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Read Executive Director Andrew T. Chesley's most recent Board
updates.
Update from August 16, 2010
Ross Chittenden:
Caltrans District 10 Director Ross Chittenden has give
Caltrans his notice and will be leaving his post effective
August 23rd. He has taken a position as the Deputy Executive
Director for Projects at the Contra Costa Transportation
Authority. This is a sister transportation sales tax agency.
He will be working for Randy Iwasaki, the former Director of
Caltrans. Randy knows talent and I am sure worked hard to get
Ross to the East Bay. This is a loss for us. Ross was played a
huge role in our successful strategy to land the I-5 HOV
widening/pavement reconstruction project. He has been a results
oriented director with a great strategic view. His one year at
District 10 was not long enough. SJCOG staff wishes him well.
State Budget and Transportation Projects:
Many of you have seen recent news stories regarding
the state budget and its implications on projects. The I-205
Auxiliary Lane project has been caught up in this. Caltrans
accepted bids and was negotiating with the winning bidder but
will now have to hold off awarding a contract. Are other
projects effected? For the moment existing contracts are being
honored, but this could change depending upon where the IOU
issue goes. If the budget delay lasts for an extended period
(and that is a real possibility) then this could start impacting
projects.
Management and Finance Committee:
Due to our practices, the Chair of the Management
and Finance Committee is the City Manager/County
Administrator from the city/county where the Chair of the COG
Board is from. So Stockton's new City Manager is the Chair.
Our meeting for August will be held at Isadore's in Manteca.
With the closure of the Commercial Exchange Club we are trying a
new location.
Habitat Fee Recommendation:
This month, the COG Board will be getting a
recommendation from staff to reduce the habitat fee. This is
based on our formula process approved by the board four years
ago. The effect will be to reduce fees for ag/natural lands by
about 9%.
Projects:
I have been
focusing a growing amount of attention on project delivery. The
Route 99 Manteca segment is behind schedule. Until we resolve
the issue surrounding the future of the Little John Hook ramps
we will continue to fall behind schedule with little likelihood
of catching up. This most directly impacts the French Camp/99
interchange and the Lathrop Road/99 interchange components of
the project which require extensive right of way action. The
concern over the issue on the Little John Hook ramp was shared
with the Project Delivery Committee and hopefully we will see
some progress in the next month. The Arch-Sperry corridor has
me worried. The I-5/French Camp interchange and the widening
project have right of way challenges that may impact our
schedule. The Route 12 improvement project had an aggressive
schedule and that appears not achievable now with right of way
challenges. The I-5 HOV lane project is moving forward
within the accelerated schedule, but just. I am working for a
resolution of the "intercept" language issue on our cooperative
agreement, but if we can not we will have a choice of signing
the agreement or delaying the schedule. Hopefully you can
tell I am unhappy with the way our projects are moving when it
comes to right of way. The right of way process is long,
involved and highly volatile. Admittedly several of our
schedules were aggressive (Route 12 for instance) but heck, we
need to do everything we can to accelerate these projects.
These projects are about putting people to work, spurring
economic development and improving conditions for the traveling
public. You have the commitment of your staff to find a way to
modify our procedures/practices to do what we can to increase
the predictability of this phase of project development.
Traffic:
When we get through these
"bumps in the road" toward construction we need to be prepared
for the challenge of traffic delays during construction.
Beginning next year, we will have seven years of major
construction projects here in San Joaquin County and
particularly in the Stockton area. I-5 widening, two Route 99
widenings, the extension of the Crosstown Freeway,
major I-5 reconstruction, Arch-Sperry connector, I-5 French Camp
interchange, 99/French Camp interchange, Lathrop Road/99
interchange, three grade separations in Stockton on Eight Mile
Road and Lower Sacramento Road and one on Lathrop Road in
Lathrop, along with the I-205 Auxiliary Lane project. We
need new tools for communicating traffic challenges over a much
larger area than just San Joaquin County. We have already
spoken with District 10 about a system for managing traffic from
Modesto to Sacramento and the Altamont to the foothills. We can
not have construction timed to create delays on three major
highways at the same time. How do we respond at all sites
as quickly as possible to incidents? And how do we communicate
this to best assure coverage to all the traveling public.
Caltrans has committed to bringing in a large regional traffic
planning tool to handle this and SJCOG staff is engaged in
developing a comprehensive communications strategy.
Secretary Donovan vs. Congressman Cardoza:
I
have identified a link to an op ed piece in the Fresno Bee from
Secretary Donovan in response to Congressman Cardoza's
relentless challenges to the Secretary on the foreclosure
crisis. I have also identified a link to Congressman Cardoza's
website where he has posted the letter he wrote to the President
in response to the op ed piece by the Secretary. This conflict
between the two, which we saw clearly in Washington D.C. and
which has only escalated over the last few months, has gained
national attention. How HUD responds in actual program changes
is the key. A few indicators will be the response to the Smart
Valley Places grant for HUD funding.
http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/08/10/2036896/shaun-donovan-help-for-the-central.html#storylink=misearch
http://cardoza.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=87&parentid=6§iontree=6,87&itemid=628
Update from August 11, 2010
Communications Costs:
Earlier this year we switched our phone service from
the County of San Joaquin to Verizon and our internet service as
well. After a few months we are seeing some substantial cost
savings. Our phone service cost went from about $1,650 a month
to $883 in June. Our T3 internet line went from $2,500 a month
to $895. Kudos to Steve Dial and to Calisse Volz for pursuing
this option and producing dollar savings for the agency.
Measure K:
In a phone call with Public
Works Director Bob Murdoch I had to indicate that we are not
able to provide $8 million in Measure K for the Thornton Road
widening project. This answer is consistent with board policy,
but it is a wrenching one each time this issue pops up. This is
a project that is ready to go and has an opportunity for saving
money in this good bid environment. So what is the challenge?
The Measure K Early Action Plan consisting of 10 projects is
already $30 million in the hole. To add this project to the
list would have added another $8 million to the deficit (though
I think that number would have been less with the final bids).
Would the good bid environment result in filling the $30 million
plus deficit? Possibly, but with a number of the projects being
two and three years out, it is pretty heroic to assume the good
bids will continue that long. Could we drop a project? With
six of the Early Action Projects in the Stockton area and most
of the projects leveraging significant funding from other
sources,....not really. We are going out to reissue on our
bonding next year and Steve Dial and I are growing concerned
over what we will find in the credit market and how to position
ourselves to best protect the program.
I hate giving this kind of answer. We are about
getting projects done. For the last twenty years we have been
all about finding a way to say "yes". But how do you put a $190
million project at risk to deliver a $10 million project? Is it
right to dig our financial shortfall any deeper? How
aggressive should we be in assuming cost savings or a turnaround
in the sales tax program? This is not the first time we have
had to say "no" to a member agency, and I worry we will have to
start saying it more often.
On September 16 at 7:30
a.m. we will be holding a board workshop to go over the
financial challenges as we enter an update to our Strategic Plan
for Measure K. If you are able to make it I encourage your
attendance and we can explore these questions as we strategize
where we are going with Measure K.
California
Councils of Governments (CalCOG):
CalCOG is the
state organization for regional agencies. The organization has
struggled with the question of legislative advocacy. Recently,
CalCOG's position in favor of a state increase in the gas tax
came under pressure from several agencies. Many agencies in
southern California opposed the position while most other
agencies took a support position. This kind of split has
happened with a little more frequency in the past year. The
four largest regional agencies in the state have put forward a
proposal to eliminate legislative advocacy from the organization
and to make it a place for information sharing and exchanges.
This would result in a sizable decrease in dues and maybe a
change in staffing for the organization. The Valley COG
Directors had a recent discussion where we might suggest
eliminating membership in CalCOG altogether and strengthening
our combined work program for the Valley regional agencies. On
August 23, the COG Directors in the state will meet to discuss
the future of CalCOG.
Valley Regional Policy
Conference
The Valley Regional Policy Conference wll
be in Modesto on October 6 and 7.
Valley COG
Directors Meeting:
At last week's meeting of the
Valley COG Directors it was decided to use the Mintier Harnish
contract on Blueprint implementation to explore the question of
other institutional arrangements for the Valley regional
agencies. There was already a provision in the contract to
address organization and this effort will be incorporated in
this. I will keep the Board updated on this study as directed
at the July board meeting.
Cooperative
Agreements:
We deal with a number of issues in our
cooperative agreements, but a recent language inclusion by
Caltrans is proving a challenge. Caltrans has added "intercept"
language to our most recent cooperative agreement. This
language gives the Department free reign to intercept funding
controlled by any state agency going to San Joaquin COG should
the state believe SJCOG owes money. I have refused to sign any
agreement with this language. The Self Help Counties Coalition
of transportation sales tax agencies strongly opposes the
language and so far no agency is signing on to this. In 2005
SJCOG fought this language on the I-205 cooperative agreement
and then Caltrans Director Will Kempton removed it. Today, Will
is director of the Orange County Transportation Authority, a
transportation sales tax agency. This language effects our
ability to bond, has no due process, and asserts a state
authority that is questionable at best. It may also be contrary
to Proposition 22 which is on the ballot for November.
New Board Member:
SJCOG welcomes Jeff
Laugero to the SJCOG Board. Councilman Gary Haskin will now be
the alternate from Escalon. Councilman Haskin has been an SJCOG
Board member since 2003 and served as Chair from 2005-06. His
service to the region has been above and beyond the call. Best
wishes to him in his future endeavors.
Update from July 9, 2010
SB 375 Draft Targets from ARB
Staff:
This website will lead you to the staff
recommendation for target setting among the 18 Metropolitan
Planning Organizations (MPOs) in the state. These are draft
recommendations and I expect the Air Resources Board (ARB) will
do a good deal of soul searching on this over the next few
months. If the comments from the audience at the last ARB
meeting are any indication, the pressure will be to increase the
GHG Emissions reduction targets. The ARB wants targets that are
"ambitious and achievable". That may not be a well defined
direction, but my impression over the past year and a half has
been that it is meant to push regional agencies outside of our
comfort zones. As a result, the data and suggested targets that
MPOs have supplied up to this point are respected and
appreciated, but thought to be within our comfort zones. On the
other hand, the Executive Directors who participated on the June
22nd panel before the ARB were unanimous in recommending that
the ARB not over reach in setting targets. The entire country
is watching, and we want to be able to demonstrate success, and
a responsible approach to making SB 375 work for the state, our
regions, our local agencies and our citizens.
http://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/sb375/targets/drafttargetrelease.pdf
On July 22nd, at the Governing Board Room for the Valley APCD
in Fresno there will be an ARB sponsored public workshop on SB
375 target setting. The workshop will be webcast. It begins at
1 and is scheduled to go to 4. I plan on SJCOG making a
presentation.
Meetings with the Attorney General's
Office:
SJCOG staff have met with representatives of the
Attorney General's office twice to discuss the environmental
document for our Regional Transportation Plan Update. It
appears that the AG's office is interested in how we are
handling air quality issues and greenhouse gas emission issues
in our RTP. The discussions have gone reasonably well. There
have been several changes to our EIR as a result of the
discussions. We have modified a number of the suggestions from
the AG's office, accepted several, and passed on several
others. If you would like a more complete discussion please
give me a call.
Hammer/99 Interchange Project:
Some good and
bad news. It appears we will have some Measure K right of way
funding unexpended on this project. The amount will be
something on the order of $900,000 plus. To go with this we
have a request from the City of Stockton for additional funding
to cover expenses incurred on the widening and interchange
project. This involves close out costs, additional staffing
costs, and costs due to a longer constructions period than
originally envisioned. At the conclusion of this we may have
$250,000 to 300,000 of that right of way savings left.
I-5
Baseline Agreement Signed:
I will sign today the Baseline
Agreement with the California Transportation Commission and the
Department of Transportation for funding the I-5 HOV lane
widening and pavement improvement project.
SJRTD $5.2 million
grant for Hammer Lane BRT:
Congratulations to the San Joaquin
Regional Transit District for the $5.2 Million awarded to them
by the federal governments. On hand to make the announcement
were Therese McMillan, Deputy Director of the Federal Transit
Administration, Congressman Dennis Cardoza, and Congressman
Jerry McNerney. The Transit District's efforts at Bus Rapid
Transit (BRT) have been highly successful and we are hopeful for
the future of BRT.
SJCOG Intern:
Maly Boonsalat has been
working with us for the past month as a summer intern. Maly is
an engineering student at UOP and a Stockton native having
attended Stagg High School. Maly (pronounced like Molly) is an
exceptional young woman having served as class President in each
of her four years at Stagg High School.
SJCOG Budget Approved
for 2010-11:
Our JPA requires that a majority of jurisdictions
representing 55% of the population approve our budget for it to
become effective. That was achieved with Lathrop's approval
earlier this month. You might ask what happens if this is not
achieved. Under those circumstances, last year's budget remains
in force. Oddly enough that would have meant a higher budget
than anticipated revenue. Glad we passed the budget.
Regional
Policy Council of the San Joaquin Valley:
Mayor Johnston and
Councilmember DeBrum serve as our representatives with Mayor
Winn as the alternate and a regular participant. The Council
elected new officers with Mayor Spriggs of Merced to serve as
Chair and Supervisor Ishida of Tulare to serve as Vice-Chair.
Supervisor Rubio of Kern has served as the only chair of the
group but is leaving his seat to run for the State Senate. If
you have not heard about his most recent challenge it is worth
reading about. The Council took action this month to resolve as
issue over eligibility for the Sustainability grant application
being put together by a compact of Valley cities and directed
staff to begin a study of the implications of a restructuring of
Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs)in the San Joaquin
Valley. The Council was responding to concerns that the state,
the federal government or a group of MPOs might find it
advantageous to form one agency in the Valley or a combination
of agencies. There did not appear much excitement among the
Policy Council members for consolidation of MPOs (though some
members were interested), but there was clear concern that the
implications be fully understood.
Update from May 28, 2010
I-5 Funding Approval:
We are starting the steps to administratively secure the
funding. This requires a baseline agreement be signed between
the SJCOG Director, Caltrans Director, and the Director of the
California Transportation Commission. Kevin Sheridan of staff
has started the work and we will have it to you for action in
June.
Route 99 Bond Funding:
The Valley COG directors and the two Caltrans Directors for the
Valley are working on a recommendation for what to fund on
Highway 99 with an estimated $156 million in reprogramming. In
San Joaquin County we have nothing that could be delivered by
the required time frame of December 2012. Five of the six COG
directors in attendance at our Wednesday meeting were in
agreement that tier 2 (that is highway widening projects) should
be considered in this most likely first reprogramming exercise.
Stanislaus did not agree as they have two interchange projects
they are pitching. The group appears to be in agreement on
recommending the Goshen section of 99 in Tulare County be
widened from 4 to 6 lanes. It also appears pretty sure that one
of the two six to eight lane widening segments in the
Bakersfield area will be approved. The remaining challenge is
how to handle a short segment of four lane to six lane widening
in Merced. It is expensive because the widening requires a
reconstruction of the Buhach interchange. While the widening is
necessary the cost of the project is fairly high for only a
short improvement in the highway. Also there is a local benefit
from the interchange reconstruction with very little local
contribution. I have taken the position that interchanges
without mainline widening should not be considered. (In
contrast, Caltrans has recommended the Kiernan/99 interchange in
Stanislaus.) Also, I have asked that the bar be set high for
eight lane widening before six lane widening. Merced and
District 10 are working to find a way to address remaining
concerns for this widening project. The paucity of local funding
(Merced has no sales tax measure) for the component of the
project that is an interchange reconstruction is of some concern
to me.
French Camp/I-5 Interchange:
We have set this project up in our STIP to give the Board the
option of executing an AB 3090 agreement with the state to get
this project underway a year early. Having that option is key to
avoiding having to pay a million dollars extra when our metric
design exemption runs out June 30, 2011. This project was
designed in metrics but now English measures are the standard
again. This project has been given two exemptions to remain
metric, but that is likely it. This may end up for naught, if
the City of Stockton does not act on a right of way agreement
with Caltrans for $150 K by the end of June. The City has put
taking this off to the council several times now with the budget
challenges facing the council. Nonetheless, if the Council does
not act, the California Transportation Commission hearing on the
subject in September will have to be delayed, and we run up
against the extension deadline when you play out the final
schedule for completing right of way and then advertising and
awarding the job. I have faith that city staff will be able to
avoid this problem and that Caltrans will move through the
process expeditiously as well.
NARC Conference in Cleveland:
The National Association of Regional Councils is meeting in
Cleveland the week of June 14th. Mayor Sayles is the appointed
voting boardmember from SJCOG and Steve Dial and I both sit on
committees for the organization. Steve and I therefore will not
be at the Executive Committee meeting on June 18. Dana Cowell
will handle the meeting.
Route 12 Corridor Advisory Committee:
Supervisor Ken Vogel and Councilmember Larry Hansen were
appointed to this body a year ago and they will finally get to
attend the inaugural meeting in Lodi on June 3 at 10 a.m. The
committee will be composed of Solano and San Joaquin and
hopefully Sacramento elected officials who will advise Caltrans
and the regional agencies as well as oversee a joint planning
effort to look at longer range solutions to Route 12. They will
also advocate for Route 12 improvements in the short and mid
term.
Election of Officers Next Month:
The SJCOG Board adopted a policy seven years ago that rotates
the membership of the Executive Committee and the Chair and Vice
Chair among member jurisdictions. Staff will be preparing a
recommendation consistent with that policy.
Update from May 18, 2010
I-5
I will be in Sacramento tomorrow for the vote on the
Prop. 1 B CMIA bond savings. The vote will take place about 4:30
p.m. I am expecting the CTC to accept the staff recommendations,
but I have also enlisted the help of area legislators to send
letters or make phone calls in support. The Governor has also
weighed in strongly in support of this project.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Target Setting by Air Resources
Board:
As a part of SB 375 and AB 32, the Air Resources Board is to set
targets for regions on greenhouse gas emission reductions. ARB
has determined that they will set a target for the eighteen
metropolitan planning organizations in the state. Recognizing
that they don't have the tools nor the experience to do this,
ARB has reached out to MPOs (particularly the "Big Four"
(Southern California Association of Governments, Metropolitan
Transportation Commission (Bay Area), San Diego Association of
Governments, and the Sacramento Area Council of Governments))
for technical assistance. In the Valley, Fresno COG has done the
most extensive technical effort with San Joaquin and Kern almost
providing as much. Kings has also done an extensive job. Madera
and Tulare have also done some work, but Merced and Stanislaus
have not. ARB is responsible for determining what are ambitious
and achievable targets for each region. We are providing
technical assistance only. At the Board meeting we will give you
a run down on what the assistance is demonstrating. As a quick
preview, Sacramento is showing ranges of 7 to 16% reductions
under various scenarios. The other Big Four are showing 4 to
10%. In the Valley, Fresno is showing about 4 to 5%, we are
showing about 2 to 3%, Kings is showing 9 to 14% and Kern is
showing 0 to an actual increase of 9%. How ARB is going to
synthesize this is uncertain. Next Tuesday the Regional Targets
Advisory Committee is meeting in Sacramento to review this and
provide some guidance to ARB. I am one of the 21 members of that
Committee.
Proud Parents at SJCOG:
We are all proud parents here but a couple of parents have
special things to brag about. Steve Dial's son Chris won the San
Joaquin Athletic Association Golf Tournament. Chris also
qualified for the Sac-Joaquin Masters. Chris is a senior and
will be attending Whittier College next year where he will study
hard and play golf for the Fighting Poets. Dianne Barth's son
Blake Fiest, as a freshman, won Lincoln High School Lacrosse
Team's MVP award. It was the first year Lincoln fielded a
Lacrosse team and they finished third in conference.
ACE Operating Budget:
The San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission got a look at next
year's operating budget which shows a decrease of 3% for next
year. SJRRC has done a very good job of proactively making
budget cuts but Executive Director Mortensen indicated that any
more cuts are going to go beyond just efficiency and hurt
effectiveness..
HUD and One Voice:
Attached
is a notice from HUD announcing the reallocation of
Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds and an increase in the
amount of funding for the program to deal with the hardest hit
areas. While not initially a priority in our One Voice effort
this became one of the key discussion items back there lead in
large part by Stockton Vice Mayor Kathy Miller and Councilmember
Dale Fritchen. Our D.C. consultant and Congressman Cardoza have
both indicated that our efforts in D.C. and particularly our
meeting with Chairman Frank were instrumental in effecting this
policy change from the administration. Congratulations One
Voice!
Route 99 Bond Funding Reprogramming:
Caltrans is leading the Valley RTPAs in a meeting on May 26 to
reprogram Route 99 funds in light of the lower cost estimates
for projects. I am seeking and have been supported by my fellow
COG directors some policy changes to protect SJCOG's
reprogrammed projects and funds. Caltrans 10 District Director
Mr. Chittenden has been supportive as well. The California
Transportation Commission will have to weigh in. Districts 10
and 6 are proposing four new projects be added to the mix. One
is in Tulare County, a widening from 4 to 6 lanes that is well
under way in terms of delivery. A second is the Route 99/219
interchange in Stanislaus County. The third and fourth are
widenings of Highway 99 in Kern County from 6 to 8 lanes. Mr.
Chittenden and my fellow Valley Directors have engaged in a
discussion about the disappointment that we have only one 4 to 6
lane project that can be delivered by the end of 2012. While SJ
County has a section from Lodi to Sacramento that falls into
this category, it is the segments in Merced County that have
been recognized as the highest priority but that are now
languishing because there is no funding to do the necessary
project development work.
Railroad Crossing Safety Program:
The Technical Advisory Committee had an involved discussion on
this topic, and recommended taking our time on the development
of a policy. This is an important issue that we will be taking
through our committees. It involves whether we should lower the
dollar amount for each project on the list; should we be
building in a cost savings sharing policy for the Measure K
allocation; should we be eliminating the reserve dollars in the
program......etc.
Update from April 15, 2010:
Off to DC:
Nicole Gorham, Steve Dial, Dianne Barth and I will be out of the
office next Monday through Thursday on our annual One Voice trip
to Washington, D.C. If you have any questions during this time
we will all be tracking our email and will have our cell phones
on. If you need something that absolutely requires a personal
touch you can contact Rebecca Montes or Mike Swearingen in our
office.
I-205 Auxiliary Lanes:
Good news. The State of California sold almost $4 billion in
bonds and about a fifth of that went to transportation. As a
result the California Transportation Commission voted an
appropriation to the I-205 aux. lane project in bond funding.
This means we will not have to do a letter of no prejudice with
the State of California. As a reminder, a letter of no
prejudice means we would loan the state their share of the
project cost with a promise to pay us back but on an uncertain
and undefined schedule. This means we will have no carrying
cost for the state's share of the construction costs. The
project went out to bid yesterday and bids will close in six
weeks time. The bid environment remains good.
SB 375 Target Setting:
The Air Resources Board (ARB) is responsible for setting
greenhouse gas emission targets for passenger vehicles and light
trucks. This makes up about 28% of all greenhouse gas emissions
in California. The ARB has asked the big 4 of the Metropolitan
Planning Organizations (MPOs) to assist in this task and any
other regional agency. A few of us in the Valley are providing
technical assistance in an effort to influence the process as
much as possible. In addition I have been invited to
participate with the "big 4" directors in a weekly conference
call on this issue.
Fresno, Kern, Madera, Kings, Tulare and San Joaquin are
providing the technical work for ARB to assist in establishing
targets. Preliminarily it appears our targets should be lower
than the big four. In some very, very preliminary technical
work it appears that the target for the Sacramento region should
be in the 12 to 16 percent reduction range. San Diego, the Bay
Area, and Southern California would be in the 7 to 10 percent
range. The Valley target would fall in the range of 1 to 7
percent. I am thinking our target will be in the 3 to 5 percent
reduction range when all is said and done. There will be
another 25% reduction on top of that which will be applied to
every region based upon assumptions about mechanical and
engineering changes that will reduce vehicle GHG emissions over
time. Our smaller target will be based on policies, urban
density, alternative transportation options etc.
The Directors of the COGs in Merced, Stanislaus and San Joaquin
are looking at sharing technical tools and expertise to reduce
the cost of the SB 375 exercises.
ARRA Projects:
One of the requirements of ARRA funding is that agencies invoice
the feds in a timely manner. Several local agencies have not
done that and we are working with Caltrans to notify these
jurisdictions to get their invoices in quickly. Failure to meet
the federal deadline will mean that the local agency will be
responsible for all the incurred costs.
Dana Update:
Thank you for your concern for Dana and his family. He has gone
through his second round of chemotherapy this week. How he
feels is a daily and uncertain thing, but yesterday he was
feeling pretty good and had even gained back a few pounds. We
do not know when he will be able to return to doing work.
Initially it will be work from home as he is supposed to avoid
large groups of people while on his treatment schedule.
Measure K Cash Flow:
As we continue to have poor revenue statements (though they are
not as bad as they had been), we are growing more concerned
about how to meet our cash flow needs. At the moment we are
going to be able to meet our requirements. Still, we will be
challenged to engage in loans or letters of no prejudice.
The good news has been that project bid costs have been 25 to
40% below estimates. So, in order to take advantage of this bid
environment and improve our cash flow we need to get as many
projects out the door as quickly as possible. However that
means we may need to do more loans or letters of no prejudice.
I think you can see the challenge. The attitude of your staff
has always been to push project development and be aggressive
about project delivery. We will maintain that attitude with a
very close and watchful eye on our cash flow and on the bidding
environment.
Route 99 Manteca:
One way to push project delivery is to carve out of this Prop. 1
B project a phase of delivery for just the freeway widening.
There is no right of way issues for this and thus we could go
out to bid on this phase of the project potentially in 2011,
taking advantage of the bid environment as best we can. We
would then bid separately the interchange projects at French
Camp and Lathrop Road which have extensive right of
way acquisitions and are on a more protracted schedule. Ross
Chittenden and I have not heard the final recommendations from
our staff on this, but once we do we will put our heads together
and see if we can make a recommendation for you and the CTC.
Crosstown Freeway Extension Project:
The firm of BKF has done an excellent job on our environmental
document. We are now ready to move into the design phase (PS &
E). We have sent out an RFQ to solicit firms to bid on the
job.
Update from March 23, 2010
Next week I am on vacation:
I will be taking the family to Washington D.C. for vacation.
The trip is to introduce the kids to our nation's capital.
Gas Tax Swap Bill Approved by Governor:
After threatening to veto the bill without specific changes the
legislature last night passed a gas tax swap bill that the
Governor could approve. The bill apparently still contains the
$400 million one time payment for public transit, which is good
news. The bad news is that it guts public transit's "guarantee"
of state funding. That guarantee has not been of much value as
public transit has taken over a $3 billion hit over the past
three years in the state's effort to shore up the general fund.
The bill does not immunize local road and street gas tax funding
from future raids, but it does tend to provide some more
insulation. As with any budget bill the devil is in the
details. The following is an analysis provided by DeAnn Baker
of CSAC.
The following is a quick recap of ABx8 6 and ABx8 9 and
specific details on SB 70:
ABx8 6:
~ Eliminates the sales tax on gasoline and increases the
excise tax on gasoline by 17.3 cents.
~ Beginning in 2011-12, increases the sales tax on diesel fuel
by 1.75 percent (5% to 6.75%) and decreases the excise tax on
diesel by 4.4 cents in 2011-12 (from 18 to 13.6 cents). The
Board of Equalization will adjust this tax annually thereafter
to maintain revenue neutrality. This change holds local streets
and roads harmless under the new law as cities and counties will
receive as much new gas tax as would have been otherwise
received by Prop 42.
ABx8 9:
~ Appropriates $400 million to transit operators to help
fund operations for the remainder of 2009-10 and 2010-11.
~ Provides that 75 percent of revenue from the diesel sales tax
be directed to transit operators beginning in 2011-12 (roughly
$350 million per year). The amount available for intercity rail
and other state purposes will grow, via receipt of 25 percent of
the state sales tax on gas and most of the non-Article XIX
transportation funds (about $72 million per year).
~ Protects the education funding guarantee (Prop 98).
~ Appropriates approximately $700 million of revenue from the
increased gas excise tax to go to bond debt service on an annual
basis. The remaining funds will be split as follows: 12% SHOPP,
44% STIP, 44% Local Streets and Roads.
Sales Tax on Diesel Exemption and Impacts of AB 186:
Under current law, certain fuel consumers are exempt from excise
taxes, others pay a reduced excise rate, and others are exempt
from sales tax. Included are the following three groups: users
of “dyed diesel fuel”, school buses and transit buses, and users
of aviation gasoline. This bill would revise the tax provisions,
so that the special fuel users would not see any negative tax
impact from the gas tax swap. For example, the users of dyed
diesel fuel would be exempt from the increase in the sales tax
on diesel fuel, since they would not receive the compensating
benefit of a reduction in the excise tax (because they are
already exempt from the excise tax). With the amendments in this
bill, the tax changes are not only revenue-neutral overall, but
are also revenue neutral for each of the special industry
groups. Had dyed diesel users been subject to the sales tax
increase, their net tax obligation would have increased about
$30 million. For more information on the transportation tax swap
package visit the CSAC blog at:
http://www.csac.counties.org/blogs/
San Joaquin Valley Coordinated State Transportation
Improvement Program (STIP) Proposal:
On behalf of the 8 regional agencies in the San Joaquin
Valley I gave the presentation to a sub group of the California
Transportation Commission yesterday. Six of the eight regional
agencies were in attendance yesterday. Another subgroup of the
CTC will hear from the remaining two regional agencies on
Thursday in Los Angeles. So far the proposal has been well
received. The CTC must move 30% of STIP programming out of the
next four years and into the following two years. By working
together we brought forward a proposal that moves 32% of the
programming out and assures that projects that can be kept on
schedule will not be delayed. Fresno and Kern, which have
projects that are slipping on their schedule effectively created
the programming that allowed projects in San Joaquin, Tulare,
and Merced to remain on schedule. Our proposal has a few
projects that are proposed to be advanced which may run into a
challenge with the CTC, but so far all signs have been good.
Tree Planting Project on I-205:
Caltrans put out to bid a project on I-205 and got back some
very good news. The bid environment is still very competitive.
The low bid was 42% under the engineer's estimate.
Regional Policy Council Meeting On Friday:
Mayor Johnston and Mayor Winn are scheduled to attend this
workshop in Fresno that will explore the role of the Policy
Council, the coordination between regional agencies, and the
institutional and policy relationships with the Air District and
the Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley. This will be a very
substantive discussion about what works, what doesn't work and
what is the best way for local agencies and regional agencies to
work together to advance policy questions relevant to all.
Update from March 5, 2010
CTC Meeting:
Good California Transportation Commission Meeting this month. Staff had
done some good spade work with Caltrans staff and working with Caltrans
management we came out with some good results from the meeting. South
Stockton Route 99 allocations for right of way were approved as
submitted. This is important because to stay on schedule we need
Caltrans to have the staff resources to go out and buy what is going to
be the largest set of land acquisitions in San Joaquin County since the
Crosstown Freeway. The I-205 construction management allocation was
approved and we should be moving to award of a construction contract on
the auxiliary lane project by the end of the year. The Commission
approved our Letter of No Prejudice for the I-205 project but we are
hoping there will be bond or ARRA dollars available to avoid once again
taxing our Measure K resources. Lastly the Airport Way project
construction was approved using Transportation Enhancement funding.
Budget Proposal Heading for Approval Today:
A complex swap of transportation funding was approved today in the state
legislature and is expected to be signed by the Governor today. The swap
is designed to free up state general fund capacity by eliminating the
sales tax on gasoline at the retail pump. The lost revenue will be
offset by increasing the gasoline tax to create a revenue neutral
impact. There will also be an indexing of the gas tax to assure that
Proposition 42 requirements are met in the future. There will be a shift
of bond repayment from the General fund to the gasoline tax but the
initial impact on highways and roads and streets will be neutral. The
big hit is once again on public transit. While there has been an effort
to save $400 million for public transit (the word "restore" has been
used), this will constitute about a half billion reduction in revenue
available for operations to the state's transit programs.
April 29th will be the April COG Board Meeting Date:
This is one week later than normal but is scheduled so as to avoid a
conflict with the One Voice trip.
Update from February 17, 2010
TIGER Grant Announcement:
Great news for the region. The Port of Stockton's joint application
with the Ports of Sacramento and Oakland was awarded $30 million in this
highly competitive application process. The grant will make
improvements at the Port of Stockton that will allow for the start up of
a short sea shipping operation between the Port of Oakland and the
Stockton Port. Please congratulate the Port Commissioners and the Port
Director for a job very well done.
http://www.dot.gov/documents/finaltigergrantinfo.pdf See page 48.
It is hard to overstate how competitive this process was. Approximately
1% of all funding requests were met.
Democrats Budget "Gas Tax Swap":
The Budget Committee of the Senate passed a gas tax swap proposal
sponsored by the Democrats. Not surprisingly it had only Democratic
votes. The swap proposal is improved over where it was several weeks
ago but is still devastating to public transit. And public transit has
been hit very hard over the last three budgets. Effectively the swap
holds the State Transportation Improvement Program and Local Road and
Street funding harmless. Even allows for indexing of the gas tax to
slowly increase funding. I am no expert on the impact to public transit
but it appears to amount to more than $550 million which is almost
solely operating support dollars. The proposal has a provision allowing
MPO boards (that is the SJCOG Board) to impose a "sinclair paint fee" on
gasoline. The language for this has not been written. The bill appears
to allow SJCOG to impose the fee without a vote, but all bets are that
this will be modified to require a public vote.
Update from February 11, 2010
Seems the COG Board May Be Called Upon to Solve the State's Transit
Funding Crisis:
The Democratic proposal in the Senate to create a tax swap that
increases general fund revenue also contains a provision to allow MPOs
(SJCOG) to impose a "transit" fee. This from CalCOG, "One Democratic
proposal is that MPOs within SB 375 would be authorized to impose a new
environmental mitigation fee on gasoline in an MPO's region, and that
fee would be used for transit operations. The fee would require a
majority vote of the MPO board. They would also have the option of
putting it on the ballot for a vote by the people. The fee would be paid
for at the pump."
Boardroom in Use:
UOP's forum on the economy and the safety net drew 140 people to SJCOG
yesterday. The panel did an excellent job and the University's interest
in becoming more involved as a part of the solution in addressing the
region's problems was apparent. Friday at 7:30 the Sierra Club and the
Spanos Companies are sponsoring the first in a series of Sustainability
workshops. The event is cosponsored by the City of Stockton and the
Council of Governments. The top quality speakers and the collaboration
between the Sierra Club and the Spanos Companies has produces a good
deal of interest in this. If you have an interest please feel free to
attend.
Route 99/Hammer Acosta Settlement:
Caltrans, on behalf of the COG Board appealed a local judge's ruling
regarding compensation for an acquisition related to this project. The
appeal was unsuccessful. No action by the COG Board is required since
the Board had already agreed to the compensation amount. A successful
appeal would likely have substantially lowered the compensation and that
would have required board action.
Route 4 Crosstown Extension and Route 12/88 Public Meetings:
On Thursday February 18 from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. there will be a public
meeting on the Route 4 Crosstown Extension. The draft environmental
document is in public circulation. So far Kevin Sheridan, Dana Cowell
and Scott Guidi of Caltrans have skillfully dealt with the public
concerns over the project. This public meeting will be held at
Washington School right there in the Boggs Tract neighborhood. On
Tuesday February 23 from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. there will be a public
meeting on the Route 12/88 Project. This is a part of the alternatives
defining portion of the environmental process. For the communities of
Lockeford and Clements the defining of acceptable alternatives is
crucial. Once again, Kevin Sheridan, Dana Cowell, and Caltrans as well
as our consultant team have been doing outreach in the community.
Route 239:
Contra Costa County received a federal allocation in 2005 for a corridor
study connecting Contra Costa, Alameda and San Joaquin Counties. It has
taken a while to get the effort underway, but now Contra Costa has
prepared a draft RFP that we as well as other interested agencies are
reviewing. Mountain House, San Joaquin County Public Works and the City
of Tracy have been involved in a couple of meetings on the topic. It
was also suggested that Contra Costa reach out to the Port of Stockton.
Snow in D.C.:
Fresno COG canceled their annual trip to D.C. due to the snow. I am
hoping that they will have cleared away all the snow in D.C. by April
19th.
Update from February 3, 2010
National Association of Regional Councils:
Attached is an e-regions
newsletter we
get monthly and occasionally more often from our national association.
Steve Dial and I will be back at the national policy conference from
February 21 through the 23rd.
Community Outreach:
Our Boardroom will be the site of the University of Pacific's Beyond Our
Gates: Partnering to Rebuild the Area's Economy forum. More on this can
be found HERE. This is
part of President Eibeck's efforts to build bridges between the
community and the University.
Sustainability Forum:
Also, you received an email blast on the Sustainability Forum to be held
here at 7:30 a.m. on Feb. 12th sponsored by the Sierra Club, the Spanos
Companies, the City of Stockton and the San Joaquin Council of
Governments. There is planned to be five of these forums over the next
four months.
I-5 Update:
The Department of Transportation has submitted to the California
Transportation Commission their priority list for using project cost
savings from Proposition 1B CMIA projects. It is uncertain how much in
cost savings there are in northern California but the estimate today is
$180 million and that will likely grow. The Department of
Transportation and SJCOG submitted I-5 widening in North Stockton and
requested $42 million. The priority list has this project as number 4
in the Tier 1 list of projects. I have attached Randy Iwasaki's
letter to the
Commission and the priority list. This is very good news, but not a
done deal. The Commission will still need to make the decisions on this
and we will be depending upon the Commission to move cost savings
generated in the Bay Area to our region. While I feel good about our
chances of being awarded funding, there is still outreach left to do to
assure the Commissioners that our project is ready and can happen within
the year.
Evaluation:
I want to thank the Board again for the kind words and acknowledgments
of the good work of this agency and your staff. It is an honor and a
privilege to work for you and to work with this outstanding staff.
Update from January 28, 2010
Consent Calendar for January Board Meeting:
The consent calendar is chock full of stuff. Several of the
items I would normally have placed on the agenda for discussion but with
the Blueprint discussion and the change in health insurance taking up a
good deal of discussion time I have loaded up the consent calendar. I
would like to be sure that you are aware of these items:
8. C. Proposition 1 B Public Transportation Modernization, Improvement,
and Service Enhancement Account. This programs $23.6 million in
anticipated bond funding over this fiscal year and the follow seven
fiscal years. You may note that a few of the program recommendations
also assume approval of item 8.J. and vice versa. There was some
initial concern with the recommendations but these were resolved and the
recommendation to the board was unanimous at the Technical Advisory
Committee.
8. E. The I-205 Letter of No Prejudice. We are hoping that we do not
have to go this route but this authorizes SJCOG to sign with the
California Transportation Commission a Letter of No Prejudice meaning
that we would use Measure K funding to cover the State's share of the
I-205 auxiliary lane project (Prop. 1 B share) and then reimbursed at a
future date.
8. G. Proposition 1B Corridor Mobility Improvement Account Project
Savings. We are recommending that the Board support and authorize an
effort to secure cost savings from CMIA projects in northern California
for the widening of I-5 in north Stockton. This is a rather involved
proposal that has been supported by the Project Delivery Committee and
the Executive Committee.
8. J. Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Program funding
recommendations. This recommends 18 projects over the next four fiscal
years to receive $25 million in funding. I would ask that you pay
particular attention to these items and if you have any questions please
contact me or the identified staff member. When you add up items C. and
J. it is almost $49 million in programming. Also the potential
commitments from E. and G. could result in an up front commitment of $88
million of Measure K in order to secure the I-205 auxiliary lane project
and the widening of I-5 with a substantial pavement reconstruction.
These would not normally have been consent calendar items and I want to
assure that you have read and understand the recommendations.
High Speed Rail:
http://usdotblog.typepad.com/a/
6a00e551eea4f588340128771ffb23970c-pi
This link gives you a map of the High Speed Rail grant awards from the
Department of Transportation. I am not sure how much of this goes to
the San Joaquin Valley section.
Health Benefits:
Assuming the Board approves the plan for benefit coverage for the staff
the transition from the County to an independent COG coverage should be
effective March 1. This assumes no unforeseen glitch.
Update from December 24, 2009
Governor Gas Tax Proposal:
The press has indicated that the Governor will be proposing a "Gas tax swap" as part of a larger budget "fix".
The proposal is not well enough documented in the press to get the full gist of its impact but I have attached a
report that gives you some indication of what the swap is. The effect is clearly devastating to public transit.
Public transit has been the hardest hit of all transportation programs over the past two years and this proposal,
no matter how you cut it, puts a fork in state budget support for public transit. This does not necessarily mean
the end of HUTA but it is hard to imagine that the powers that be in Sacramento won't make another run at HUTA this
year. Most transportation programs (minus public transit operations) have been only incrementally effected by the
budget crisis but this proposal marks an end to that.
This from the LA Times: "The $1 billion in mass transit and
other transportation money the governor will propose raiding is supposed to be off limits to the state for plugging
budget gaps. Court rulings have declared previous attempts to get at it illegal."
The administration will seek to get around those rulings through a
complex gas tax swap. As part of the scheme, an existing sales tax on
gasoline would be eliminated and, at the same time, a new per-gallon
excise tax would be imposed. The price at the pump would drop about 5
cents per gallon The shift would gut a voter-approved measure,
Proposition 42, that protects how current gas taxes are spent. Public
transit -- buses, rail and other forms of mass transportation -- now
receives 20% of all gas sales tax. After the tax swap, that requirement
would disappear. The tax swap could also cost schools -- as it would
result in the share of tax revenues they are entitled to under state law
dropping by more than $800 million. Jim Earp, executive director of
California Alliance for Jobs, a group that advocates for public works
spending -- including on transportation -- derided the plan as a scheme
"to rob Peter to pay Paul." "We're not solving any problems. We're just
moving money around from one cup to another," Earp said.
I-5:
Caltrans District 10 Director Ross Chittenden has been
busy advocating the funding of a large SHOPP project on I-5 in Stockton from Charter Way/MLK north to March Lane. He
has expanded his efforts to coincide with the limits of our I-5 widening proposal (Country Club to Hammer Lane). There
are economies of scale by working the SHOPP and widening projects together. Ross and I along with Caltrans and SJCOG
staff will be meeting next week and the following week here and in Sacramento to try and put a winning proposal together.
I have meetings with the CTC Executive Director, with CTC staff, with Caltrans HQ staff, with Commissioners Earp and
Assemi and with Caltrans Director Iwasaki for the first week in January to see if we can make something happen. I want
to single out Ross Chittenden for making a mission out of I-5 rehab and widening. He and I are making our staff
(Scott Guidi of District 10 and Kevin Sheridan of SJCOG) go through numerous permutations with project scopes to
come up with a winning proposal. Our consultant Keith Meyer is punching up new estimates as I write this. Next
week Wil Ridder, Kevin Sheridan, Dana Cowell, Steve Dial and I will be completing our package for CTC and Caltrans. There
is more hope now than at any time for this improvement.
Prop. 1 B CMIA Cost Savings:
Related to the I-5 project is
an effort to capture cost savings from Proposition 1 B projects in northern California. The California Transportation
Commission has a cost savings policy that allows us to pitch to them taking cost savings from projects (I-205 aux. lanes
for instance) and putting those savings on related projects within the region. We must sell this to the CTC though,
otherwise they will collect all cost savings and look to program new projects. If they program new projects we will be
looking to promote the I-5 project which is the only project in our region that meets the CTC criteria.
Holiday Hours:
We
are open Dec. 28 through Dec. 31 and will be closed Christmas and New Years Day. I am closing the office a little early
today and on New Year's Eve.
Other:
Just a few other things that have been happening. Kevin Sheridan and I met with a
representative of Delta College over the Manteca 99 widening project which involves a small sliver take from their property.
Dana, Tanisha, Aaron and I met with Regional Transit District staff to go over three projects they are seeking our support
in programming from bond funding and a new round of federal CMAQ funding. These are the Regional Maintenance Facility at
Filbert and Myrtle, the third phase of Bus Rapid Transit on Hammer Lane in Stockton, and the further replacement of diesel
buses with hybrid vehicles. Monday was a meeting of the Central Valley Regional Rail Group which brings elected and appointed
officials together from Caltrans, High Speed Rail, ACE, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Merced Counties. Great effort
being spearheaded by the San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission. I also met with Caltrans staff on a feasibility study for a new
Amtrak facility in Stockton and am looking to meet with City of Lodi officials over improvements at Harney/Route 99, among other
activities.
Update from December 16, 2009
I-5:
Ross Chittenden and his staff at Caltrans have been working overtime to
get I-5 from Charter Way to March Lane programmed for state maintenance
funding. One of the few good stories out there is the great bid
environment public agencies are experiencing with this economic
slowdown. Bids are coming in 15 to 40% under the engineer's estimate
and Caltrans and the state highway system is a big beneficiary. In
particular, it looks like I-5 will be a beneficiary of this. We are
working with Caltrans to see how we can link the widening of I-5 with
these maintenance improvements.
A Valleywide State Transportation Improvement Program:
While not a done deal, Dana Cowell and Wil Ridder of SJCOG staff have
lead an initiative to link the eight San Joaquin Valley regional
agencies into one STIP submittal to the California Transportation
Commission (CTC). The CTC has directed all regional agencies in the
state to move 30% of the funding in the first three years of the STIP to
the last two years of the STIP. This impacts each agency differently.
If we join together we can minimize the negative impacts. For instance,
Kern, and Fresno have some capacity to move projects out, but Merced has
no ability. Kern wants a project moved up a year which could never
happen if they go in by themselves. Wil has masterfully put together a
proposal. It is not a sure sell to the state. We take a lot of their
tough decisions away but we also limit some of their flexibility to use
programming capacity in other regions of the state. We are tapping our
Sacramento advocate Mark Watts, to assist in reaching out to Caltrans
and the CTC. District 10s Ross Chittenden and Fresno's District 6 have
both been very supportive.
Lockeford Bypass:
We anticipate holding a public meeting in Lockeford to show the public
the options that are being considered in the environmental process. It
is expected that the public will weigh in and maybe some of the options
will be better defined or even eliminated. This is a challenging
project with no clear winning option. One of the options impacts
Lockeford Elementary School. SJCOG staff had an excellent meeting with
Lodi Unified School District staff. LUSD has secured funding for
building on the school site in 2010 and it would be unreasonable to
expect them to wait until the end of the environmental process and to
wait until we are certain of funding before moving ahead with their
plans. We are exploring other options around this alternative. Art
Hand and his staff at LUSD have been very helpful.
Route 4 Crosstown Freeway Western Extension:
A public hearing has been scheduled for January 26 from 5 to 9 p.m. at
Washington Elementary School to discuss this project with the public.
We are actually a little ahead of schedule. Our consultant team of
BKF has been doing a good job but I want to single out Kevin Sheridan of
our staff and Scott Guidi of Caltrans District 10 staff for their
excellent work in negotiating away or minimizing project impacts on
businesses and property owners. These two men have developed excellent
teamwork and it has shown through clearly on this project.
The Transition:
Transition is how we are referring to the separation of SJCOG from the
County payroll system. All pieces must be in place for Monday morning
December 21. Beginning in January we will have moved our payroll
function to a private vendor. The health insurance changes will be on
the board's January board agenda. The County of San Joaquin has been
asked to take on some extra work to make this happen and they have
agreed to do so. We are grateful.
Another Save Proposition 42 Measure in November 2010:
Jim Earp of the Alliance for Jobs addressed a group of us COG directors
last week saying there will definitely be a ballot measure to protect
transportation funding next year. This measure will eliminate present
loopholes used by the legislature to redirect transportation funding and
more to the point will eliminate the ability of the legislature to raid
HUTA. Interestingly the ballot measure protects funding in this budget
year, but does not mean that the legislature will not make a raid on
HUTA prior to the November election. Jim Earp warned everyone that this
measure could be an expensive one as several public employee unions want
the loopholes to remain.
National Association of Regional Councils Meeting February 21
thru 23:
This is an annual conference that covers the efforts of our national
association to represent regional agencies when it comes to federal
legislation and national initiatives. Mayor Sayles and Mayor Ives have
attended this conference in the past. Steve Dial and myself are
officers in the organization and will be attending this year but we have
room for two elected officials. This is an excellent opportunity to
learn about other regional agencies and even to take the opportunity to
reach out to administration and legislative officials in D.C. If you
are interested please let me know. You can find more information on the
conference
here.
High Speed Rail:
We met with the Altamont Working Group as a follow up to the scoping
meeting held last month here at SJCOG. Routing for the Altamont will be
a large issue to narrow for the scope of work for the consultants. We
will be meeting again January 11th. Meanwhile the Merced to Sacramento
segment will be holding a scoping meeting for the EIR for this segment
in Stockton likely the 20th or 21st of January though this is not
finalized.
Bond Funding:
While it may appear unreasonable.....the projects programmed to use bond
funding must remain on their existing schedules even though there is
great uncertainty if bonds will be issued in a timely enough fashion to
assure their on time delivery. In fact it appears unlikely that bond
funding will be available as originally anticipated. We continue to
pursue project delivery as if the schedule will be met. With this news
it may appear even more odd that the CTC has adopted policies that may
take bond project cost savings and use them to program new projects. We
are preparing to pursue the French Camp/I-5 or I-5 widening as the winds
of state funding waft us in whatever direction.
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