Public Works Department

Engineering, Maintenance, Transportation

Overview

The Public Works Department is responsible for building and maintaining the City’s infrastructure and facilities, and for providing street, sidewalk, water, stormwater, parks, trees and transportation services.

The Department protects the City’s investments in infrastructure and public facilities to ensure the health and safety of the community in an efficient, sustainable and cost effective manner. This Department consists of three Divisions: Engineering, Maintenance and Transportation.

ENGINEERING DIVISION

Engineering has three sections: Capital improvements, Development services, and Utilities.

Capital improvement section

This section manages the City’s capital improvements, including construction and maintenance of City infrastructure and facilities. The design of capital improvement projects is done in-house or in conjunction with professional consultants. Capital improvement projects are publicly and competitively bid and built by general contractors. Each year, this section assesses the infrastructure needs and develops a five-year improvement plan and budget. These projects include street and parks improvements, sustainability projects, and rehabilitation of city facilities, as detailed in the annual capital improvement plan. The program is managed by staff and supported by consulting firms.

Development services section

The Development services section ensures that private development and activities within the public right-of- way meet the required standards and conditions set by the City. The section manages encroachment permits for private developers, utility companies, property owners and contractors working within the City’s public right-of-way ensuring that the infrastructure constructed both on private property and in the public-right-of-way meets the appropriate

engineering standards and regulatory requirements for grading, drainage, Federal Emergency Management Agency compliance and stormwater management. Development services provides timely comprehensive plan review and inspection. Given the number of large projects currently in construction and the overall private development activity levels, the section also depends on consultants for plan checking and contract inspectors.

Utilities section

The Utilities Section manages Menlo Park Municipal Water, the City’s storm drain system and the leachate and gas collection systems at Bedwell Bayfront Park.

Menlo Park Municipal Water provides safe and reliable potable water to 16,000 customers through 55 miles of water mains and 4,400 service connections (residential, commercial, industrial, institutional, irrigation, and fire) ensuring that water quality meets Federal Safe Drinking Water Act standards. The water distribution system includes a pump station and two reservoirs holding 5.5 million gallons of potable water. The Utilities section manages new water connections, oversees the cross-connection control program, handles water billing, enforces water conservation regulations, evaluates potable water reliability and alternate sources of water, and develops and manages the water infrastructure, such as emergency well and water main replacements. As part of the stormwater management effort, the Utilities section assesses flood risk and storm preparedness; plans for flood protection and infrastructure needs; participates in OneShoreline, the San Mateo County Flood and Sea Level Rise Resiliency District; implements pollution prevention policies ensuring compliance with the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permits; meets regulatory requirements protecting creek and bayland habitats; and coordinates with regional entities on stormwater management. Stormwater capital projects are also developed and managed by the Utilities section.

The City owns Bedwell Bayfront Park, a former landfill that closed in 1984. The Utilities section manages the leachate and gas collection, handles systems in accordance with the State Water Resources Control Board and Bay Area Air Quality Management District regulations, and plans for capital improvements. The program is managed by staff and supported by consulting firms.

MAINTENANCE DIVISION

The Maintenance Division provides many of the basic services affecting the daily lives of everyone living, working, visiting and commuting within the City. This Division supports all other departments through facilities, parks, fleet, trees and streets.

Facilities section

Facilities provides operations, maintenance and repair services for the 26 City-owned facilities, totaling over 250,000 square feet of building space. The Facilities section is managed by staff and supported by contractors to manage custodial services, commercial kitchens, elevators, burglar alarms, fire alarms, interior and exterior surfaces, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, pest control, electrical power, lighting and more. Facilities staff also manage minor remodel and repair projects, which have been critical to ready facilities to provide in-person services as the pandemic subsides and for preparations for the construction of the Menlo Park Community Campus project. This section also porovides the incresed custodial services that have been required in response to the pandemic.

Fleet section

The Fleet section acquires and disposes of vehicles and equipment, provides preventive maintenance and repairs on vehicles and equipment, and purchases parts and accessories. Currently, the section maintains 200 vehicles and large pieces of equipment, 50 small pieces of equipment and four emergency generators. The section also maintains the underground fuel storage tank system and sells fuel to four outside agencies via shared service agreements.

Parks section

Parks maintains and renovates 14 parks and 2 open spaces, 14 playgrounds, 2 dog parks, 9 sports fields, 14 tennis courts, facility grounds, 8 parking plazas and irrigation equipment and medians. This section is responsible for management of the City's herbicide free parks program and maintains landscaping and turf at City parks and facilities. Parks staff is supported by contract services to maintain over 250 acres of parks and open space, including approximately 85 acres of developed parks and grounds. This section has also provided significant support to the temporary street closures along Santa Cruz Avenue to support temporary outdoor use, by placing and maintaining potted trees and plants to improve the ambiance of the space. The Parks section has made significant sustainability improvements to City parks and grounds to reduce potable water use, by removing turf areas and increased plantings with native California species.

Streets section

The Streets section ensures City’s streets are clean and safe by properly maintaining sidewalks, pathways, bicycle bridges and parking lots. City staff and private contractors perform street sweeping, street light and traffic signal maintenance, street striping, storm drain cleaning and emergency pavement repairs. The Section is responsible for approximately 97 miles of streets, 4,000 traffic/street signs, graffiti abatement and public sidewalk hazard reduction through the sidewalk repair and replacement programs. This section has also provided significant support to the temporary street closures along Santa Cruz Avenue to support temporary outdoor uses, by procuring, placing and maintaining the barricades and signs.

Trees section

Management of the urban forest falls under the Tree section, which promotes a pleasing natural environment with related social, economic and environmental benefits. The Section oversees the heritage tree ordinance, requiring permits for pruning and removing heritage trees on public and private property. In addition, the program maintains 20,000 public trees located in streets, parks and city facilities.

TRANSPORTATION DIVISION

The Transportation Division strives to efficiently move people and goods throughout Menlo Park by providing a transportation network through planning, engineering, and education. The Division works to reduce traffic

congestion by promoting ride-sharing, bicycling, walking and commute options such as bicycle education and safety programs and securing bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure improvement grants. The City’s shuttle program offers residents and local employers free connections between the Caltrain station and key destinations around the City. The Division, with assistance from contractors and consultants, maintains 42 traffic signals, over 2,200 streetlights and all signs and roadway markings throughout the City.

2020-21 HIGHLIGHTS

• Received the Tree City USA Growth Award from the Arbor Day Foundation, and implemented many of the City’s new Heritage Tree Ordinance requirements

• Accepted into the Federal Emergency Management Agency community rating system that provides flood insurance premium discounts for residents and businesses

• Developed the 2020 Urban Water Management Plan

• Completed the remodel of the police lobby

• Completed the Santa Cruz and Middle Avenues street rehabilitation project

• Through partnership with other agencies, began construction of the Bayfront Canal and Atherton Channel flood protection and habitat restoration project

• Completed the hydration station project, retrofitting 29 indoor and outdoor drinking fountains ion of five Nealon Park tennis courts

• Completed the 2019 and 2020 street preventive maintenance projects

• Installed permanent turn restrictions in the Willows neighborhood

• Completed the 2019 Citywide engineering and traffic survey and updated speed limits around the City

• Continued implementing strategies identiﬁed in the department’s organizational review for improvement, including updating standard engineering details, documenting maintenance service levels, and initiating accreditation of the department by the American Public Works Associations

• Implemented asset management and work order system (Cartegraph)

• Adopted the Transportation Master Plan

• Continued collaboration with Facebook on the construction of a new community center and library in the Belle Haven neighborhood

• Completed construction on the Pierce Road sidewalk gap closures

• Began the development of a self-evaluation and transition plan pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act

• Began the design of the Bedwell Bayfront Park landfill leachate and gas collection and control systems improvements

• Began construction of the Ravenswood Avenue-Laurel Street Intersection Improvement project

• Secured grant funds ($520,00) for the Bedwell Bayfront Park entrance improvements project, automated meter infrastructure project ($500,000)

• Began negotiations with the Ravenswood School District and Menlo Park Fire Protection District for emergency water supply/storage facilities

• Implemented the newsrack ordinance adopted by the City Council in June 2020

• Supported ongoing construction of major redevelopment projects, including projects at Middle Plaza at 500 El Caminoo Real and Springline at 1300 El Camino Real, Facebook Campus, and the Constitution phase of Menlo Gateway

• Continued progress on the Transportation Management Association feasibility study

2021-22 BUDGET & INITIATIVES

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for public works services has continued. All of public works core services have continued to operate, including critical maintenance functions, operation and management of the water system, capital project design and construction, permitting and inspection in the public right-of-way, and transportation services.

The department has signiﬁcantly altered operations to ensure safety of employees and the public and adapted the encroachment permitting process to be fully paperless and electronic. In many cases, increased demands for maintenance have occurred, such as that for public outdoor spaces and custodial/cleaning services in City facilities. In addition, permitting and inspection, such as that for utility improvements for improved internet and communication services, demands also continue to be high as many residents and children are working and learning virtually.

As such, this budget proposal substantially retains funding for these services.

Department goals and initiatives for fiscal year 2021-22 include:

• Continue to reduce the capital project backlog

• Advance efforts to plan, fund and construct resiliency projects, such as SAFER Bay

• Begin to implement the recently adopted Transportation Master Plan, with a focus on projects that reduce vehicle miles traveled

• Continue timely processing of encroachment permit and development applications

• Identify the next phase of water system capital projects, including emergency supplies, to ensure the reliability of the system

• Complete American Public Works Association accreditation