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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDTS-07-167 - Referral of projects to the 2008-2017 Capital Forecastdevelopment & Technical Services Report To: Councillor B. Vrbanovic, Chair, and Members of the Finance and Corporate Services Committee Date of Meeting: November 5, 2007 Submitted By: Rob Browning, General Manager, Development and Technical Services Department Prepared By: Chris Hoeger, Financial Assistant, Development and Technical Services Wards}Involved: All Date of Report: October 29, 2007 Report No.: DTS-07-167 Subject: REFERRAL OF PROJECTS TO THE 2008-2017 CAPITAL FORECAST -DEVELOPMENT AND TECHNICAL SERVICES RECOMMENDATION: That the following capital projects be included in the 2008-2017 capital forecast for consideration by the Finance and Corporate Services Committee as part of the 2008 budget deliberations. Project Name Project Cost Project Year Queen Street Lighting $550,000 2008 Sandrock Trunk Sewer $1,800,000 2008-2009 Victoria Lake Dredging and Improvements $400,000 2008 Hwy 7/8 Pedestrian Bridge $305,000 2008 Madison Avenue Walkway $200,000 2008 Homer Watson Sewage Pumping Station Upgrade $415,000 2009 Freeport Sewage Pumping Station Upgrade $950,000 2008 Planning Studies $620,000 2008-2017 BACKGROUND: Any new capital projects with budgets in excess of $50,000 are referred to the City's ten-year capital forecast by a resolution of Council. They are then evaluated during the budget approval process against all other project priorities and funding constraints. This report provides information and recommendations with respect to new project priorities for the Development and Technical Services Department. REPORT: Queen Street Lighting Council has previously considered the inclusion of decorative pedestrian scale lighting on both sides of Queen Street between Highland Road and Courtland Avenue as part of the road reconstruction tentatively scheduled for 2008. The initial conceptual design was based on the globe style lighting as recommended in On Lighting Downtown and supplemented by additional roadway lighting on both sides of the street, where required. The cost was estimated at $800,000 based on recent tenders for similar equipment and installation. The final approval for the pedestrian scale lighting is to be referred to the 2008 Capital Budget. As the detailed design has progressed further, it has become apparent that major underground infrastructure (i.e. gas, bell and hydro ducts) preclude the reasonable inclusion of decorative lights in most areas on the east side of Queen Street without major relocation costs or property acquisition. As a result, the project team is proposing decorative pedestrian scale lights only on the west side of Queen Street between Highland Road and Courtland Avenue and on the east side only at intersections and pedestrian crossings (i.e. Iron Horse Trail) where they can reasonably be included. The budgeted cost has been reduced from $800,000 to $550,000 C/C for the provision of decorative pedestrian scale lights on Queen Street between Highland Road and Courtland Avenue. Sandrock Trunk Sanitary Sewer As a result of sanitary sewer backups along the Sandrock Greenway Trunk Sanitary Sewer, a Class Environmental Assessment was completed to determine the cause of the problem and recommend a solution. The Class EA was completed in 2004 and a cost estimate was supplied to the City for budget purposes. The City is currently in the process of hiring an engineering consultant to complete the design for the trunk sewer replacement. As part of the submission of the Expression of Interest, the consultants were asked to submit a preliminary cost estimate for the construction. On review of the submitted estimates for construction, it is recommended that the budget for the project be increased by approximately $1.8 million hover 2 years}, for a total budget of $4,833,000 coming from the Sanitary Sewer Enterprise funding. This represents a 35% increase from the original budget which is consistent with the increase in construction pricing observed since 2004. Victoria Park Lake Dredging and Improvements Victoria Park Lake is an outlet controlled pond forming part of Schneider Creek in Kitchener, a predominantly urban watershed. The lake is an important recreational and visual resource within Victoria Park, a popular park in the urban core of the city. Water quality in the lake continues to be a concern for park visitors and area residents. Summer conditions are often unsightly and restrict the recreational enjoyment of the lake and surrounding park areas. In 1987 and again in 2000 an outbreak of avian botulism caused the death of numerous waterfowl in the park. In 2007, due to ongoing concerns from park visitors and area residents, the waterfowl were removed. Improvements to the lake over the past 30 years have included the addition of a flood control structure at the lake outlet, reinforcement of the lake edge using stone and gabion baskets and dredging for silt removal. Victoria Park Lake functions as a large stormwater management pond and continues to accumulate sediment on an annual basis. In the current system of sediment control in the watershed upstream of the lake the current requirement for sediment removal is on a cycle between 12 to 15 years, with the last dredging operation occurring in 1995. Staff are proposing action to remove sediments from the Lake in 2008 to attempt to improve the overall water quality in the lake. During September and October 2007, an engineering brief was prepared which outlined the existing sediment conditions in Victoria Park Lake, including contaminants, sediment quantity and a budget cost estimate to completely dredge Victoria Park Lake. A recent cost estimate completed by the consultant is estimated upwards of $6.OM to completely dredge the entire pond. This is up significantly from a rough estimate of $1.OM, originally suggested in July, 2007 and is due to the disposal of the contaminated fill at a landfill. Though it is important to remove the sediments from the pond, it is critical to address the root causes of the poor water quality in Victoria Park Lake. However, long term improvements to water quality are not possible unless the entire urban watershed which drains into the lake is reviewed and studied. The upstream in-channel works along the Henry Strum Greenway will need to be improved in order to address the water quality and improve temperature characteristics of the stormwater flowing into the lake. In addition, stormwater facilities will need to be evaluated in the contributing areas to the Henry Strum Greenway and the existing lake needs to be re-evaluated. It is recommended that $300,000 be assigned to dredge a portion of the lake to address immediate sedimentation problems, near the outlet and the shoreline. Further that $100,000 is assigned to start an Environmental Assessment (EA) in order to determine alternatives to improve the overall condition and function of the Henry Strum Greenway. It is anticipated that a Terms of Reference for the EA will be issued in 2007 to begin this work. Total funding of $400,000 is to be C/C based. Hwy 718 Pedestrian Bridge As a result of bridge inspections conducted in 2006, the pedestrian bridge over Highway 7/8 between Boniface Avenue and Dixon Avenue was identified as requiring repairs. Some work was completed in 2007 and additional work is planned for 2008. The 2008 work will include concrete repairs, waterproofing membrane and deck repairs, safety fencing repairs improvements. The complete works were tendered in 2005 but the project was deferred due to insufficient funding and split into two separate years. It is expected that traffic control over the Highway 7/8 will be a significant portion of the overall budget. This project will be partially funded from the general "Bridge Repairs" account 852205, $200,000, and $305,000 is being requested from C/C funding. Madison Avenue Walkway In 2006, Community Services requested that the existing stairs and walkway between Madison Avenue and Cameron Heights Collegiate be reconstructed as a barrier-free walkway, providing additional accessibility along this route. Further that this work be included as part of the Madison Avenue between Courtland Avenue and Charles Street be reconstructed being proposed for 2008. There are significant challenges associated with constructing abarrier-free walkway in this area mostly, due to the terrain. The grade of the land at this location is extremely steep fora barrier- free walkway, with a 13 meter change in elevation between Madison Avenue and the northwest side of Cameron Heights School, and a 19 metre drop in elevation between Madison Avenue and the sports field at Kaufman Park. These changes in elevation occur over a relatively short distance, resulting in overall average slopes of approximately 17% ~9°} to the sports fields, and 10% ~5°} to the school. At some areas on the slope, the grade is as steep as 23% X13°}. Generally accepted maximum slopes for wheelchairs on sidewalks are approximately 5% ~3 °), presenting significant challenges for design, construction, and cost of such a structure at this particular location. For example, in order to accommodate a 5% slope on a barrier-free walkway at this location, aswitchback-type walkway would have to be constructed with an overall length of several hundred meters. Due to the abovementioned challenges and that it was not originally anticipated in the scope of the Madison Avenue road reconstruction project, it is recommended that potential barrier-free walkway be budgeted for as a separate project. It should be noted that design work for the proposed road reconstruction has begun and engineering work will be completed to determine the full scope of work required to provide a barrier free walkway and the feasibility of such a structure. It is estimated that the cost of this work would be $200,000, C/C funding, however a detailed engineering assessment has not been completed and the costs could be significantly more. Homer Watson Sewage Pumping Station Upgrade Development Driven Project} The Homer Watson Sewage Pumping Station was constructed in 1988 to service new development within the Doon South Creek Watershed, which is generally bounded on the east by Highway 401, on the west by Biehn Drive, on north by Homer Watson Boulevard, and South by New Dundee. During this time significant development has occurred within the Homer Watson Sewage Pumping Station service area since 1988. A recent study undertaken by KMK on behalf of City of Kitchener recommended that this pumping station need upgrade to accommodate any future development. Currently there are a number of Draft Plan applications that are coming forward within this service area and upgrades to this pumping station are necessary to accommodate future development. It is recommended that $415,000 be approved to undertake necessary upgrades to the Homer Watson Sewage Pumping Station taken from the DC Reserve Fund. Freeport Sewage Pumping Station Upgrade (Development Driven Project The Freeport Sewage Pumping Station is located at 3563 King Street, across from the Freeport Hospital, in the Chicopee Community. This pumping station was originally built in 1960 and has been upgraded four times (1971,1973,1977 and 1986}. The City is currently receiving development applications within the Freeport Sewage Pumping Station servicing area and further upgrades are necessary to accommodate any future development. It is recommended that $950,000 be approved to undertake necessary upgrades to the Freeport Sewage Pumping Station taken from the DC Reserve Fund. Planning Studies From 2009 onward it is anticipated that there will be an ongoing annual cost of $25,000 for Urban Design consulting and $30,000 for the official plan review or other similar Planning Studies. An additional $100,000 has been added for 2008 for Process mapping. The increasing emphasis on adesign-based approach to planning is being implemented largely by Planning and Development staff. We anticipate that there will be increasingly frequent situations where the City will benefit significantly from the services of Urban Design consultants with expertise beyond that of our own staff. A portion of the Planning Studies should be funded from Development Charges. The DC Background Study already includes $8.45M under the general category of "Studies/Allowances". Not all studies related to growth-related infrastructure are initiated in Engineering, and increasingly they are initiated in or primarily represented by Planning ~e.g., Blair Creek Functional Drainage Study, Alder Creek & Upper Strasburg Creek Subwatershed Plan). In cases where we do not have capacity to do the studies in house consultants would be hired ~e.g., Hidden Valley community plan, Trussler North community plan, Rapid Transit station area pilot plan). Incases where we do undertake larger planning studies in house we expect to incur some capital costs beyond the scope of the Planning Division's annual budgets (e.g., Process Power decision-making tools; public awareness video by professional videographer, advertising and meeting expenses, publication and communications expenses for rollout of the final product}. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: If supported, the capital projects proposed in this report will be referred to capital budget deliberations. They will then be evaluated against all other capital projects and funding constraints within the ten-year forecast. Rob Browning General Manager, Development and Technical Services Chris Hoeger, Financial Assistant Development and Technical Services