COUNTY OF SAN MATEO

Inter-Departmental Correspondence

Department of Parks

DATE:

October 15, 2007

BOARD MEETING DATE:

October 30, 2007

SPECIAL NOTICE/HEARING:

None

VOTE REQUIRED:

Majority

TO:

Honorable Board of Supervisors

FROM:

David G. Holland, Director, Department of Parks

SUBJECT:

Application for a $152,000 Grant from the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) for Construction of the 1.2-Mile Bay Trail within the Coyote Point Recreation Area

RECOMMENDATION:

Adopt a Resolution 1) Approving the application for $152,000 in grant funds for the Coyote Point Recreation Area Bay Trail Project from a San Francisco Bay Trail competitive grant program administered by the Association of Bay Area Governments; and 2) Authorizing the Director of the Department of Parks or his designee to execute in the name of the County of San Mateo all necessary applications, agreements, amendments and payment requests hereto for the purposes of implementing the purposes specified in the grant application.

VISION ALIGNMENT:

Commitment: Preserve and provide people access to our natural environment.

Goal(s): 15. Residents have nearby access to green space, such as parks and recreational opportunities.

This grant, if awarded, will fund a portion of the construction of the Bay Trail in the Coyote Point Recreation Area from Airport Boulevard in Burlingame to the City of San Mateo’s Shoreline Parks.

BACKGROUND:

The San Francisco Bay Trail is a planned recreational corridor that, when complete, will encircle San Francisco and San Pablo Bays with a continuous 500-mile network of shoreline trail in all nine Bay Area Counties. To date, over 290 miles of the trail alignment have been completed.

The Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) administers a Bay Trail competitive grant program for local governments, special districts and qualified nonprofit groups to design or build new Bay Trail segments. These grants are intended to speed trail construction, leverage State dollars, foster partnership and employ the California Conservation Corps, when possible.

In 2001, the County was awarded a $42,000 grant for the design and realignment of the Bay Trail in the Coyote Point Recreation Area. The construction documents for Coyote Point Bay Trail Improvements were completed in 2004. For the past three years, the County has strived towards fully funding the construction of the estimated $1,829,422 project.

Additional confirmed sources of funding for this project include City of San Mateo Golf Course land sale ($125,000), City of San Mateo Redevelopment Agency ($377,287), State Parks Bond Act of 2000 ($179,000), and State Parks Bond Act of 2002 ($270,713). A grant for $348,000 was awarded by ABAG in September 2007 from remaining Proposition 40 dollars. They asked us to submit another grant application for an additional $152,000 when they received their first allotment of Proposition 84 funds from the State. The remaining $404,987 will be sought from upcoming competitive grant programs.

DISCUSSION:

Completion of the Bay Trail within Coyote Point Recreation Area will provide a safe, contiguous, easy-to-navigate route for Bay Trail users and completes an important gap in the San Francisco Bay Trail. This 14-foot-wide multi-use trail will parallel Beach Access Drive and Coyote Point Drive from Burlingame to San Mateo. The trail design remedies several busy intersections where pedestrians, cyclists and other trail users face significant automobile traffic. These intersections are where Coyote Point Drive intersects roads to the Poplar Creek Golf Course, the Rifle Range, Coyote Point Museum for Environmental Education and Coyote Point Marina.

This trail alignment provides a trail along the edge of the Recreation Area which allows Bay Trail users to link to spur trails within the park or bypass the park altogether. These spur trails within the Recreation Area will bring trail users to picnic areas, play areas, and other park features.

FISCAL IMPACT:

There will be no impact to the General Fund. Other sources of funding have been confirmed to fully fund the project or are identified as strong prospects for competitive grants.