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BACKGROUND On September 16, 2014, City Council approved the Lions Wayside and Delucchi Parks Master Plan, which was the result of a multi-year community engagement and plan drafting process. The Master Plan includes a new bandstand to accommodate larger performances within an expanded lawn area; new landscape transitions to the Firehouse Arts Center; a new plaza area at the intersection of First and Neal Streets; a market pavilion area to support the Farmer's Market and special events; and improvements in and around the parking area in the existing Southern Pacific Railroad corridor. One key component of the Master Plan is the proposed undergrounding of the Kottinger Creek drainage swale in Lions Wayside Park to unite the east and west side of the park (the segment of Kottinger Creek in Delucchi Park would be retained). Undergrounding the drainage swale will require the City to secure permits from government agencies with jurisdiction over natural resources, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Regional Water Quality Control Board. In addition, review of the potential environmental impacts of the drainage swale project is required pursuant to CEQA. In June 2014, the City hired AECOM technical services (AECOM) to assist staff in preparing the permitting package for the project and an IS/MND to satisfy CEQA requirements. After working through various technical issues and identifying appropriate mitigation measures for the undergrounding of the drainage swale, the City submitted the permitting package to the natural resources agencies and published the Draft IS/MND in October 2015. The Draft IS/MND was released for a 30-day review period (October 6- November 5, 2015). DISCUSSION The Draft IS/MND indicated that the impacts of the drainage swale project could result in significant environmental impacts associated with the following topical areas, but all these impacts would be reduced to a less-than-significant level with mitigation measures identified in the document: • Air Quality (construction-period emissions from equipment and machinery in the parks) • Biological Resources (construction-period impacts to nesting birds and impacts to the 0.12-acre portion of the Kottinger Creek that would be undergrounded) • Cultural Resources (potential for identification of previously-unidentified archaeological resources and fossils) • Noise (construction-period generation of noise from heavy equipment) • Transportation and Circulation (construction-period congestion and roadway damage) The impacts and mitigation measures related to air quality, cultural resources, noise, and transportation and circulation are typical of those generated by small- and modestly-scaled construction projects in Pleasanton and throughout the Bay Area. Mitigation measures would include best practices to minimize noise and air pollution generated by construction equipment, evaluation and potential protection of any Page 2 of 5