Staff Report. Allyn S. Waggle, Deputy Executive Director

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1 ITEM 7E Staff Report Subject: Contact: Response to City of Rancho Mirage requests: A. To form a committee of the whole to discuss O&M formulas; B. To convene an all-day CV Link discussion. Allyn S. Waggle, Deputy Executive Director (awaggle@cvag.org) Recommendation: Continue to support the CVAG committee review process and consider a recommendation to be developed by staff, perhaps with the assistance of a TAC Subcommittee. Background: CV Link is an approximately 50-mile long multi-use roadway/ path that continuously connects eight of the Coachella Valley cities. CVAG has assembled approximately $75 million to fund design and construction of CV Link. The CV Link project is believed to be the largest project of its kind in the nation. At the April 6, 2015 Transportation Committee meeting, a staff recommendation to Establish and Fund a CV Link Operations and Maintenance Fund was continued by the committee based on a request from officials in Rancho Mirage and the Transportation Committee Chair. CVAG practice is to have such recommendations drafted by staff, advancing through the CVAG committee process until final approval by CVAG s Executive Committee. The Executive Committee s action is then distributed to the cities and Riverside County and, as appropriate, our Tribal members for their consideration. Complex items such as the CV Link would typically involve multiple meetings with various CVAG committees and subcommittees over many months, or even years. At the April 13 meeting of the CVAG Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), members inquired about the status of the operations and maintenance (O&M) funding proposal. A motion was approved to set up a subcommittee of TAC members at the June TAC meeting to consider options for funding and distributing CV Link O&M expenses. At the April 27 meeting of the CVAG Executive Committee, Rancho Mirage Mayor Dana Hobart distributed information about his concerns regarding CV Link. Since that meeting, Mayor Hobart has provided four staff reports. Two of them are attached to this staff report. One supports his request to form a committee that includes members of the Executive Committee, the TAC, the TTAS (Public Works Directors) and City Finance Directors to jointly hear the CVAG presentations on CV Link, particularly in reference to the projected operations and maintenance cost assessment formula. Mayor Hobart s second staff report, discussed herein, was a request to convene an all-day CV Link discussion that includes all CVAG jurisdiction members. Again the particular issue identified is the O&M costs and the future payment formula, but this second report includes the request to justify the

2 use of Transit Occupancy Tax to pay for the O&M costs and the manner of arriving at the formula for obtaining the TOT funds per jurisdiction. CVAG has utilized some form of the present committee structure since it was formed in In fact, committees have been added since CVAG s initial formation for the purpose of reviewing and analyzing issues and policies in-depth before they are presented to the Executive Committee for final action. This committee review structure has proven eminently successful for CVAG, with some projects being returned to the same committee if the questions asked have not been sufficiently answered. Since the process works, there is no need to change it now for one project, nor at the request of one jurisdiction. Attached is a chart depicting the CVAG committee structure. The CV Link O&M issue has been reviewed multiple times within this structure as follows: Transportation Committee: (Elected Officials) May 4, 2015 Discussion and suggestions to reduce staffing levels Technical Advisory Committee (City Managers): May 11, 2015 Discussion Public Safety Committee: (Elected and Appointed Officials) May 11, 2015 Discussion Energy and Environmental Resources Committee: (Elected Officials) May 14, 2015 Discussion Transportation Technical Advisory Sub-Committee (Public Works Directors): May 18, 2015 Discussion Technical Planning Sub-Committee: (City Planners) May 19, 2015 Discussion These dates are in addition to the previously listed dates in April, which included CVAG s Executive Committee (Elected Officials). CV Link will continue to be addressed through many more meetings in the months and years ahead. These CVAG committee meetings have provided review by the CVAG Mayors; the City Managers, who are highly attuned to their City Council s fiscal concerns; the Public Works Directors; up to four Elected Officials from each jurisdiction; Public Safety representatives; City Planners and a whole host of Public Comment opportunities. It is hard to believe a more thorough vetting of the CV Link could be had during an all-day meeting of an unwieldy group limited to a single subject. The recommendation in one of Mayor Hobart s staff reports is that up to six persons from each jurisdiction be invited to the all-day discussion of the CV Link. Six members from each of CVAG s twelve Coachella Valley members would require a substantial meeting place with an audio system capable of providing accessibility for at least the group s elected members to be able to speak to their need. As a comparison, the Riverside County Transportation Commission meeting seats just over thirty members and staff and utilizes the Riverside County Board Chambers. Imagine a facility with a capability twice that of the Board Chambers. It is unlikely that such a large group would actually be able to have a productive discussion or debate, and it would be more likely that one member or one presenter dominates the communication. Another recommendation of Mayor Hobart is to form a Committee of the Whole of the Executive Committee, being the Mayors and Tribal Chairs, and to include the City Managers and Finance Directors to discuss CV Link Operations and Maintenance formulas. The Committee of the Whole is,

3 of course, the entire Executive Committee, which would be interpreted to mean Mayor Hobart intends a half-day study session of the Executive Committee to discuss O&M formulas. While it is appropriate to continue discussion of the O&M of the CV Link, it may not be necessary to elevate the discussion to require attendance of the entire Executive Committee at a half-day study session at this early date. Again, the CVAG committee process is designed to provide a thorough review of any staff recommendations before they are reviewed by the Executive Committee for final adoption. If there was to be a change in the CVAG project review process whereby one jurisdiction could request to convene an all-day discussion with all CVAG jurisdiction members to consider issues important to that jurisdiction, it would render the CVAG committee review process purposeless. It also sets a precedent where any time a member jurisdiction is unhappy be it with the order of their projects in the Priority List of the TPPS or the share of costs that CVAG covers or any other issue the member could convene an all-day meeting. Fiscal Analysis: Even though construction on the CV Link is not anticipated to begin until assuming the project remains on schedule and any operations and maintenance costs will not begin to accrue until sometime after that, it is prudent to continue the discussion of those costs and how they will be addressed. It would be wise to undertake any concerns raised while there is plenty of time to resolve any issues involving expenses, sources of funding or related topics before the issues become pressing.

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8 COACHELLA VALLEY ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTS POLICY COMMITTEE STRUCTURE CHART FY 2015/2016 General Assembly Executive Committee Admin/Personnel Technical Advisory Committee Transportation Homelessness Public Safety Energy & Environment