Title
Morgan Creek Greenway Supplemental Agreement & Capital Project Ordinance
PURPOSE: To request that the Town Council consider authorizing the Town Manager to execute a Supplemental Agreement with NCDOT and adopting a new capital project ordinance for Morgan Creek Greenway Phase 1 (EL-4828A) to reflect additional funding and update the project milestones.
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Department
DEPARTMENT: Planning & Finance
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Contact
CONTACT INFORMATION: Christina Moon, Planning & Transportation Administrator, 919-918-7325, cmoon@carrboronc.gov; Patricia McGuire, Planning Director, 919-918-7327, pmcguire@carrboronc.gov; Bret Greene, Finance Director, 919-918-7439, bgreene@carrboronc.gov
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Council Direction
COUNCIL DIRECTION:
___ Race/Equity ____ Climate ____ Comprehensive Plan __X__Other
Council Direction Statement
This is an administrative step in the design process for Phase 1 of the Morgan Creek Greenway. The Morgan Creek Greenway is included in the Comprehensive Plan and Bicycle Plan as a priority project of advancing multimodal travel options which further the Town’s efforts toward climate action and race/equity. Racial equity pocket questions are included as Attachment B.
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Information
INFORMATION: On May 2, 2023 <https://carrboro.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1088370&GUID=6C1EB0A7-BD94-4722-9B69-8654ACD87BC9&Options=info|&Search=>, the Town Council authorized staff to submit a request for an amendment to NCDOT’s State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) to allocate the Town’s remaining $424,176 of local discretionary (federal STBG-DA) funds to Phase 1 of the Morgan Creek Greenway. <https://carrboro.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1088370&GUID=6C1EB0A7-BD94-4722-9B69-8654ACD87BC9&Options=info|&Search=> Federal funds require a 20-percent local match: ($339,341 federal / $84,835 local match). The NCDOT Board of Transportation approved the STIP amendment on March 8, 2024. A supplemental agreement with NCDOT is required to formally allocate the additional funds to the project and to update the project schedule. A new Capital Improvement Ordinance has been prepared that reflects the specific federal funding source (STP-DA/TAP-DA/STBG-DA) and local match source. Approximately $200,000 of Orange County Transit Funds is earmarked to the Town for construction of the project. The Town has also received an allocation of $175,000 of Orange County Transit Funds to pay for the design services needed to prepare bid documents to readvertise the project.
As noted above, the request to allocate $424,176 of STBG-DA funds would include $339,341 of federal funds and $84,835 of local match. Six thousand ($6,000) of additional local funds are needed to complete an environmental study (Atlantic Pigtoe mussels) for the Categorical Exclusion document. A source for the local funds ($90,835) would need to be identified.
Staff plans to submit a request for additional transit funds to cover the $90,835 local match at the next amendment cycle anticipated for Quarter 1 of FY25; if selected for funding, the transit funds would be available as reimbursement.
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Fiscal and Staff Impact
FISCAL IMPACT: The updated project cost would be approximately $2,172,676, an increase of $430,176. This includes the $90,835 of additional local funds (source to be identified) to provide the $84,835 of required local match for local discretionary funds (STBG-DA) and the $6,000 for the environmental study.
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Recommendation
RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends that the Town Council authorize the Town Manager to execute the updated Supplemental Agreement with NCDOT (SA#4) and approve the new Morgan Creek Greenway Capital Project Ordinance, which includes authorizing a contract amendment with Sungate Design to complete the additional environmental work (Attachment A).
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