LAMORINDA WEEKLY | Roads Bond Measure Headed for the Ballot?


Greenwood Court, PCI Photos courtesy City of Orinda

Orinda is a small town with a small budget. Roughly $10.6 million is spent annually to operate recreation programs which keep residents healthy, beautify city parks, provide police protection, conduct elections, and maintain city roads and storm drains. Its residents are generally happy as evidenced by Forbes' declaration of Orinda as America's second friendliest city.

There is one word, though, which produces an immediate buzzkill when uttered - roads. During the past decade, the City of Orinda has devoted roughly $2.3 million annually to its infrastructure. But with 92.5 miles of roads to maintain and an underlying network of storm drains that were already aging when the county transferred control to Orinda upon incorporation, city leaders have been forced to channel funds to areas impacting the greatest number of people. Smaller residential roads began crumbling as storm drains failed, flooding neighborhoods, sparking legal action and forcing costly fixes that further strained city coffers.

So in July 2012, the Orinda City Council enacted a battle strategy. Known as the "10 Year Roads and Drainage Repairs Plan," it outlines "four phases in which the City will fund, plan and manage the construction and repair of public roads and drains," costing $52 million when completed. Phase 1, a 0.5 percent sales tax hike approved by voters in 2012 (Measure L), is already showing promise. City officials believe it will generate close to $1 million per year over the 10-year life of the tax.

Now, the City Council is signaling its readiness to launch phase two - asking voters to support a $19.8 million bond which, if approved in 2014, would provide the city with an additional $3.3 million to spend on repairs each year for six years, starting in 2015. In addition to debating whether or not to approve the revised 10-year plan Feb. 18, city leaders considered a Resolution of Public Convenience and Necessity (14-14) and Ordinance Calling for a $20 Million General Obligation Bond Election (14-02) - the prior approval of both being required by state law if the City Council decides to place a bond measure on the June or November ballot.

Taking up most of the City Council's nearly 4-hour meeting, the discussion included presentations by city staff and bond consultants, as well as residents for and against the plan. Brad Barber called the roads situation a "municipal embarrassment" that "negatively affects essentially everyone in the city," noting that "with the passage of the sales tax increase ... we have begun to see some real improvements." Supporting the phased, incremental plan he observed, "That's been the way that we have done things in this country since colonial days."

Orindan Steve Cohn asked the City Council to delay action, expressing concern that the Citizens' Infrastructure Oversight Committee (CIOC) had not been given enough time to review the 4-phase plan and calling it deficient. "While it purports to address Orinda's infrastructure deferred maintenance deficit, it does not provide enough money to either fund the entire deficit or provide future maintenance to prevent the deficit from growing back to original levels within 15 years."

Representing the CIOC, Terry Murphy stated that the committee voted unanimously to approve the 10-year plan, and urged council members to ensure that wording on the ballot make clear to voters that money raised by the proposed bond will be used on roads.

Ultimately, council members delayed finalizing the 10-year plan, electing to clarify key points based on citizen input. A revised version will be discussed at a future meeting. The City Council then adopted an amended version of the Resolution of Necessity on a 5-0 vote before introducing the bond ordinance in its amended form. Changes to the documents included reducing the bond's maturity date from 40 to 30 years, and changing the phrase "municipal improvements" to "municipal road and drain improvements" to ease worries that bond funds could be diverted to other city projects. Ordinance 14-02 will appear on the consent calendar of the City Council's agenda at its next regularly scheduled meeting March 4 and will likely be approved at that time.