Council hears $45M-plus resiliency and infrastructure agenda including power backup, wastewater upgrades and major paving work

City staff on Tuesday outlined a multiyear program of resiliency and infrastructure investments the council has funded or prioritized, from water and wastewater hardening to traffic signal backups and a large pavement program.

Assistant City Manager and public-works leaders described roughly $23 million in projects focused on water and wastewater resiliency — reservoir hardening, backup power, interconnects, SCADA upgrades and disinfection improvements — either underway or planned in the current budget. The council was told the city has committed more than $45 million to resiliency projects in the current two-year budget cycle.

Public Works Director described a nearly $18 million pavement overlay and slurry project covering more than 50 miles of roadway, a citywide concrete/sidewalk replacement project (about 15,000 square feet of sidewalk replacement with additional curb and driveway work), and flood mitigation installations at two busy corridors. Staff also reported investments at the Hill Canyon treatment plant, including a co-generation facility upgrade that yielded an electricity billing correction and a city credit of over $75,000 from Southern California Edison.

Staff summarized planned generator connector installations for intersections (71 intersections, approximately 50% complete) and permanent upgrades to reflect battery backup for traffic signals. The municipal service center (MSC) electrification program will include nearly 100 level 2 and level 3 EV chargers, battery backup, solar interconnection and microgrid components to support city fleet and transit operations.

Council members noted recent experience with power outages and the urgency of resiliency investments. Staff tied many of the upgrades to grant-funded projects (FEMA) and to previously authorized budget items and said implementation will continue across fiscal years.