BOARD AGENDA MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT:
Title
Discussion of Improved Collaboration with Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) on District Projects.
End
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Receive information on District projects that include PG&E involvement and discuss opportunities for improved collaboration with PG&E to move District projects forward.
Body
SUMMARY:
At the Board’s November 14, 2017 meeting, the Board requested that PG&E representatives attend a future Board meeting to discuss issues involving PG&E’s assistance on District projects. This agenda memo provides the forum for that discussion. Notably, this year the District and PG&E have taken significant steps to improve communication and collaboration that is already reducing project delays and allowing District projects to move forward more expediently. As a result of this enhanced degree of communication and collaboration, staff believes a productive path forward has been established, and staff will keep the Board apprised of progress on a quarterly basis via nonagenda updates and return to the Board with potential recommendations for action, if needed.
BACKGROUND:
Last year, the District experienced delays with PG&E relocations on four Watershed Capital Projects, and incurred delay claims from construction contractors. The four projects were the Permanente Creek Flood Protection Project, the Upper and Lower Berryessa Creek Flood Protection Projects, and the San Francisquito Creek Flood Protection Project. The delays ranged from six months to one construction season and impacted both gas and electrical lines. It should be noted that some of the delays were due to factors outside PG&E’s control, such as the North Bay fires last fall, as well as the involvement of other parties separate from our projects, such as the cemetery adjacent to Rancho San Antonio.
To better understand the various factors affecting past project delays and to identify potential paths forward that would avoid or minimize them, District staff reached out to PG&E staff to initiate dialogue on the issue. In February, District staff and PG&E staff held the first of what has become an ongoing series of productive discussions to address challenges impacting both agencies’ projects. During the initial meeting, staff on both sides discussed each other’s projects, the types of delays that had occurred and that had impacted both, and identified actions to improve both communication and collaboration on projects going forward. That initial meeting resulted in an agreement to develop a list of ongoing and upcoming projects that require coordination for relocating PG&E facilities and to meet on a quarterly basis to discuss project progress and potential challenges on the horizon, so that solutions could be identified and implemented to avoid or minimize any delays. This approach is modeled after a similar method used with the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), in which the District meets with USACE staff on a quarterly basis to jointly discuss issues and identify potential solutions to challenges before they become problems.
In April, the District and PG&E held the first of these quarterly meetings and had a fruitful discussion of issues and challenges with projects on the project list. The second quarterly meeting occurred on July 17 and was equally fruitful, and the third is scheduled for October 23. District staff is encouraged by the results of these quarterly meetings and believes that the development and monitoring of the project list, combined with regularly scheduled meetings to identify and work through potential challenges, will result in better communication and collaboration that should significantly reduce or eliminate obstacles to completing projects on time and within budget. Going forward, District staff will provide the Board with periodic updates on the status of all the projects on the project list involving PG&E and will recommend Board action if needed.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
There is no financial impact associated with this item.
CEQA:
The recommended action does not constitute a project under CEQA because it does not have a potential for resulting in direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment.
ATTACHMENTS:
None
UNCLASSIFIED MANAGER:
Manager
Rachael Gibson, 408-630-2884