Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutPreliminary Minutes - Special Meeting June 12, 2009PRELIMINARY MINUTES DRAFT SPECIAL MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL SITTING AS MEMBERS OF THE UNIVERSITY PLANNING COMMITTEE (CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, SAN BERNARDINO, PALM DESERT CAMPUS) (UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, RIVERSIDE, PALM DESERT CAMPUS) Friday, June 12, 2009 — 3:00 p.m. UCR Palm Desert Graduate Center - Heckmann Building - A-129 75080 Frank Sinatra Drive, Palm Desert, California 92211 I. CALL TO ORDER Chairman Tanner convened the meeting at 3:00 p.m. II. ROLL CALL (Introductions) Van Tanner Present: Excused Absences: Councilmember Jean M. Benson Councilman Jim Ferguson Mayor Robert A. Spiegel Mayor Pro Tern Cindy Finerty Robert Gardner, Vice Pres. for Admin. & Fin., CSUSB Councilman Richard S. Kelly Fred Jandt, Dean, Palm Desert Campus, CSUSB Pamela Langford, Director Alumni Affairs, CSUSB Jenny Zorn, Assoc. Provost, Academic Programs, CSUSB Cynthia Flores, Assoc. Dean, Palm Desert Campus, CSUSB Carolyn Stark, Asst. Exec. Vice Chancellor/Exec. Dir., UCR-PD Graduate Center Van Tanner, Committee Chairman Also Present: John M. Wohlmuth, City Manager/RDA Executive Director Hamid Azhand, Dir. Capital Planning, Design, and Construction, CSUSB Justin McCarthy, Asst. City Manager for Redevelopment Stephen Y. Aryan, Assistant to the City Manager Bo Chen, City Engineer Lauri Aylaian, Director of Community Development Mark Greenwood, Director of Public Works David Yrigoyen, Director of Redevelopment & Housing Martin Alvarez, Redevelopment Manager Ignacio Otero, Chief, Palm Desert Fire/Dep. Chief, Riverside Co. Fire Dept./Cal Fire Steve Brooker, Battalion Chief, Palm Desert Fire/Riverside Co. Fire Dept./Cal Fire Nita (Juanita) Bullock, Campus Physical Planner, Capital & Physical Planning, UCR Kenyon Potter, Senior Project Manager, Design & Construction, UCR Rachelle D. Klassen, City Clerk III. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None PRELIMINARY MINUTES DRAFT SPECIAL MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL SITTING AS MEMBERS OF THE UNIVERSITY PLANNING COMMITTEE JUNE 12, 2009 IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. MINUTES of the Meeting of November 25, 2008. Upon a motion by Spiegel, second by Benson, and unanimous vote of the Committee, the Minutes were approved as presented. V. NEW BUSINESS A. UPDATE ON SOLAR PROJECT Robert Gardner/Fred Jandt Vice President Gardner stated that CSU was moving ahead with the Solar Project on campus, a cooperative venture with Sun Edison, where some projects on the San Bernardino Campus were also included. He said CSU will be adding solar panels to buildings and to canopies in the parking lot. When completed, it will enable the generation of nearly 100% of CSU's peak daytime load, and they are very excited about the opportunity it provides to make a contribution in terms of utilities and their overall sustainability. Planning stage is underway with Sun Edison; completion of projects on the buildings and in the parking lot anticipated in just under one year from now. Responding to question about the amount of CSU's investment, he said Sun Edison was the primary investor, and CSU was still working with them on the estimates. In further response to question about whether UCR was also working with Sun Edison, Mr. Potter said that CSUSB has provided some information, and while UCR was not working directly on the aforementioned project and working on other items this summer, it was exploring a similar type of initiative down the road for its Palm Desert Graduate Center. No action taken. B. UPDATE ON FRANK SINATRA DRIVE LANDSCAPING Carolyn Stark Asst. Exec. Vice Chancellor -Exec. Dir. UCR PD Grad. Ctr. Carolyn Stark reported that UCR's streetscape design was scheduled to be completed by July, and it was using the same landscape designer (STB) as Cal State. She said they were also going out to bid this summer for construction of the landscape and anticipated that it would be completed by summer's end. UCR's current budget situation has not delayed the project, because it previously made a commitment to the City to work very diligently on it. She said they also continued to do work on the Native Landscape Garden, a shared project with CSU, the View Corridor and wrapping around both buildings; however, it had been somewhat delayed due to fund-raising needs, but some money has been raised and some work has been done on the UCR Campus. She noted that in what is currently known as the "back parking lot" 2 PRELIMINARY MINUTES DRAFT SPECIAL MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL SITTING AS MEMBERS OF THE UNIVERSITY PLANNING COMMITTEE JUNE 12, 2009 that will become the "front parking lot" with the opening of Berger Circle, UCR has a palm oasis designed by Randy Purnel that is nearly complete. She confirmed that the Frank Sinatra Drive Landscaping Project should be complete by summer's end. Mr. Potter confirmed the schedule for the streetscape project and that UCR will submit the completed drawings to the City's Landscape Committee as soon as possible. He added that UCR picked the same landscape architect as CSU is using in order for the design to be consistent on both Cook Street and Frank Sinatra Drive. No action taken. C. UPDATE ON COOK STREET PARKWAY LANDSCAPING R. Gardner/F. Jandt Vice President Gardner said similarly, CSU was moving forward on the Cook Street Parkway Landscaping. Mr. Azhand added that STB completed the design and coordinated with the City Landscape Committee, got approval, and CSU went out and received bids. Desert Concepts, Palm Desert, was the low bidder and awarded the job, with estimated project commencement within two weeks and completion within two months. No action taken. D. UPDATE ON MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING (MOU) WITH THE RIVERSIDE COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT Steve Aryan Mr. Aryan presented copies of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Palm Desert Police Department (under contract with the Riverside County Sheriff's Department) and California State University, San Bernardino, clarifying operational responsibility for criminal investigations occurring on the Palm Desert Campus. Currently, he said there was a similar agreement in place with College of the Desert (COD), and the County wishes to standardize such agreements for all educational institutions in Palm Desert and Countywide. Since the draft agreement was only received yesterday, it hasn't been thoroughly reviewed by either County Counsel's or City Attorney's offices. He asked for concurrence that it be provided to the administrators of the educational institutions for their review, then to meet about it in the near future and finalize terms before formal presentation to the City Council for approval. Responding to question, he hoped to be able to finalize the agreements within the next two weeks. Vice President Gardner explained that CSUSB had an audit finding with this being the only outstanding item, and the Chancellor's Office was anxious to get it resolved. He asked for expedience in finalizing and approving the MOU. Kj PRELIMINARY MINUTES DRAFT SPECIAL MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL SITTING AS MEMBERS OF THE UNIVERSITY PLANNING COMMITTEE JUNE 12, 2009 Asst. Exec. Vice Chancellor -Exec. Dir. Stark agreed to have it reviewed for the UCR Palm Desert Graduate Center as well. No action taken. E. UPDATE ON PROPOSED FIRE STATION Steve Aryan Mr. Aryan provided aerial maps to Committee Members and recalled the report he provided at the last meeting regarding the proposed University Fire Station. It would be located on the northeast section of the Campus, along Gerald Ford Drive on an approximately three -acre site. Since the last report, he acknowledged that economic conditions had changed drastically and caused staff to reevaluate moving forward with the project at this time. Development in the City's North Sphere has slowed considerably, and there is no current pressing need for this Station. Therefore, delaying its construction was being recommended to the City Council for the FY 2009-2010 Fire Budget, while still recommending to move forward with the project when conditions improve. Accordingly, he said the City would be sending correspondence to CSU to indicate that it would like to have the three -acre site set aside for a Fire Station on the University's Master Plan. No action taken. F. UPDATE ON RING ROAD EXTENSION TO FRANK SINATRA DRIVE Martin Alvarez/Bo Chen Mr. Alvarez explained that Palm Desert Redevelopment and Public Works Engineering staff had been working closelywith CSU and UCR. He distributed an outline with highlights of the proposed project and its status. He also referred back to the aerial map provided for the Fire Station item to illustrate the proposed Ring Road Extension that will tie all the way down to Frank Sinatra Drive. Plans and specifications for the project are complete, City Engineer has reviewed and approved, with the schedule of the upcoming milestones listed under Item B of the handout. Current plans are to seek authorization to go to bid from the City Council and Redevelopment Agency Board at their meetings of June 25, followed by recommending award of contract on August 27. He estimated the project then beginning in October with three-month duration to completion. He referred to the second page of the handout that included a cost estimate of $1.5 million for construction of the project and noted that CSU had agreed to participate in the lighting portion of the project at a cost of approximately $112,000, for an overall total of $1.6 million. City staff had been meeting with CSU and UCR to address issues of logistics and coordination, and the plans and specifications included on - site drainage, catch basins for both nuisance and storm water runoff. There are also plans foraddressing the drainage situation on the northern end of the existing Ring Road. He added that the project will not include any plant material at this time. However, if the bids come in lower than estimated, as is anticipated in the ll PRELIMINARY MINUTES DRAFT SPECIAL MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL SITTING AS MEMBERS OF THE UNIVERSITY PLANNING COMMITTEE JUNE 12, 2009 current economy, the landscaping portion could then be bid separately with the balance of budgeted funds. UCR will have to coordinate with CSU for Easement Agreements that will allow access onto the new Ring Road. Mr. Alvarez noted that the Ring Road Extension will continue to be owned and subsequently maintained by CSU. Portion coming off of Frank Sinatra Drive that will tie into the Ring Road currently owned by the Palm Desert Redevelopment Agency (RDA), and RDA staff will be moving forward with an agreement designating CSU to maintain that portion of the Road as well. In response to question, he said that the lighting portion of the project will be included as an add -alternate portion of the bid. Upon inquiry about a Reimbursement Agreement with CSU for the lighting portion, CSU Officials said they would check into the matter. Mr. Alvarez further confirmed that funds for the Ring Road project had been earmarked in the 2008-2009 RDA budget and the project would be coming back before the Agency Board for approval. Vice President Gardner noted that CSU had been focusing on the Ring Road but not yet discussed the connection portion, and it presented a problem because CSU could not maintain property that it did not own. Mr. McCarthy responded that RDA could probably maintain the connection portion of the Road until its ultimate disposition was determined. Mr. Wohlmuth offered that since CSU was providing the City with an easement on the Ring Road, in turn, perhaps the City could provide an easement on the connector portion. Vice President Gardner reiterated that it was emphasized to him by both the Chancellor's and President's Offices that CSU had to own the property before being able to maintain it. If some type of arrangement could be made to work around this requirement, it would be different. In any event, they would need to talk more about that small piece of the project. In response to statements by Mayor Spiegel and Mr. Wohlmuth about transferring that small piece to CSU, Vice President Gardner responded that it would take care of the problem. Mr. Wohlmuth added that in the meantime, the City/RDA would maintain it for a short period of time until the transfer. Mr. Alvarez noted that for its purposes the City/RDA would require an easement over the entire area for construction. Responding to question about lighting, Mr. Alvarez answered the $1.6 million total estimate included lighting. In further response, he said the landscaping had not been included as part of the project; depending on the bids, a landscape plan would need approval first, which he didn't think had been given. Mr. Azhand thought it had and suggested that the landscaping be made an additive alternate for the bid package in order to obtain a price to see if it was feasible, providing the rest of the project bid was favorable. City/RDA staff agreed to check into this possibility. 5 PRELIMINARY MINUTES D RAFT SPECIAL MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL SITTING AS MEMBERS OF THE JUNE 12, 2009 UNIVERSITY PLANNING COMMITTEE Mr. Greenwood pointed out that the concern for the landscape was wear and tear in an area like that. Near the buildings on campus, the landscaping is fairly well protected, but out away from them, the wear and tear from the wind would be substantial. He questioned whether or not everyone would be willing to do that aspect. Mr. McCarthy noted that since it was not currently part of the bid specification package, adding the landscaping component would delay going to bid for the project. Mr. Wohlmuth suggested that the project go to bid to see what prices come in for construction of the road and see if there is any money left in the budget. He said the City's experience has been that even when the general contractor for road construction finds a subcontractor for the landscaping component, it's not always managed well. He felt it might be a better strategy to see how the bids come in, and if they are favorable so as to leave money in the budget, bid the landscaping separately. Mr. Azhand pointed out that CSU paid for the design of the road, including the full design of the landscaping, so he believed CSU should have the full set of drawings for the landscaping to be biddable. Mr. Chen didn't think the City had received the landscaping specifications. Mr. Greenwood added that because there was no landscaping on the previous phase, none was anticipated on this one. Responding to request, Mr. Wohlmuth clarified that a second bid would be solicited just for landscaping, and while it may delay the project slightly, it wouldn't delay the road construction. In additional response to inquiry, Mr. Azhand said the engineer would have sent everything, including landscaping; typically they place the specifications on the drawings. He did not have a separate booklet for the landscape component. Mr. Chen commented that for City projects, the drawings commonly have very general references to landscaping; whereas, the details are provided on another drawing. Mr. Azhand offered to double check on the landscape specifications. Mr. McCarthy reiterated that from a practical standpoint, it would be known pretty early on whether or not any budget would be left over or not. He felt the project could be out to bid and ready to segue into a landscape component, if funds are available, by the time the actual Ring Road is complete. He didn't think anything would be gained by trying to load the landscaping onto the specification package 9 PRELIMINARY MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL SITTING AS MEMBERS OF THE UNIVERSITY PLANNING COMMITTEE JUNE 12, 2009 for the Ring Road project, and probably would cause a delay. Mr. Chen concurred. Mr. Martinez added that the City's Public Works and Landscape Divisions would be working to coordinate installation of the underground sleeves below the Ring Road in order to make the irrigation connections without disturbing the road once it's constructed. No action taken. In answer to Mayor Spiegel's question about status of a dormitory project, Dean Jandt commented thatthe demand fordormitories is increasing, meaning that CSU's enrollment continues to grow. He said that as soon as the Ring Road project is complete, dormitories would be the next focus. Nearly 1,000 students were enrolled currently, representing a 12% increase from last year. Responding further, he said the biggest growth was seen in Friday night and Saturday students —people who were already employed through the week. He affirmed that until dormitories were available, the population of daytime students would really not increase. Mr. Yrigoyen asked if CSU had considered private companies that provide housing services for universities, such as was done at CSU, San Marcos. Dean Jandt said it had; that was pretty much the standard across the nation currently, and it would be the direction that CSUSB-PD would be looking as well. He noted that it would probably be difficult to attract the larger national firms to this project that would be relatively small; although, it may be of interest to a smaller local entity. Vice President Gardner added that in this climate, the economics had to be very tight to get through all the levels of approval. He said while having demand was desirable, the bar is a lot higher than it has been traditionally for these types of projects; however, the University wants to be as responsive as it can. In answer to Mr. McCarthy's request for information about CSU's concept for parking on half of the Ring Road, Dean Jandt said the road was designed and will be built as a parkway — two lanes, median, and two lanes. The road that exists presently is built exactly the same; however, since a full parkway wasn't needed right now, half of it is being used for parking. Therefore, to be consistent, the new portion should be built the same way, and as the campus grows, additional parking spaces would be available until the time that the full roadway was needed. This configuration does not require any reconstruction. Asst. Exec. Vice Chancellor -Exec. Dir. Stark said that concept also helps UCRwith additional parking area. h PRELIMINARY MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL SITTING AS MEMBERS OF THE UNIVERSITY PLANNING COMMITTEE JUNE 12, 2009 Dean Jandt added that the major entrance to the CSU campus will now be on the Ring Road, which will be right where there's parking. Asst. Exec. Vice Chancellor -Exec. Dir. Stark noted that it will also improve safety access to the campus because of the u-turn that has to be negotiated currently, and they were very much looking forward to measurable progress on the Ring Road. Dean Jandt wholeheartedly agreed and noted that both he and Asst. Exec. Vice Chancellor -Exec. Dir. Stark appreciated the City's major commitment to both campuses with the Ring Road Project, which was sorely needed and couldn't come at a better time. VI. ADJOURNMENT With unanimous consent of the Committee, Chairman Tanner adjourned the meeting at 3:30 p.m. VAN TANNER, CHAIRMAN ATTEST: RACHELLE D. KLASSEN, CITY CLERK/SECRETARY CITY OF PALM DESERT/UNIVERSITY PLANNING COMMITTEE