Title
Northwest 5th Avenue Streetscape Project (NB)
Explanation
The Fifth Avenue Pleasant Street (FAPS) Redevelopment Advisory Board has been working on a streetscape concept for the Northwest 5th Avenue corridor and the CRA adopted the concept at their August 2004 meeting. Two phases of the project have already been approved and funded, conduit work between Northwest 12th Street and Northwest 13th Street, to be done in conjunction with the Northwest 13th Street lighting project, and the relocation of the regulator bank from Northwest 10th Street and Northwest 5th Avenue, which has been completed.
The third phase of the project will be streetscaping between Northwest 6th Street and Northwest 3rd Street. This work would be done in conjunction with the new Santa Fe Community College building in order to take advantage of their construction efforts. The estimated cost of this section of the streetscape is $500,000. Staff has received a proposal from Brown and Cullen to move forward with the construction documents for the project for a cost of $29,000. Brown and Cullen is the firm that worked on the concept design that has been adopted by the CRA.
The CRA has approved moving $200,000 from the Model Block project bond funds to the Northwest 5th Avenue streetscape and the City Commission agreed to make a loan to the CRA FAPS district to fund the remainder with $300,000 in UDAG funds. The UDAG funds will be repaid to the City beginning in 10 years. The details of the loan are still to be resolved.
According to the CRA Debt Policies, in order to exceed the 25% debt limit a project must be considered meritorious. Given the important nature of the project, the FAPS Advisory Board recommends that the CRA find the Northwest 5th Avenue Streetscape meritorious. The FAPS Board also requests the CRA negotiate terms with the City similar to the ones recently offered to the College Park University Heights and Downtown CRA districts.
Fiscal Note
The project will be funded by a combination of $200,000 in bond funds moved from the Model Block Project and $300,000 UDAG funds to be borrowed from the City with repayment to begin in 10 years.
Recommendation
Fifth Avenue Pleasant Street Redevelopment Advisory Board to the CRA: 1) recommend that the CRA find the Northwest 5th Avenue Streetscape, from Northwest 6th Street to Northwest 3rd Street, a meritorious project and allow the FAPS district to exceed the 25% debt limit defined in the policy; 2) authorize the Executive Director to negotiate the term of the loan with the City with terms similar to the terms for the loans for the College Park/University Heights and Downtown.
Executive Director to the CRA: Hire Brown and Cullen to create construction documents for Phase 3 of the Northwest 5th Avenue streetscape for an amount not to exceed $29,000.