Pleasanton City Council approved revised traffic mitigation plans and procedures to complete the construction of a Costco in Pleasanton at its July 19 council meeting.

Jenifer Murillo, director of real estate at Costco Wholesale, told the council that offsite improvements are the biggest factor in determining when residents will finally see the Costco store with gas station in Pleasanton. But now that the company is proceeding with current construction bids, Murillo said residents can expect roadwork to begin within the next few months.

“We need to get a little head start on off-site improvements, but we have started designing the warehouse,” she said, adding that construction will start during the dry season due to creek restrictions. off Johnson Drive.

Pleasanton’s first-ever Costco store would be part of the city’s Johnson Drive Economic Development Zone, a project to redevelop approximately 40 acres of land fronting Johnson Drive near Stoneridge Drive and Interstate 680.

Costco is a landowner in the project area and is looking to build a new store on the property. The project has been on the back burner for nearly a decade under a public process that included an opposition measure that lost at the polls, two lawsuits and years of city review and hearings advice.

Costco and the city received a favorable decision from the state appeals court on the final trial earlier this year.

The project includes public road improvements to reduce the traffic impact of new land uses. In 2018, the city agreed to reimburse a portion of the design and construction costs along with the traffic impact fee and a portion of the sales tax revenue generated by the proposed Costco store, with Costco supporting a portion overall costs of road works – in addition to its own share.

Council decided to proceed with construction at a higher cost and to acquire the right-of-way necessary to construct the traffic calming measures. Estimated overall costs have fallen from $21.47 million to about $33.5 million since 2017 “due to the length of time since the agreement was signed,” according to a city staff report.

The report says bids received in April were significantly higher than the planning level estimate prepared in 2017 and discussed in the 2018 deal.

Due to the increase in the initial cost estimate, city staff have included cost overruns – which occur when an unexpected change in the project budget ends up increasing the total project cost – in their update to council last week.

These cost overruns prompted changes to the city’s agreement with Costco, including an amendment that “will modify the cost overrun provisions of the 2018 agreement so that instead of being required to directly reimburse cost overruns within 60 days of approval of the final cost certification, a portion of the cost overruns will be included in the loan amount.”

The loans will be included in the reimbursement agreement between the city and Costco for the design and construction of the roadworks

City engineer Steve Kirkpatrick told council that when the project is complete, city staff will review a final cost certification which he said should be lower.

“We have a 10% construction contingency, or almost $2 million,” Kirkpatrick said. “A lot has gone into these plans, so we expect the final cost estimate or final cost certification to be a bit lower than what you see.”

Vice Mayor Valerie Arkin expressed some concern about possible additional costs that could come from the construction, but Kirkpatrick assured her that sharing cost overruns with Costco would help cover any additional costs.

In other cases

* Council members approved the updated employment contract between the Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department and the local firefighters union.

The proposed tentative agreement between the department and the union includes 13% general wage increases over 3½ years, an increase in paramedic pay from 8% to 10%, short-term staffing policies and a comprehensive drug and alcohol screening policy.

“I hope this will be the start of a positive productive partnership as they continue to provide excellent service to our community, especially now as we enter fire season,” said board member Kathy Narum. .

The board unanimously supported the proposed contract at a special meeting last monthwhich was intended to publicly present the new agreement so that board members could take a final vote at the July 19 regular meeting.

Livermore City Council approved the deal at its regular meeting on June 27, and members of International Association of Fire Fighters Local Chapter 1974 ratified the contract on June 18.

In the new agreement, which is due to run until June 30, 2025, LPFD employees will see their wages increase by 5.5% starting with the first full pay period after contract approval. In 2023, the increase will be 3.5%, followed by a 3% increase the following year and a 1% increase in 2025 – to reach 13%.

The average salary will go up to a maximum of $121,680, according to the City of Pleasanton staff report. By the end of 2025, that number would increase to $131,019. Employees would advance one pay step in their respective jobs until they reached the top step of the applicable pay scale.

The three-year financial impact on the LPFD budget is approximately $6.57 million through June 2025 and will be shared between Livermore and Pleasanton, according to the city staff report.

Negotiations have been ongoing between LPFD and Local 1974 since July 2021, when the term of the previous contract ended in December.

Other compensation-related changes in the contract are incentive compensation for bilingualism and education. Those fluent in multiple languages ​​will receive $45 per pay period and employees who take courses to earn degrees will receive monthly incentive pay ranging from $100 to $175 depending on the degrees they earn.

* The board approved a second reading of specific language on how the department will use the armored vehicle and robots at community events.

Council members first approved a prescription last month which will continue to allow the City Police Department to use military or specialized equipment for regular and promotional purposes.

The order is part of Assembly Bill 481, which was signed by Governor Gavin Newsom last September, requiring California police departments to keep a running list of what is defined as military equipment for the oversight by local governing bodies, which must now approve or deny the use of such equipment by local law enforcement.

Military equipment, as defined by AB 481, does not necessarily indicate equipment used by the military. Items considered by the bill to be “military equipment” include robotic vehicles, armored rescue vehicles, tear gas, less than lethal weapons such as shotguns, 40 millimeter projectiles and blasting devices. noise/flash diversion.

During the second reading of the ordinance on June 21, most of the conversation revolved around the armored rescue vehicle. Arkin was the main dissenter on using the vehicle in a way to take it to parades and other community events saying it does not belong to children.

This led city staff to prepare a separate amendment to the ordinance specifying that the vehicle, along with the bomb-scattering robots, may be authorized for use at community events and city-sponsored events by the chief of police.

* Pleasanton will strike a nearly $779,000 deal with Bonita House so the organization can provide clinician services for the Alternate Response to Mental Health pilot program.

The program began in the summer of 2020 after Pleasanton residents voiced their support for strengthening the response to people in mental health crisis by sending mental health clinicians to police calls for people with health issues mental.

The Bonita House, which is a private, not-for-profit mental health agency that provides services to adults diagnosed with co-occurring psychiatric disorders and substance abuse disorders, was the only location that responded to city partnership requests. . The agreement states that the organization will provide two mental health clinicians to join the mental health alternative response program.

Council member Julie Testa said she knows Bonita House well and is confident it will best serve the Pleasanton community.

“I am thrilled to have this program introduced and finally serving our residents in need and in crisis,” Testa said.

Narum added that she is particularly excited about how the program will also serve students with mental health needs at school.

The council previously earmarked $800,000 for the Mental Health Alternative Response Program. The next steps will be to recruit the clinicians in August so that they can start working in September.

* Pleasanton will see an increase in burial costs for loved ones following council’s decision to approve the Pleasanton Pioneer Cemetery Main Fee Schedule.

Purchase prices were set for the burial grounds and service charges in the cemetery by the council after the city purchased the cemetery in 2006.

According to the report, prices for casket burial plots will increase by $125 and cremation burial plots will increase by $67. Single caskets or cremation will increase by $50.

“The proposed updates to the fee schedule offset direct fee increases to contractors who provide burial services, dig graves and maintain cemetery grounds,” according to the staff report.

* City Council approved the purchase of three new fire trucks for the LPFD to replace those currently in use.

According to the city staff report, the three current engines “are experiencing issues with compromised reliability, which has resulted in costly maintenance requirements and excessive downtime.”

“From January 1, 2017, to June 17, 2022, the city’s mechanical shop spent a combined total of 705.5 staff hours and $89,320 in maintenance costs for these fire trucks,” the report said.

The city will use money from its 2022-23 fire repair and replacement budget to cover the total cost of nearly $830,000. Staff recommends a 10% contingency in the event of unforeseen circumstances, bringing the total to nearly $913,000.