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AGENDA REPORT
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| | | | | | | | DATE:
| September 15, 2020
| TO:
| Mayor and City Council
| FROM:
| Stefan T. Chatwin, City Manager 
| | SUBJECT: | Second Reading and Adoption of Ordinance 2020-16 of the City Council of the City of Fairfield Adding Section 16.31 Article V, to the Fairfield Municipal Code, Establishing a Street Excavation Moratorium |
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| | | | | | | | | RECOMMENDED ACTION | | Provide second reading and adopt Ordinance 2020-16. |
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| | | | | | | | | STATEMENT OF ISSUE | The City’s network of roadways is expensive to maintain and funding for pavement maintenance is limited. Therefore, it’s critical that the City protect its infrastructure investments, including the construction of new roadways and pavement maintenance projects. Many surrounding local agencies, including Vallejo, Hayward and Richmond, have implemented a street excavation moratorium ordinance that restricts or limits excavations on newly paved streets. If excavation or trenching is required, the street excavation moratorium ordinance would require that trenches and pavement be restored in a manner which mitigates the impacts to the newly paved street.
Staff recommends amending Chapter 16 (Streets and Sidewalks) of the Fairfield Municipal Code and establish a Street Excavation Moratorium on newly paved or resurfaced streets for a period of five (5) years, to minimize pavement degradation, maintain the structural integrity and smooth riding surface and limit negative visual impacts. |
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| | | | | | | | | DISCUSSION | The City of Fairfield maintains over 340 centerline miles (740 lane miles) of street pavement. The pavement naturally deteriorates over time as a result of environmental conditions and traffic loading, but the lifespan of the pavement can be significantly affected by excavation and trenching. When the surface of the street is patched after trenching work, due to the installation or repair of underground utilities, it appears on the surface as a cosmetic flaw only. However, the opening of the street leads to a relaxing of trench walls, and the integrity of the street is compromised well beyond the resulting surface patch. This leads to an acceleration in street failure. The impacts of excavating into a newly paved street are well documented and countless agencies have commissioned studies to ascertain the financial impacts of only restoring the smaller excavated areas within the new pavement.
In an effort the reduce the impacts of trenching and excavating in city streets, many agencies adopt policies requiring more robust trench and pavement restoration for newly paved streets. These conditions typically include paving over a larger area to offset the reduced pavement life due to the excavation. In addition, cities typically work closely with utility agencies, major contractors, and developers to coordinate projects and advise of future paving schedules such that they have an opportunity to excavate and repair/ replace facilities prior to city paving work.
To help protect the City street investments, staff recommends adopting the proposed ordinance to establish a prohibition of excavations in newly paved or resurfaced streets for a period of five (5) years after completion of the paving. To provide context, during this 5-year period, Public Works has completed street maintenance on approximately 23.83 million square feet. Should the ordinance be in place, sections of Business Center Drive, Capitola Way, Suisun Valley Road, Southbrook and Rancho Solano subdivisions would fall under the 5-year restriction. Exceptions to the excavation prohibition includes emergencies and other situations in which there are no other reasonable alternatives.
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| | | | | | | | | FINANCIAL IMPACT | | Pavement excavations have been shown to reduce overall pavement life. The subject ordinance adds further restoration requirements to compensate for the added impacts excavations, such as trenching, have on city streets in the form of more expansive street paving. Absent such an ordinance, trenching in City streets will result in additional city costs to provide the same level of service, or reduced service (poorer quality streets). |
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| | | | | | | | | CITY COUNCIL WORKPLAN | Community Safety
| Community Infrastructure | Quality of Life | | Financial and Operational Sustainability | Economic Development | Travis Air Force Base |
| City Council Goal this item supports:
Not Applicable |
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| | | | | | | | | Project: | One-time item not recommended for including in the Workplan
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| | | | | | | | | PUBLIC CONTACT/ADVISORY BODY RECOMMENDATION | On July 25, 2020, a notice of the hearing was published in the Daily Republic. Utility companies (AT&T, Comcast, PG&E, FSSD, SID), major developers, and Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District were contacted and provided notice via electronic mail (e-mail).
Continuous public outreach of moratorium streets will be conducted through quarterly utility coordination meetings, encroachment permit process, development review and via a list of moratorium streets posted to the City website.
The first reading of this ordinance was approved on August 18, 2020.
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| | | | | | | | | ALTERNATIVE ACTION | | The City Council could choose not to adopt the proposed ordinance. However, this is not recommended because the City would lose its ability to retain newly paved street service life and ride quality. |
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| | | | | | | | | STAFF CONTACT | David Vong, Associate Civil Engineer
(707) 428-7784
dvong@fairfield.ca.gov
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| | | | | | | | | COORDINATED WITH | City Attorney's Office
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| REVIEWERS: | | Reviewer | Action | Date | | Panganiban, Ryan | Approved | 8/31/2020 - 4:56 PM | | Kaushal, Paul | Approved | 8/31/2020 - 6:00 PM | | Alexander, Amber | Approved | 9/2/2020 - 12:30 PM | | Alexander, Amber | Approved | 9/8/2020 - 5:37 PM |
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