Title
Consider and take action on a resolution authorizing an amendment to the Advanced Funding Agreement with the Texas Department of Transportation for the construction of the North Extension of Landing Blvd Project (ST1914) (Executive Director of Capital Projects)
Background:
Approval of this resolution will authorize an amendment to the current AFA with the Texas Department of Transportation, executed in February 2020, for the construction of the North Extension of Landing Blvd Project (ST1914). This is an interim step we need to take to reconcile current approved funding for the project. In December 2022, we received approval from HGAC to amend our Advanced Funding Agreement (AFA) to increase the Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) funding due to inflation. This increase was approved by the Transportation Policy Council (TPC) on January 5, 2023. This amendment increased the cost of project by $14,419,135 from $49,582,223 to $64,001,358. The federal share of this increase is 80% or $11,535,308.
We also have been approved by HGAC to participate in the Regional Strategic Transportation Fund Program which provides a mechanism to exchange transportation development credits for local funds. This program will increase the federal funding amount and uses the transportation development credits as the match, which in essence means the federal government will fund the project 100% upfront with City contributing 10% of the cost plus committing to construct a regional transportation project of similar size to 10% contribution. Once we receive complete approval of this funding, the AFA will be amended once again to reflect the final funding agreement. On March 28, 2023, Council passed a resolution to participate in this program.
The H-GAC selected the North Extension of Landing Blvd Project to receive federal funding through the 2017-2020 Transportation Improvement Program. Since the development of the preliminary design, the construction cost has grown considerably. In early 2021, the project was delayed to June 2023 due to the USACE permit and right-of-way acquisition. A new construction estimate requested from the consultant came in at $63,822,710 which was a $14,419,135 increase from previous cost estimate. To maximize our federal funding and get additional support to offset some of these costs, we approached H-GAC in the summer of 2022 with a request to increase the federal share of the project. In December 2022, our request was approved to increase the federal funding share of the project. The total AFA project cost amount related to this amendment stands at $64,001,358 which includes the eligible construction cost of $59,870,424 plus State’s direct and indirect costs of $4,130,934. The current (January 2023) cost share stands at $42,807,694 federal and $21,015,020 local (some of this local cost share will come from Webster). As stated above, we are also working with HGAC to getting federal share of project funding increase even more. Once completely approved, we will present it to Council for approval to amend the AFA once again to reflect final funding amounts.
This agenda Item will authorize City Manager to execute all necessary documents to complete this current Amendment.
Attachments:
1) Data Sheet
2) Proposed Resolution
3) Amendment 1
4) Original Advance Funding Agreement
5) CIP Project Sheet
6) Aerial Map
FUNDING
{X} The City’s portion remains within the authority of the 2019 Proposition B (Streets) funding, for project ST1914.
STRATEGIC PLANNING
{X} Addresses Strategic Planning Critical Success Factor #1: Develop and Maintain our Infrastructure