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COUNTY OF SAN MATEO Inter-Departmental Correspondence | |||
Department of Public Works | |||
DATE: |
August 21, 2008 | ||
BOARD MEETING DATE: |
September 16, 2008 | ||
SPECIAL NOTICE/HEARING: |
None | ||
VOTE REQUIRED: |
Majority | ||
TO: |
Honorable Board of Supervisors | ||
FROM: |
James C. Porter, Director of Public Works | ||
SUBJECT: |
Easement Deed - Granting of Polhemus Road Easements to City and County of San Francisco | ||
RECOMMENDATION: | |||
Adopt a resolution (1) authorizing execution of deed granting easements beneath and adjacent to portions of Polhemus Road in the San Mateo Highlands area to the City And County Of San Francisco and (2) making required findings under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), including adoption of a Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program and a Statement Of Overriding Considerations. | |||
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VISION ALIGNMENT: | |||
Commitment: Responsive, effective and collaborative government. | |||
Goal 22: County and local governments effectively communicate, collaborate and develop strategic approaches to issues affecting the entire County. | |||
Authorizing execution of the deed to the City and County of San Francisco (City) will comply with the terms of the Settlement Agreement and Release of Claims as described below and allow the construction of the City’s new Crystal Springs Bypass pipeline, which is critical in improving the seismic and delivery reliability of the region’s water infrastructure. | |||
BACKGROUND: | |||
In June 1998, Settlement Agreement and Release of Claims (Settlement) “Hefter V. County of San Mateo, et al., Alameda Superior Court No. 786568” was executed, pursuant to which the County agreed to convey, at no cost to the City, subsurface easements for the City’s Crystal Springs Bypass pipelines. | |||
DISCUSSION: | |||
Easement | |||
In the spring of 1995, December 1996, and January 1997, catastrophic earth movement damaged several homes on Rainbow Drive in the unincorporated San Mateo County between Rainbow Drive and Polhemus Road. The incident resulted in the closure of a portion of Polhemus Road and threatened the structural integrity of the City’s existing 96-inch diameter Crystal Springs Bypass Pipeline, located beneath Polhemus Road. The earth movement impacted City-owned property between Rainbow Drive and Polhemus Road and a portion of the County's Polhemus Road Right-of-Way. | |||
Your Board executed the above-referenced Settlement in 1998 as a result of the incident. The Settlement provides for site stabilization and for the conveyance of no cost subsurface easements to the City for its existing 96-inch diameter Crystal Springs Bypass pipeline and the installation of a second parallel pipeline of a comparable size at a greater depth. Beginning in 2009, the City intends to undertake a major project, which includes substantial tunneling, to install the second parallel pipeline, called the New Crystal Springs Bypass Tunnel Project (“Bypass Tunnel”). | |||
The Easement Deed includes the granting of the subsurface easements to the City for the existing and proposed 96-inch diameter water pipelines in compliance with the terms of the Settlement. The Deed also grants surface easement for the vaults and facilities needed for the operation of the said water pipelines. | |||
Community concerns | |||
A number of property owners from the San Mateo Highlands area, near the City’s proposed project area, have expressed their concerns regarding project impacts, especially noise and dust as part of the project involves subsurface tunneling 24 hours per day for a period of nine months, Monday through Saturday. The community members have expressed their concerns before San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) and at the July 9th San Mateo County Planning Commission hearing regarding the project’s conformance to the County’s General Plan. Concerned residents also appealed the City’s CEQA findings, although the appeal was subsequently dismissed. The County has been working with the City to ensure that the project conforms to the greatest extent possible with County standards and that sufficient provisions have been incorporated into the project specifications to minimize construction-related noise impacts. | |||
The City has met with County Public Works and Planning staff twice, with their noise specialist/consultant present at one of the meetings, and it held another public meeting on August 11, 2008 with the San Mateo Highlands community to get a better understanding of their concerns. The City also submitted additional analysis and documentation to allow the County to thoroughly understand what noise mitigations will be taken to control and minimize the noise impacts during the project construction. | |||
The City has included practical noise monitoring and mitigation measures. In addition, the City has agreed to incorporate the revisions and additions to the project noise provisions as requested by the County which will allow the County to have more involvement and participation in the noise monitoring and mitigation execution process during construction and require the review and approval of the noise and vibration control plan by both City and County. A summary of the noise monitoring and mitigation measures is provided in Exhibit “A”. | |||
CEQA Findings | |||
San Mateo County is a responsible agency under CEQA (Cal. Code Reg. § 21069) because it has responsibility for approving the Easement Deed for the Bypass Tunnel. Therefore, the County is required to include CEQA findings, including adoption of a Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program and a Statement Of Overriding Considerations, in connection with the granting of the easement for the Bypass Tunnel. | |||
The SFPUC and the San Francisco Planning Department as lead agency have conducted environmental review of the Bypass Tunnel project as required by CEQA, including publication of a final environmental impact report (FEIR). SFPUC approved by resolution environmental findings and adopted a mitigation monitoring and reporting plan. The environmental findings include extensive CEQA findings regarding the Project’s potential environmental impacts, the sufficiency of mitigation measures, responsibility for implementation of mitigation measures, and a statement of overriding circumstances regarding potentially significant and unavoidable aesthetic and noise impacts. | |||
The San Mateo County Planning Department reviewed the City’s FEIR and CEQA findings in conjunction with the General Plan conformity review conducted for the project, and determined that, with the adopted mitigation measures, the project is consistent with all elements of the San Mateo General Plan except the Noise Element. The San Mateo County Planning Commission concurred with this determination at the public hearing conducted on July 9, 2008. As described above, the SFPUC and the San Francisco Planning Department have been working with County staff to minimize this inconsistency to the greatest degree possible. | |||
The Easement Deed and resolution have been reviewed and approved by County Counsel. | |||
FISCAL IMPACT: | |||
The County has no financial obligation as a result of this agreement and there will be no impact to the General Fund. | |||
Attachment: |
Exhibit A - Summary of noise monitoring and mitigation measures | ||
