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San Bruno staff outline Measure Q spending plan and multi‑year stormwater repairs
Summary
City engineering staff told the City Council during a study session that Measure Q funds and a new condition assessment will guide repairs and larger flood‑mitigation projects, but many capacity fixes — pump stations and tide gates — will require interagency permitting and multi‑year work.
Assistant city engineer Richie told the council the city’s stormwater system combines traditional storm drains with green‑infrastructure elements such as trash capture devices and bioretention, and that heavier storms, deteriorating pipes and downstream boundary limits have led to localized flooding. He said the stormwater division currently budgets about $250,000 a year for repairs and has begun a condition assessment expected to take roughly a year to identify the highest‑risk locations.
Richie said the condition assessment is intended to let the city “get eyes on the system” and better estimate needs; staff are proposing roughly $1 million per year in initial program spending while master‑plan updates and larger capacity projects are evaluated. He described three categories of work: short‑term condition repairs, mid‑term upgrades to increase infiltration (green infrastructure), and long‑lead, regional flood‑mitigation projects such as pump‑station rehabilitation and tide‑gate improvements that will trigger state and federal permits.
Nick Paderos and other finance staff briefed the council on the proposed Measure Q bond timing and modeling. The presentation outlined a multi‑tranche bond plan that staff say is intended to balance available proceeds with the five‑year requirement in the bond covenants to substantially complete projects. Paderos reiterated that Measure Q proceeds are restricted to streets, stormwater and fire stations; that restriction shapes which projects can move forward in each issuance.
Council members pressed staff about how to show early, visible project progress to the public and about whether the proposed annual spending is adequate to address known deferred maintenance. Staff replied that the assessment will enable better near‑term prioritization but that many of the largest measures — pump stations, tide‑gate work and any project that affects waterways — will require multi‑agency coordination and environmental review and therefore take multiple years to implement.
The council did not take formal action in the study session; staff said they would return with assessment results and refined cost estimates that would inform which projects to program in the first bond issuance.
