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Public Works gives status update on 2016 $350M public health and safety bond; projects move into construction
Summary
Public Works briefed the committee on the 2016 Public Health and Safety bond, reporting active work across six components including Zuckerberg Building 5 projects, community health centers, an ambulance deployment facility, neighborhood fire-station seismic work, and homeless-service site improvements. Several projects are in construction or procurement, and committee members requested further audits and location detail.
Public Works provided the committee with a detailed mid-cycle update on the 2016 Public Health and Safety general obligation bond, a $350 million measure approved by voters. Joe Chin, Public Works program manager for the bond program, said the program funds three client departments — the Department of Public Health (DPH), the San Francisco Fire Department (SFFD), and the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing — across six components and that two bond sales have already been completed to fund major components.
Chin said the Zuckerberg Building 5 component includes multiple active projects: an urgent-care clinic that is licensed and scheduled to open with a ceremony on Feb. 12, 2019; a 6H surge space and rehabilitation department relocation that have encountered schedule extensions related to unforeseen site conditions and code issues; and a phase 1 seismic upgrade that is addressing roughly 20–30 vacated locations. He said the program has advertised a request for qualifications (RFQ) for a construction-manager/general-contractor delivery to cover eight of 19 core Building 5 projects, with submittals expected by Feb. 8.
On community health centers, Chin said Maxine Hall is through design, has Department of Building Inspection approvals and received five bids; the contract is in the award phase with construction targeted for summer 2019. Castro Mission is in design with construction expected in late summer 2019. The Southeast Health Center (a new 22,000-square-foot Bayview facility) is in design, with design completion targeted for summer 2019 and construction before the end of the year.
Chin reported that the ambulance deployment facility (ADF) contract was awarded to SJ Amoroso, with a notice to proceed issued in October 2018 and construction tasks (pile-driving) beginning recently. He described the ADF as a hub for restocking ambulances and storing supplies and training resources; Assistant Deputy Chief Tony Rivera (SFFD) told the committee the facility will improve logistics and serve as a resilient operations hub near Fire Station 9 at 2235 Gerald Avenue. Chin also outlined neighborhood fire-station work: hose-tower removal at six stations (Stations 6, 11, 12, 15, 20 and 38) and a generator replacement at Station 18, with entitlement processes driving schedule milestones.
For homeless-service sites, Chin noted 448 Turk Street is under construction with demolition finished and building-permit work underway; he said interior renovation is anticipated to start after permit issuance and targeted for completion in summer 2019. He said other city-owned shelters (1001 Polk, 260 Golden Gate, 525 Fifth Street) will receive deferred-maintenance improvements paid for with bond funds, and the 1064–68 Mission project (a multi-agency supportive housing and clinic site) is in design with construction expected by early 2020.
On finances, Chin said overall expenditures had been modest relative to the full capital program, and that encumbrances were increasing as construction contracts were awarded; he referenced encumbrances of roughly $30 million tied to the ambulance deployment facility. Committee members pressed for more oversight: the committee liaison asked to see the City Services Auditor (CSA) expenditure audits before further bond issuances and criticized the broad scope of the bond as difficult to govern and to convey to voters. A committee member noted ongoing litigation connected to the earlier San Francisco General Hospital rebuild involving contractor Webcor and said a trial was scheduled; committee members said they will monitor litigation developments.
Committee members asked Public Works to include project addresses and neighborhood cross-streets in future briefings so new members can better visualize project locations. Public Works provided several location references during Q&A (Maxine Hall given as 1305 Pierce Street; Southeast Health Center near Key Street in the Bayview). The committee also asked for risk and procurement details (market conditions, bid environment and workforce constraints) and heard that project teams continue to carry market-condition contingencies in cost estimates.
Next steps: committee members asked CSA and Public Works to provide additional audits and the project-level financial tables the committee requested, and to supply clearer site-location information in subsequent presentations.
