Sausalito council backs draft capital improvement plan

For 2024-25, the program involves 43 projects requiring more than $4.5 million from this year’s budget, according to city staff.

The Sausalito City Council has endorsed, with some edits, a draft plan to improve city infrastructure in the next year.

The council reviewed the draft capital improvement program for the 2024-25 fiscal year at its meeting on Tuesday. Council members provided comments on plans and funding for projects related to maintaining or improving parks, roads and other city assets.

The five-year capital improvement plan identifies, prioritizes and budgets projects needed to improve the city. The plan includes active projects and ones that can be implemented, as well as a rough estimate of the costs.

“Generally I support the directions of the plan,” Mayor Ian Sobieski said. “I think focusing on resiliency efforts would make a big difference.”

For 2024-25, the plan outlined 29 projects underway and presented 14 new projects for the council to review. The projects require more than $4.5 million from this year’s budget, according to city staff.

Some of the active projects that need funding this year include the ferry landing project, which requires around $500,000; resurfacing the Marinship Park tennis courts, a cost of about $150,000; and installing a retaining wall system below 268 and 254 Woodward Ave., which needs an estimated $200,000. Active projects require about $1.4 million in funding.

City Manager Chris Zapata said the city, incorporated in 1893, has a lot of aging infrastructure above and below the ground. The issue is compounded by the stress of climate change and rising project costs.

“Some of the recommendations that have been made in the past two and half years that I have been here have been infrastructure, infrastructure and infrastructure,” Zapata said.

Zapata said infrastructure includes drainage, sewer collection, transportation, stairs, sidewalks and even digital systems. It also includes 26 “lane miles” of roads, 15 parks and five public buildings.

“It’s a very, very, very big and tall order,” Zapata said.

Zapata said some funding for implementing the capital plan include grants, parking revenue, construction impact fees, county Measure AA and the Tidelands fund, which generates revenue from the city’s waterfront properties. He said the city has nine grant applications in process.

Kevin McGowan, Sausalito’s public works director, said some important new projects listed for the next year are replacing the leaking City Hall roof and its heating, ventilating and air conditioning system, which is no longer functional.

“We can’t get parts for them either, they are so old,” McGowan said.

Also listed are accessibility improvements to City Hall; a storm drain capture system; storm drainage improvements; designing a bulkhead on Humboldt Street; a roundabout at Bridgeway and Napa Street; and street resurfacing. Approximately $3.1 million is needed from the 2024-25 budget for the proposed projects.

Chad Hess, the city’s finance director, said that at the end of February, the city’s cash balance was $31.4 million. In addition to other funding resources, like revenue from the city’s leased properties or the Tidelands, Sausalito has $4.6 million for infrastructure improvements.

“I am very supportive of the general strategy of the CIP but I would like us to be much more aggressive in how we apply for grants,” said Councilmember Melissa Blaustein, referring to the capital improvement program.

Councilmember Jill Hoffman recused herself from discussing a new project in the plan, a water storage tank in Marinship, because it is within 500 feet of her residence. For the same reason, Hoffman and Councilmember Janelle Kellman recused themselves for the projects involving improvements to Bridgeway. Blaustein recused herself from a proposed Bridgeway bollard installation project.

The council directed staff to continue with the bollard project, contingent on the availability of a grant to fund it. The project would add bollards to a corner at the end of Bridgeway where vehicles have crashed into the nearby building.

The council also supported the water vault as part of the capital improvement project.

The program also included a proposed permanent stage in Gabrielson Park, but the council asked staff to do more research on it.

Carolyn Revelle of Sausalito Beautiful, a volunteer organization, called for funding for street trees.

“Most of the CIP items you’ve been hearing of course relate to traditional infrastructure, but the general plan includes landscape as infrastructure,” Revelle said.