City manager: Waterford wins nearly $1 million in ATP grants; staff reports community center punch list and Waterstone development timeline

City Manager Amanda told the council that at the Stanislaus policy board meeting the city was awarded two Active Transportation Program (ATP) grants totaling about $1 million and partial funding for a citywide active-transportation plan; staff said additional funding (Caltrans or local match) of a couple hundred thousand dollars may be required to complete the plan.

One grant is scoped for sidewalks, curbs, gutters and lighting along Washington, Rhine Way and Pasadena in and around the high school to reduce pedestrian walking in the street; construction is likely about two years out, staff said. The partial ATP funding covers work on a new active-transportation plan (bicycle and pedestrian network) and staff said a complete plan will help the city compete for future grants because federal and state grant programs favor jurisdictions with adopted safety and transportation plans.

City staff (Mr. Stafford) provided a community-center construction update: the architect (Greg Pyres of Red Inc.) and staff completed a punch-list walkthrough, and the contractor reported a possible issue in a drain line. Staff said a sink drain located about 40 feet in from access had a blockage in piping that has not been used in about 20 years; staff are investigating options to clear or reroute the drain and said saw cutting might be required, which could delay completion.

On subdivisions and housing, the city manager said a developer’s property labeled Waterstone A and Waterstone C is located on the northeast side of town (south of Vineyard Road, abutting the MID Main Canal). Together staff said those parcels will produce about 80 single-family homes. The developer has requested annexation into CFD 2019; staff said the construction phasing will place underground utilities for both phases first and pave/build the first phase, with potential resale contracts in place for the builder (staff stated the parcels are in contract to sell and referred to a buyer name in staff remarks). The city manager said she expects construction activity to begin this summer once the developer completes paving and final mapping.

No formal council action was taken on these items at this meeting; staff said they will return with any funding requests if Caltrans match funding is required for the ATP planning grant.

Quotes (verbatim from staff):

"Last night at the Stancorp policy board meeting, we were awarded 2 ATP grants totaling just around a million dollars." — Amanda, city manager

"We're really close. Greg will be finalizing the punch list in the next week or so... 1 of the drain lines from 1 of the sinks 40 feet in has got a blockage, and they can't get through it." — Mr. Stafford, city staff

Ending: Staff will continue punch-list work on the community center, investigate the drainage blockage and return if additional funds are needed to complete the active-transportation plan; the Waterstone subdivision remains in the developer review and mapping stages with a projected start to vertical construction later this summer.