Title
Amend Ordinance of Intention to form the Hedgepeth Waterline Replacement Improvement District (Ordinance S-48327)
Description
Request City Council approval of the Amended Ordinance of Intention to form the Hedgepeth Waterline Replacement Improvement District due to design changes and increased costs.
Report
Summary
On July 3, 2019, City Council approved Ordinance S-45902 (Attachment A) declaring the intention to form the Hedgepeth Waterline Improvement District and adopted preliminary plans for construction of a new distribution waterline in an area generally bounded by 51st to 43rd avenues from Loop 101 to Pinnacle Peak Road (Attachment B) for Project WS85503001 (ID1309). City Council authorized the cost of improvements to be assessed upon the District and authorized the work to be performed under Arizona Revised Statutes Sections 48-571 to 48-621.
The original suggested waterline design approved by City Council provided an alignment along 51st Avenue which avoids a dead-end condition in the existing section of waterline on Tonopah Drive between 51st Avenue and 49th Drive. Dead-end conditions can result in stagnant water in the pipe and can lead to the need for City of Phoenix Water Services Department (WSD) crews flushing lines manually resulting in loss of water and added maintenance costs in order to maintain water quality. The 51st Avenue alignment will encroach into the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) right-of-way (ROW). WSD has engaged ADOT in detailed discussions regarding the conditions ADOT is requiring for the installation of the water line in its ROW at the Agua Fria/Loop 101 Freeway. The additional ADOT design requirements (Attachment C) and market conditions have increased the anticipated cost of either alignment by $1.64 million. The 51st Avenue alignment is estimated to cost $3.6 million based on the final design. In September 2021, the Street Transportation Department and WSD re-balloted the affected owners to determine if there was sufficient support to proceed given the increase to $3.6 million dollars.
The City plans to construct the 51st Avenue alignment in order to maintain water quality by reducing stagnant water. After the revised $3.6 million project cost estimate was shared with the developers, the developers asked that the City consider the 49th Drive alternative alignment, hoping to achieve lower costs. The parties agreed that both alignments, 51st Avenue and 49th Drive, would be advertised for bids. However, only the 51st Avenue alignment will be constructed. The City will contribute the difference in funds if the 51st Avenue alignment is more expensive than the 49th Drive alignment. If the 51st Avenue alignment is less expensive than the 49th Drive alignment, the City will not contribute funds to the project.
Financial Impact
The revised improvement cost to the property owners is estimated at $3.6 million, including soft costs. The original approved estimate was $1.96 million. The estimated participation from the City of Phoenix is $0-550,800 (0-15.3 percent of final costs) depending on whether the 51st alignment is more expensive than the 49th Drive alignment. These estimates include design, right-of-way, construction, and administration costs.
Funding is available in the Water Services Department's Capital Improvement Program Budget.
Concurrence/Previous Council Action
The City Council approved the ordinance of intention to form the Hedgepeth Waterline Replacement Improvement District (Ordinance S-45902) on July 3, 2019.
Public Outreach
- October 2017 - All affected property owners were petitioned and 76.2 percent approved the request to form the improvement district.
- April 2018 - All affected property owners were balloted and 73.6 percent supported the waterline improvement project.
- July 11, 2019 (first Thursday after Ordinance approval) - Ordinance of Intention was published in the Arizona Business Gazette.
- July 18, 2019 (first Thursday following first publishing) - Ordinance of Intention was published in the Arizona Business Gazette.
- Aug. 9, 2019 - Ordinance of Intention was posted every 300 feet within the proposed improvement area.
- Aug. 27, 2019 - Legal protest period for the Ordinance of Intention to form the Improvement District expired with no protests filed.
- May 11, 2020 - City of Phoenix mailed an updated cost letter to all affected property owners.
- April 2021 - City of Phoenix mailed ballots to all affected property owners to determine the level of support for the proposed improvements.
- July 2021 - City of Phoenix mailed ballots to all affected property owners to determine the level of support for the proposed improvements given the revised project cost estimates.
- Sept. 14, 2021 - City of Phoenix mailed a letter to all affected property owners explaining the ballot results that showed 68.6 percent of the property owners supported the revised project. Eight property owners rejected the proposed improvement district and four property owners did not respond to the ballot.
Location
The proposed waterline improvement district includes single-family residences and one commercial business located within an area generally bounded by 51st to 43rd avenues from Loop 101 to Pinnacle Peak Road.
Council District: 1
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Deputy City Managers Mario Paniagua and Karen Peters, and the Street Transportation and Water Services departments.