Impact
WARD: Ward 1
COMMITTEE: Administration
$ IMPACT: $830,000
Title
Approval to allocate a total of $830,000, $100,000 from the FY21 city budget and $730,000 from the FY22 city budget, to fund half of the required 20% match for a Transportation Improvements Program Infrastructure and Capital Investment Grant from the Atlanta Regional Commission for the cost of construction and construction related activities associated with the construction of a pedestrian bridge over Cobb Parkway and to authorize the Mayor to execute any related documents.
Body
ISSUE: Approval to allocate a total of $830,000 to fund half of the required 20% match for the cost of construction and construction related activities associated with the construction of a pedestrian bridge over Cobb Parkway.
BACKGROUND: The proposed funding request will include the cost associated with engineering, right of way acquisition and construction of a pedestrian bridge across Cobb Parkway (see the attached location map). When completed a grade separated pedestrian crossing from the west side (the Smyrna side) of Cobb Parkway to the east side (The Battery side) of Cobb Parkway will be created. It will provide safe access for pedestrians across eight (8) lanes of traffic on Cobb Parkway and also connect the City of Smyrna to the $1 billion development represented by The Battery/SunTrust Park multi-use complex. This pedestrian bridge project was previously identified in the Spring Road Corridor Study adopted by Mayor and Council in May 2017. It is a key component of an overall infrastructure improvement program that is designed to help stimulate future development and redevelopment of the block bounded by Cobb Parkway, Cumberland Boulevard and Spring Road (see the attached location map), as well as, that part of Smyrna located in the vicinity of The Battery and SunTrust Park.
The City of Smyrna has already identified $4M in the City’s 2022 SPLOST project list for this pedestrian bridge, providing further confirmation of the importance of this project to the City of Smyrna and future development/redevelopment potential in the immediate vicinity of The Battery and SunTrust Park. The 2022 SPLOST allocation ($4M) represents approximately 50% of the estimated cost ($8,550,000) of the pedestrian bridge project. The Cumberland CID and the Braves Development Company would provide the balance of the project cost.
There are four different potential funding scenarios that could occur:
1. If the 2022 SPLOST passes (the vote will occur in November of 2020), the City’s portion of the match ($830K) can be reimbursed out of the 2022 SPLOST funds allocated for the pedestrian bridge once those funds are collected. This would reduce the City’s proposed financial commitment by $3,170,000 ($4,000,000 minus $830,000 = $3,170,000). The $3M+ savings can be utilized for other qualified SPLOST ped/bike projects to be identified by City Administration and Mayor and Council.
2. If the application is successful and the 2022 SPLOST does not pass, then the City will still be obligated to our portion ($830,000) of the 20% match ($100,000 out of the FY21 budget for ROW acquisition and $730,000 out of the FY22 budget for construction).
3. If the application is not successful and the 2022 SPLOST passes the match obligation ($830,000) goes away and the City's $4,000,000 SPLOST allocation for the project stays in place. The Cumberland CID and the Braves Development Company would provide the balance of the project cost.
4. It the application is not successful and the 2022 SPLOST does not pass the City has no obligation to the pedestrian bridge project.
The proposed project has the support of the Braves Development Company and the Cumberland CID (CCID). Cobb County has agreed to participate by being the Project Sponsor for the application submittal. Cobb County has no financial obligation to the project.
The required 20% match ($1.710M) will be shared by the City of Smyrna (10% or $830K) and the CCID (10% or $830K). This project represents a partnership between: the City of Smyrna, Cobb County, the Braves Development Company and the CCID.
The proposed funding scenario for the Cobb Parkway Pedestrian Bridge Project is as follows:
The total estimated cost of the the project is $8,550,000.
• PE (Project Engineering) Phase - Advanced from 2021 to 2020. The CCID will fund the entire 20% local match ($150K) to advance the project to an earlier year.
• ROW (Right Of Way) Phase - The total amount of the ROW estimated cost was increased (per City’s request) from $300K to $500K. ROW acquisition was advanced from FY22 to FY21. Smyrna will fund the entire 20% local match ($100.000) in FY21 and be responsible for the acquisition of right of way or easements required on the west side of Cobb Parkway. As a precaution, the CCID has committed an additional $25K from their funds for any unanticipated ROW or easements necessary on the east side (The Battery side) of the Cobb Parkway.
• Construction/Utility Relocation Phase - The shared 20% match between the City and The CCID for construction in FY22 is $1,460,000 ($730,000 from the CCID and $730,000 from the City).
The impact of this proposed scenario is as follows:
• It accelerates the project by one year.
• The City will allocate our 20% ($100,000) match in the FY21 budget.
• The City should know whether the grant application is successful before allocating our initial match in FY21 Budget.
• The City’s contribution in FY21 increases from $85,000 to $100,000. An increase of $15,000.
• The total estimated cost of the project has been refined and subsequently reduced from $9,050,000 to $8,550,000.
• This lower project cost means that the City’s share of the 20% match is reduced from an original match contribution of $905,000 to $830,000 ($100,000 in FY21 + $730,000 in FY22) or a reduction of $75,000.
Cobb Parkway Pedestrian Bridge Project Cost Estimate
Activity Year Amount 20% Local Match
PE 2020 $ 750,000 $ 150,000 (CCID)
ROW 2021 $ 500,000 $ 100,000 (City)
CST/UTIL 2022 $ 7,300,000 $ 1,460,000 (City $730,000 and CCID $730,000)
TOTAL $ 8,550,000 $ 1,710,000 (Total Combined Match)
Approval of this funding request will leverage 80% of the total project cost or $6,840,000. This means that for every $1 contributed by Smyrna/CCID partnership, the grant will contribute $4 to the project.
Cobb County will function as the Project Sponsor. The Board of Commissioners will take official action confirming their willingness to act as the Project Sponsor at the October 8th BOC meeting.
The grant application must be submitted to the Atlanta Regional Commission by October 11, 2019. The Cumberland CID is incurring the cost of the preparation and submission of the grant application.
RECOMMENDATION/REQUESTED ACTION: It is recommended that Mayor and Council authorize the allocation of a total of $830,000, with $100,000 being allocated from the FY21 city budget and $730,000 from the FY22 city budget. These budget allocations fund half of the required 20% grant match for the cost of engineering, right of way acquisition and construction of a pedestrian bridge.over Cobb Parkway.