a County mobility bond referendum to help remedy some of the growing traffic concerns, however, the City believes residents of cities who also pay County taxes should receive their fair share of projects.  In the spirit of cooperation and to help facilitate this process to move forward, the attached resolution reprioritizes the City’s original five submitted projects, reduces the number of submitted projects to four, and clarifies the assumptions of the City’s request.   The project that was removed from the list was Spine Road.  The City recognizes that, at this time, it does not have the immediacy of the other four projects.  As development in that area continues and related infrastructure along the proposed corridor is built, then Spine Road will become a higher priority. 

 

The amount of County funds requested on two of the projects also needs further description:

 

University Boulevard:  The request for funding is primarily for two sections of regionally significant four-lane road that is extraneous to any master planned development.  The limits of these two sections are 1) U.S. 90A to Ditch “H” and 2) Commonwealth Boulevard to the LID 2 drainage outfall.  These segments of roadway will include the construction of four expensive bridges – two over Ditch “H” and two over existing levee drainage outfalls.  The original request for additional county participation of $12.99 million does not include the current executed County/City agreement for  $3.25 million from the 2000 bond referendum. 

 

The northernmost segment near US 90A includes a proportionate share to be paid by the developer along 90A for a future traffic signal.  The landowner also dedicated 100% of the necessary University right-of-way which includes right-of-way for an exclusive right turn lane approaching US 90A. 

 

The City is also currently working with the two master planned communities to help expedite the completion of four lanes of University within their developments concurrent with the proposed County/City funded sections. This will provide for the completion of four lanes of road for University between U.S. 90A in Sugar Land to S.H. 6 in Missouri City.  A similar conceptual alignment of University along these limits has been known for years as the S.H. 6 Bypass, which will help provide congestion relief to SH 6, one of the most densely developed areas of the County.

 

The City originally requested an additional $12.99 million for this project.  However, the City is willing to modify the scope of the project and increase our financial commitment, thus lowering the request for County participation to $11.2 million provided that the County honors its $3.25 million executed agreement from the 2000 bond referendum.  The original submittal included a storm sewer upsizing within Telfair to allow for the City to efficiently expand the road to accommodate lanes five and six sometime in the future.  However, these funds for the storm sewer upsizing are appropriated in the City’s current CIP and will cover the expense that is to be repaid to the developer.

 

Dulles Avenue:  This project is the epitome of multi-agency planning.  It abuts and serves the following agencies:  unincorporated Fort Bend County, Stafford, Missouri City, and Sugar Land.  The 2000 bond referendum appropriated approximately $1.5 million.  The sponsoring agencies were the County and the City of Stafford.  Recognizing the importance of Dulles, Sugar Land agreed to participate with those agencies.  The cities of Missouri City, Stafford and Sugar Land all participated in a Thoroughfare Study to help determine the ultimate cross-section of this road between U.S. 90A and S.H. 6.  Since the 2000 bond referendum, Sugar Land has been successful in securing federal funds for the preliminary engineering study that is currently underway.  The City of Sugar Land also applied for and received a federal construction funding commitment slated for FY 2009.  The City has committed to $490,000 in construction funding and we have received verbal assurance from both the City of Stafford and City of Missouri City that they will together contribute an additional $490,000 local match for construction funding. 

 

The City’s original request for Dulles Avenue was $4.29 million in County participation.  Because the 2000 bond appropriation of $1.5 million was not originally sponsored by the City of Sugar Land, the City did not take it for granted that those funds would be available.  However, we have received assurance from county engineering that there is still $1.5 million in 2000 bonds available and can be applied to our request, thus lowering our request for funds from the County to $2.79 million.  Therefore, the City’s request for County participation can be lowered to $2.79 million provided the County utilizes the $1.5 million from the 2000 bonds toward this project. 

 

This reprioritization of the projects along with the list of assumptions and conditions reduces the City’s request for County bonds from $21,290,400 to $15,670,000.  This has been a very dynamic process and staff will update Council on the next scheduled meeting of the Mobility Planning Committee of February 5, 2007. 

Exhibits

 

RESOLUTION NO. 07-03

 

A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SUGAR LAND, TEXAS, SUBMITTING AN UPDATED PRIORITIZED LIST OF PROJECTS TO THE FORT BEND COUNTY MOBILITY PLANNING COMMITTEE.         

 

            WHEREAS, at the request of the Fort Bend County Mobility Committee, Fort Bend County is finalizing a list of projects for a potential future mobility bond issue and, as in the past, the City wants to continue to work with the County in maximizing the resources of all agencies working together to help ensure all residents of Fort Bend secure the best possible product at the lowest possible cost; and

 

            WHEREAS, the Commissioners Court of Fort Bend has already selected road projects that are located in the unincorporated (non-city) portions of the County and will be wholly funded by the proposed mobility bonds while a disproportionate share of remaining mobility funds may be utilized within the incorporated municipalities provided the cities provide a local match; and

 

            WHEREAS, it is important that elected leaders of the County remember that residents within the geographical boundaries of cities are also residents of the County and the residents of cities pay both City and County taxes; and

 

            WHEREAS, the County should coordinate and cooperate with municipalities to ensure County residents residing within the cities receive their fair share of support and services for the County taxes they pay because the roadway projects within the cities will enhance mobility within the most congested and densely populated portions of the County; and

 

WHEREAS, the cities are the home to the major employment, residential, and educational centers of the County and congestion relief is vital to maintaining and continuing high quality economic development; and

 

WHEREAS, the cities provide nearly half of the taxable value for the county with the City of Sugar Land providing nearly 25% of the taxable value for the County; and

 

WHEREAS, the City of Sugar Land had originally submitted five projects in response to the Fort Bend County Mobility Committee’s call for new projects and in the interest of helping the County move forward on a future bond issuance to be approved by the voters, the City has reduced the number of prioritized projects to four; and

 

WHEREAS, each of those four projects is regionally significant and is located on a roadway that is classified as an arterial on the approved City of Sugar Land Thoroughfare Plan and all four projects are located on roadways identified on both the Fort Bend County Mobility Plan and the Houston-Galveston Area Council’s Regional Transportation Plan where each of these project submittals is a segment of a major corridor that traverses and impacts two or more cities within Fort Bend County; and

 

WHEREAS, each of these submitted projects is consistent with the City’s approved Fiscal Year 2007–2011 Capital Improvement Program; NOW, THEREFORE,

 

 

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL

OF THE CITY OF SUGAR LAND, TEXAS:

 

 

Section 1.  That it submits the following updated prioritized list of projects to the Fort Bend County Mobility Committee as follows:

 

1)      University Boulevard:  U.S. 90A to Ditch “H” and Commonwealth Boulevard to LID 2’s drainage outfall;

 

2)      Dulles Avenue:  From U.S. 90A to S.H. 6;

 

3)      Dairy Ashford Road Expansion: Julie Rivers Drive to U.S. Hwy. 59; and

 

4)      Lexington Boulevard Extension:  From Oxbow Drive to University Boulevard at the University of Houston.

 

Section 2.  That the project amounts requested of the County by the City for the next bond issue for the aforementioned projects be as follows:

 

1)          University Boulevard:  $11.2 million provided that the $3.25 million appropriated from the 2000 bonds and with a related County/City agreement remain in tact for the purposes of the construction of the said project.

 

2)          Dulles Avenue:  $2.79 million provided that the $1.5 million appropriated from the 2000 bonds remain in tact for the purposes of the construction of the said project. 

 

3)          Dairy Ashford Expansion:  $830,000

 

4)          Lexington Boulevard Extension:  $850,000

 

Section 3.  That the City will consider support for a future mobility bond election provided that Sugar Land receives a fair and appropriate proportion of the County funding to benefit our residents.

 

 

            APPROVED on   _______________________________, 2007.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                   _________________________

                                                                        David G. Wallace, Mayor

 

ATTEST:

 

_____________________________

Glenda Gundermann, City Secretary

 

Reviewed for Legal Compliance: