Title
Recommendation to Ratify a Construction Agreement with McGuire and Hester, Inc. for High Priority Shoreline Rock Slope Repairs on the Bay Farm Island Dike for an Amount Not-to-Exceed $500,000; and
Adoption of Resolution Appropriating $354,000 from the Bay Farm Island Dike Fund (Fund 286) Available Fund Balance to Alameda Capital Project Fund (Fund 301) Project #C35000, Shoreline Maintenance Fiscal Year 2024-25 Capital Improvement Budget. [Requires four affirmative votes]
In accordance with California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), this project is statutorily and categorically exempt from further environmental review pursuant to Public Resources Code Section 21080(b)(4) and CEQA Guidelines Section 15269(c) relating to actions necessary to prevent or mitigate an emergency. (Public Works 31041C35000)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Jennifer Ott, City Manager
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
A strong storm moved across Northern California December 14, 2024, with large waves, strong winds and heavy rain. Higher than expected king tides with significant wave action damaged various sections of Alameda’s shoreline. The west-facing shoreline of Bay Farm Island, an area subject to some of the largest waves in the Bay experienced significant damage from the storm. As a result, there are now areas of exposed soil where the protective of armor rock, also known as rip rap, has washed away. This rip rap absorbs and disperses the wave energy and the exposed soil makes these areas now highly susceptible to further erosion. Emergency action is necessary to protect the dike along the shoreline and minimize additional land loss, public access impacts, risk to public and private property and prevent more costly repairs due to further erosion.
Given the emergency nature of the dike repair work, staff was unable to complete a full publicly advertised procurement for this work per the California Uniform Public Construction Cost Accounting Act (Pub. Contract Code, §§ 22000-22045 [CUPCCAA]) and the City of Alameda’s (City) typical non-emergency process. In accordance with Alameda City Charter 3-15.2 and CUPCCAA (specifically, Government Code § 22050), the Assistant City Manager, as designee of the City Manager, authorized a not to exceed $500,000 contract with McGuire and Hester, Inc. to begin making the repairs.
Staff recommends City Council ratify the construction agreement with McGuire and Hester, Inc. in an amount not-to-exceed $500,000 and adopt the proposed resolution appropriating $354,000 from the Bay Farm Island Dike Fund (Fund 286) available fund balance to Alameda Capital Project Fund (Fund 301) Project #C35000, Shoreline Maintenance Fiscal Year 2024-25 Capital Improvement Budget. There is no impact to the General Fund. This action requires four affirmative votes.
BACKGROUND
On December 14, 2024, a strong storm moved across Northern California with large waves, strong winds and heavy rain. The first-ever tornado warning was issued for the City of San Francisco. In Santa Cruz County, a tornado actually touched down in Scotts Valley on Saturday afternoon, flipping cars and knocking over power lines. This significant storm damaged various sections of the Alameda shoreline from higher than expected king tides combined with significant wave action.
As examples of the impacts of this storm, waves washed away sand and dislodged heavy boulders and bags of concrete from retaining walls at Crown Beach. The East Bay Regional Park District took emergency action and placed riprap along the entire corner at Shore Line and Westline drives. The rip rap will stabilize the slope in this area while the City designs a project to relocate existing electrical facilities associated with the Southshore lagoon system from the beach further inland and to fortify the lagoon pumping structure on the beach from further erosion. EBRPD’s emergency action allows this longer-term project to progress through a traditional design and public bidding process. Staff will request funds for construction as part of the next two-year capital budget with the goal to have the project built within the next one to two years.
At Seaplane Lagoon, Public Works cleaned up over 18 cubic yards of debris that was washed onshore from the storm, much of it comprised of plastic and Styrofoam. On Bay Farm Island from the bridge to the ferry terminal, Park Maintenance staff cleared a significant amount of debris while Public Works cleared debris, including a small boat, from the ferry terminal and south. Additional shoreline damage occurred in this area and is described in detail below.
In May of 1993, the Local Agency Formation Commission of the County of Alameda adopted a resolution approving dissolution of the Bay Farm Island Reclamation District No. 2105. That resolution also directed the Reclamation District’s payment of $600,000 to the City for the purpose of creating and maintaining a City dike maintenance fund. In July of 1993, City Council adopted Resolution No. 12429, approving an engineer’s report, confirming a diagram and assessment and ordering improvements and formation of the Bay Farm Island Dike Assessment District 93-1. The boundaries of this district coincide with the dissolved reclamation district. Resolution No.12429 states that the assessments shall be placed in a separate improvement fund and that, “Moneys in the improvement fund shall be expended only for costs and incidental expenses related to repairs required as a result of a major failure in the dike as defined in the Maintenance Agreement for Bay Farm Island, dated November 19, 1992. In that agreement, major failure is defined as, “a breach in the dike caused by an external disaster, natural event of Act of God, including, but not limited to, earthquake, tidal wave or 100-year storm, which threatens to cause or causes erosion of interior land with the boundaries of the former Reclamation District.”
The $600,000 from the dissolution of the Reclamation District was deposited into the Bay Farm Island Dike Assessment District 93-1(Fund 286). There has been some spending over the years on isolated repairs. Staff is recommending the remaining funds to be allocated for this emergency repair project, consistent with the Maintenance Agreement. To date, there have been no assessments on the properties within the Bay Farm Island Dike Assessment District 93-1.
A project to address ’Bay Farm Islands northern shoreline <https://www.alamedaca.gov/Departments/Planning-Building-and-Transportation/Sustainability-and-Resilience/Bay-Farm-Island-Adaptation-Project>, starting at the Bay Farm Bridge, is underway with the objectives of removing the lagoon area of Bay Farm Island from the FEMA 100-year floodplain; bolstering the northern shoreline and Bay Trail from erosion; enhancing shoreline habitat with nature-based solutions; and enhancing public recreation, including improvements to the San Francisco Bay Trail. Immediate measures to limit erosion in key areas will be implemented in the coming months.
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DISCUSSION
The west-facing shoreline of Bay Farm Island (see below map, detailed in burgundy), an area subject to some of the largest waves in the Bay, experienced significant damage from the December 14 storm. Large chunks of the San Francisco Bay Trail washed away causing portions of the trail south of the Harbor Bay Ferry Terminal to be closed. In other areas, while trail damage was more limited, large amounts of protective rock washed away leaving the dike with exposed soil. Wave action also eroded soil beneath the concrete pathway that starts where Bay edge turns into Habor Bay Parkway, leaving large voids underneath the concrete, which compromises the structural integrity of the walkway and could require more extensive and costly repairs if not shored up before the remainder of this storm season.
The Bay Farm Island Dike is not an accredited structure of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and it is unknown how it will behave in the event of large-scale coastal flooding or other extreme events. Although the west facing shoreline of Bay Farm is at a higher elevation than the northern shoreline, the scouring impacts of the wave energy during the December 14 storm showed the dike’s vulnerability. Areas of relatively smaller rip rap on the west shoreline were impacted greatest. In the early 2000s, dike repairs were made north of the Harbor Bay Ferry Terminal with larger rip rap, which weathered well this past storm.
Areas that now have exposed soil are now highly susceptible to further erosion without the protection of rip rap to absorb and disperse the wave energy. Emergency action is necessary to protect the dike and minimize additional land loss, public access impacts, risk to public and private property and prevent more costly repairs from further erosion. Given that the dike repair work needs to be completed before more significant winter storms this season, staff determined this warranted conducting the work on an emergency basis rather than completing a full publicly advertised procurement for this work per the California Uniform Public Construction Cost Accounting Act (Pub. Contract Code, §§ 22000-22045 [CUPCCAA]). The City’s standard publicly advertised procurement process takes several months, during which the storm season would be over with a high likelihood of increased shoreline damage and cost. McGuire and Hester, a local Alameda company, was available to commence work immediately and agreed to perform the work on a time and materials basis with standard markups.
In accordance with Alameda City Charter 3-15.2 and CUPCCAA (specifically, Government Code § 22050), the Assistant City Manager, as designee of the City Manager, authorized a not to exceed $500,000 contract to commence work. This initial funding will allow the most critical high priority areas to be addressed; however, there is more work required to completely address the shoreline damage, both on the west and northern shorelines. This work may not need to be done under emergency contract.
Staff will return to each regularly scheduled City Council meeting to provide an updated report on the ongoing efforts to address the emergency until the work has been completed to the satisfaction of the Public Works Director. The San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission and Regional Water Quality Control Board were notified of this emergency work and staff is pursuing the necessary emergency permits.
This section of Bay Farm Island’s shoreline is part of the Subregional Adaptation Plan <https://www.alamedaca.gov/Departments/Planning-Building-and-Transportation/Sustainability-and-Resilience/Subregional-Adaptation-Plan>, which is considering long-term sea-level rise adaptation in the Oakland-Alameda subregion with the long-term goal of removing Bay Farm Island from the FEMA floodplain map. Until the long-term plan is solidified and funded, repairs to the existing dike may continue to be needed. This emergency work does not preclude planning or implementing these long-term sea-level rise adaptation strategies.
ALTERNATIVES
• Ratify the construction agreement with McGuire and Hester, Inc. as executed by the City Manager.
• Modify the scope of work and/or adjust the approved construction agreement authorized amount. If reduced, this will likely impact the amount of work that can be completed to address the shoreline failures and exposed soil. Any additional storms this winter season will likely further erode the exposed soil areas, causing additional and more costly damage.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The proposed resolution appropriates the remaining fund balance of $354,000 from the Bay Farm Island Dike Assessment District Fund (Fund 286) to Capital Improvement Project C35000. Project C35000 already has funds appropriated from the Harbor Bay Business Park Assessment District 92-1 (Fund 283) for shoreline maintenance that can also be used for this work. As additional dike repair work is identified and/or near- and long-term adaptation solutions need funding, levying an assessment on the properties within the Bay Farm Island Dike Assessment District 93-1 may be considered. There is no impact to the General Fund.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
This action is consistent with the Alameda Municipal Code, and Alameda City Charter Sec. 3-15.2.
This project supports the City Strategic Plan priority to Invest in Infrastructure and Build Resilience to Climate Change and Water Level Rise.
This action is subject to the Levine Act.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
In accordance with CEQA, this project is statutorily and categorically exempt from further environmental review pursuant to Public Resources Code § 21080(b)(4) and CEQA Guidelines § 15269(c) which apply to “[s]pecific actions necessary to prevent an emergency.” Public Resources Code § 21060.3 defines “Emergency” as “a sudden, unexpected occurrence, involving a clear and imminent danger, demanding immediate action to prevent or mitigate loss of, or damage to, life, health, property, or essential public services. ‘Emergency’ includes such occurrences as fire, flood, earthquake, or other soil or geologic movements, as well as such occurrences as riot, accident, or sabotage.”
For purposes of CEQA, the emergency determination that triggers Public Resources Code § 21080(b)(4) and CEQA Guidelines Section 15269(c) is based on the Public Works Director’s assessment of the damage, erosion of land and exposed soil subject to rapid further erosion with additional high tides and wave action this wet season, and which therefore requires immediate action to avoid these outcomes.
CLIMATE IMPACT
Climate change will bring more frequent and intense storms. Until long-term sea-level rise adaptation plans are implemented with the long-term goal of removing Bay Farm Island from the FEMA floodplain map, repairs to the existing dike will be made for continued shoreline protection.
RECOMMENDATION
Ratify a Construction Agreement with McGuire and Hester, Inc. for high priority shoreline rock slope repairs on the Bay Farm Island Dike for an amount not-to-exceed $500,000; and Adopt a resolution appropriating $354,000 from the Bay Farm Island Dike Fund (Fund 286) available fund balance to Alameda Capital Project Fund (Fund 301) Project #C35000, Shoreline Maintenance Fiscal Year 2024-25 Capital Improvement Budget.
Respectfully submitted,
Erin Smith, Public Works Director
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Margaret O’Brien, Finance Director
Exhibit:
1. Contract