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15 THE CITY Of :i:f~ ~~~7 L£~S~4NTONo CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT P March 4, 2008 Planning and Community Development TITLE: CONSIDER A STATUS REPORT ON AND ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR AN EAST ALAMEDA COUNTY CONSERVATION STRATEGY SUMMARY Since April 2007, City staff (Planning and Public Works) has been participating in meetings with other local government, special district, and environmental permitting agencies to discuss the concept of preparing an East Alameda County Conservation Strategy (EACCS). This regional approach to conservation could result in significant cost savings to the City of Pleasanton for capital improvement projects which will require environmental mitigation while also advancing City goals to preserve valuable natural resources and open space. The City of Pleasanton has previously committed $15,000 towards the effort. This sum is partially funding the first phase of the project. The other participating agencies have contributed shares ranging from $20,000 to $70,000. Estimates for the total cost of consultant work for preparation of the conservation strategy (Phases 1 through 3) are in the range of $400,000. A grant from the California Department of Water Resources has been received which could potentially cover a portion of the cost of this work. Depending on how much of this grant can be used for consultant services and whether or not additional agencies become funding partners, Pleasanton's total share of the project costs would be between $46,000 to $70,000. RECOMMENDATION Authorize the City Manager to enter into an agreement with the funding agencies to contribute an additional $15,000 towards Phases 2 and 3 the EACCS effort; and to sign funding agreements committing a maximum additional amount up to $40,000 towards Phases 2 and 3 of the project, if the other agencies contribute similar amounts. FINANCIAL STATEMENT Approval of this expenditure would commit up to $70,000 toward the funding of the East Alameda County Conservation Strategy and would also commit approximately 8 hours of staff time per month from both the Planning and Community Development Department and Public Works Engineering Division. In return, staff believes there could be significant cost savings for certain of the City's Capital Improvement Projects accruing from a streamlined environmental review process and greater certainty regarding project mitigation. The source of funds for this will be the General Fund contingency and a budget adjustment for 2007-08 will be required for the initial $15,000 commitment and the $15,000 additional recommended in this staff report for a total of $30,000. This budget adjustment will be included in the Mid-Term budget update, and funding for the potential $40,000 additional funding will be included in General Fund contingency for 2008-09.