TITLE: Title
Request to Apply for Additional Funds for the South Greensboro Street Sidewalk Project
PURPOSE: The purpose of this agenda item is to receive authorization for staff to request transportation funds by December 10th to cover additional estimated expenses relating to the replacement of an OWASA water line, work that is necessary to allow the South Greensboro Street sidewalk project to move forward.
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DEPARTMENT: Planning and Finance
CONTACT INFORMATION: Christina Moon, Planning Administrator, 919-918-7325, cmoon@townofcarrboro.org <mailto:cmoon@townofcarrboro.org>; Patricia McGuire, Planning Director, 919-918-7327, pmcguire@townofcarrboro.org <mailto:pmcguire@townofcarrboro.org>; Arche McAdoo, Finance Director, 919-918-7300, amcadoo@townofcarrboro.org <mailto:amcadoo@townofcarrboro.org>
INFORMATION: Design for the South Greensboro Street sidewalk project (TIP# C-5650) is now at 65-percent complete and plans and related permits have been submitted to NCDOT for review. Now that certain decisions about the project alignment and cross section design (curb and gutter) have been made more accurate projections for the cost of construction can be determined. The preliminary cost estimates from the design consultant, Ramey Kemp & Associates (RKA), indicate that approximately $380,468 of additional funding will be needed. The Town has STBG-DA funds available that could be allocated to the project by way of a STIP amendment administrated through the DCHC MPO. STBG-DA funds require a 20-percent local match. The request to allocate $476,000 of STBG-DA funds would add approximately $380,800 of STBG-DA funds to the project, using approximately $95,200 of existing Transit Funds (already in the project budget) as local match.
Town staff met with NCDOT in the late summer to review the project design and discuss next steps and, during that meeting, NCDOT alerted the Town of a concern regarding the proximity of the proposed stormwater drop inlets and an existing six-inch asbestos cement (AC) water line. NCDOT conveyed an expectation that the water line would need to be replaced as part of, or in advance of the sidewalk project. A subsequent meeting with the Town, RKA and OWASA yielded possible options for moving forward, along with associated costs (Attachment B). Staff has not yet had an opportunity to confer with NCDOT, but at this point, the expectation would be for the Town to pursue the third option-to replace the existing six-inch AC line with a new six-inch ductile iron pipe (DIP). The current estimate to replace the six-inch line is approximately $700,000.
The DCHC MPO has announced a call for projects for CMAQ funding, with applications due on December 10th. Staff is seeking authorization to apply for $700,000 of additional CMAQ funds to cover some/all of the cost of the six-inch line replacement. CMAQ funds require a 20-percent local match: $560,000 (CMAQ)/ $140,000 (local match). A source for the match has not yet been identified; the Town may wish to explore negotiations with OWASA to pay for or cost-share the local match. It should be noted that the Town’s application for additional CMAQ funds may be less competitive if the Town has considerable STBG-DA money in reserve, so the request for a STIP amendment to allocate a portion of these funds to the project should help strengthen the application.
Staff will continue to explore other sources for funding to cover the water pipe replacement, including the possible use of ARPA funds and/or new funding from the federal infrastructure bill (H.R.3684 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act | Congress.gov | Library of Congress <https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/3684>). Funding from these two new federal programs may be available at 100-percent, without requiring a 20-percent local match. With the Council’s permission, staff will continue to partner and negotiate with OWASA regarding a preferred strategy for replacing OWASA infrastructure along the South Greensboro Street corridor. Staff is also working to coordinate the design and construction of the sidewalk project with the construction of the 203 project to limit possible disruption to travel patterns along this important corridor.
FISCAL & STAFF IMPACT: The current probable cost for the project including design, ROW and construction is $2,170,000. The current project budget is $1,781,462, including $377,340 of Orange County Transit funds and $43,153 of Bond Proceeds.
The addition of $476,000 of STBG-DA funds, using existing Transit and Bond funds as match would increase the project budget to approximately $2,170,000.
The addition of $700,000 of CMAQ funds should cover the design/construction cost to the replace the existing 6-inch OWASA water line. CMAQ funding require a 20-percent local match: $560,000 (CMAQ)/ $140,000 (local match). A source for the local match would need to be identified.
RECOMMENDATION:r Staff recommends that the Town Council consider the resolution provided (Attachment A) authorizing staff to submit a STIP amendment request to the DCHC MPO to allocate a portion of the Town’s STBG-DA funds toward the sidewalk project, and to prepare a request for additional CMAQ funding to pay for the costs associated with the replacement of the OWASA water pipe.