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HomeMy WebLinkAboutRes2007-041 Sponsored by: Yoder ... CITY OF SEWARD, ALASKA RESOLUTION 2007-041 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEWARD, ALASKA, AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO PURSUE ENVIRONMENTAL PERMITS FOR THE "2007 RED LINE" ALIGNMENT FOR THE NORTH FOREST ACRES LEVEE/ROAD PROJECT, AND TO PURSUE PROPERTY ACQUISITION WHEREAS, following the 1995 flood of Resurrection River and Japanese Creek, FEMA sponsored a multi -agency task force to develop a comprehensive flood mitigation plan for flood risks associated with the waterways on the north end of Seward, with said task force comprised of representatives from the City of Seward, Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska Division of Emergency Services, Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, Alaska Railroad Corporation, FEMA, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, National Resource Conservation Service, and the Alaska Department of Community and Regional Affairs; and WHEREAS, this FEMA task force released a final report in 1998, identifying five projects that would need to be implemented together to protect Seward from future flooding in this area, with the construction of the Japanese Creek levee being one of the critical components of a successful flood mitigation plan; and ... WHEREAS, construction of a levee to the north of Forest Acres subdivision provided a valuable opportunity to accomplish one of the community's long-standing goals of developing an aItemati ve access route to the landfill from the Seward Highway to avoid heavy truck traffic through the Forest Acres Subdivision (SCC Reso. 90-099 and Kenai Peninsula Borough Ord. 90-66), and thus resulted in the decision to construct a dual-purpose levee/road; and WHEREAS, the City has worked diligently since 1999 with representatives from the Natural Resource Conservation Service, State of Alaska Department of Natural Resources - Office of Habitat Management and Permitting, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the National Marine Fisheries Service, to determine a levee alignment that is acceptable to each of the agencies charged with protecting habitat, wildlife, and resources, as part of three distinct permitting processes; and WHEREAS, the City of Seward completed construction of Phase I of the levee in 2002, resulting in construction of a north-south levee along the westerly side of Forest Acres Subdivision, connecting at the north end with Dimond Boulevard; and ... CITY OF SEWARD RESOLUTION 2007-041 J WHEREAS, the Seward City Council, at its August 9, 2004 meeting, rejected the compromise alignment negotiated and agreed to on May 21, 2004, between the City administration and the participating agencies, to construct the final phase of the levee from Dimond Boulevard to the Seward Highway. The City Council directed the administration to pursue a more northerly alignment as explained in the April 4, 2005 letter from Mayor Vanta Shafer to Mr. Bill Nelson, which is reflected on the attached engineered drawings dated 7/7/06; and WHEREAS, subsequent negotiations with agencies have resulted in a requested modification to Council's proposed alignment, reflected on the attached map and labeled "2007 Red Option", where the levee is moved south approximately 120', adjacent to parcels DB to DG, along Poplar Street and to the east; and WHEREAS, in this new proposal, Japanese Creek is re-routed entirely to the north of the levee/road, into one of its historic channels, eliminating the need for costly floodgates, headwalls, three large culverts, and gabion walls, and saving approximately $1.4 million in construction costs on the project, bringing the remaining estimated total project cost to $2.7 million, including construction costs of $2.2 million, and property acquisition costs of $500,000; and WHEREAS, in exchange for the anticipated impact on wetlands by re-routing Japanese J.i' Creek, DNR requests the City purchase and preserve nine specific parcels in order to maintain the functional values ofthe wetlands; and WHEREAS, the proposed alignment of the levee/road was examined in the various alternatives presented in the original Environmental Assessment ("EA") and the alignment does not need a new EA, but re-routing Japanese Creek was not anticipated in the original EA, and therefore a new limited-scope EA will be needed to address the specific impacts of re-routing the Creek; and WHEREAS, a number of agencies have indicated a willingness to move forward with the permitting process ifthe City Council approves this alignment and agrees to purchase and preserve wetlands, and the administration finds this compromise to be in the overall public interest due to the following: 1) preservation of wetland properties directly to the north of existing homes satisfies adjacent property owners by preventing future development of parcels directly to the north of their homes and minimizing impacts to them from the levee/road; 2) re-routing Japanese Creek to the north of the levee/road without installation of floodgates and culverts, provides the highest level of flood protection to residents and infrastructure; 3) elimination of floodgates, culverts, and gabion walls, reduces the need for future costly maintenance efforts, and reduces the overall project cost by $1.4 million. NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEWARD, ALASKA, that: j CITY OF SEWARD RESOLUTION 2007-041 .... Section 1. The City administration is hereby authorized to pursue environmental permits for the "2007 Red Line" alignment of the North Forest Acres Levee/Road Project. Section 2. The City Manager is hereby authorized to negotiate with property owners to acquire nine parcels identified by DNR for preservation, and to pursue easements and/or rights-of- way as necessary for the remainder of the levee project. Section 3. This resolution shall take effect immediately upon adoption. PASSED AND APPROVED by the City Council ofthe City of Seward, Alaska, this 23rd day of April, 2007. ... AYES: NOES: ABSENT: ABSTAIN: ATTEST: THE CITY OF SEWARD, ALASKA -t/t.---/ Vanta Shafer, Mayo Dunham, Valdatta, Thomas, Bardarson, Amberg, Shafer None Schafer None (City Seal) ... ~,tUU""" .,.~." ....~ 0,..,. .'.. .:' ~i U r .:n; 11.., ...~ ..:) ~, .......... ~...~~~. $' ~.';..Q'C\Po~):~: () '''~ :: . .._~ ,-'...;.~ t;!> ... l~ -+- (.).. ~:_ = : \ ~ :: 0: Sl!]jjili : G :: #'I . . ., :. ~ -0- .::: .' ." . .... -:;., (.}:'~.II\t~ ,\~:~.,~~ $ .~};'~~i;~~:~~.~~;..... ""'UI"" Council Agenda Statement Meeting Date: April 23, 2007 From: Marvin Yoder, Interim City Manager Agenda Item: Alignment of Japanese Creek Levee/Road BACKGROUND & JUSTIFICATION : The City Council provided direction to the administration to pursue a more northerly alignment of the Japanese Creek levee/road, in a letter from Mayor Shafer to Bill Nelson dated April 4, 2005. Mr. Nelson has since completed 100% engineering documents on that alignment. In addition, the City’s contractors completed an addendum to the original Environmental Assessment, and revised permit applications. However, the federal sponsor of the project, National Resource Conservation Service (“NRCS”, did not distribute the addendum to the EA, based on concern that there remained a lack of support for the proposed alignment among agencies. NRCS requested additional meetings in an effort to reach a compromise. After further meetings, it appears that we have achieved a compromise which will be less costly for the City, and will achieve the objective of the agencies to minimize impacts to wetlands and habitat. However, this compromise requires re-aligning the levee approximately 120’ to the south, along the central portion of the levee. The proposed compromise re-routes Japanese Creek entirely to the north of the levee/road. This is an alternative that the agencies were adamantly opposed to in the beginning of the project, but which the City favored. The primary benefit of this re-route is that it provides maximum protection to residents, property, and infrastructure, by not allowing any flowing water south of the levee. Further, there is no longer a need to construct costly flood gates, headwalls, culverts, and gabion walls, and results approximately $1.4 million in construction cost savings. The downside to re- routing the Creek is that because this alternative was not included in the original Environmental Assessment, the City is required to submit an additional limited-scope EA. In order to agree to this compromise, the State Department of Natural Resources Office of Habitat Management and Permitting, requires that the City purchase and preserve nine parcels, to maintain the functional value of the wetlands. They further require the levee be moved approximately 120’ to the south (putting the levee into the Poplar Street right-of-way). By moving the levee to the south, it is moved closer to existing homes. However, by preserving the parcels immediately north of the homes, there remains one entire parcel between existing homes and the levee/road, and those parcels will now be protected from future development. This compromise agreement requires Council approval before the agencies will agree to move forward. Once approved, administration will forward Property Purchase Agreements to Council for CITY OF SEWARD RESOLUTION 2007- PAGE 2 OF 2 approval. The City’s contractors will finalize a new limited-scope EA for distribution, will complete design of the final alignment, and will re-submit permit applications based on the alignment. The estimated timeframe for completing the EA is approximately 90 days from Council approval. Once the EA is complete, it will be distributed for a 30-day public comment period. Once approved, the permit applications can be submitted. CONSISTENCY CHECKLIST Where applicable, this agenda statement is consistent with the Seward City Code, Charter, Comprehensive Plans, Land Use Plans, Strategic Plan and City Council Rules of Procedures. Other: FISCAL NOTE The City has $1,729,783.70 remaining in grant funds from the National Resource Conservation Service to pay the remaining costs of the levee project. Total costs are estimated at $2.7 million, including construction costs ($2.2 million) and property acquisition costs ($500,000). The City has requested both state and federal funds to complete this project, but has not been awarded additional funding. Approved by Finance: ___________________________________ RECOMMENDATION City Council authorize the 2007 Red Line alignment for the Japanese Creek Levee/Road, and authorize the administration to pursue property acquisition.