Approve agreement with Oeste Ranch Partners, LLC in the amount of $212,440 for the acquisition of a roadway and utility easement, as well as a temporary construction easement for the County Road 98 Bike and Safety Improvement Project, Phase II. (No general fund impact) (Lindbo/Razo)

A permanent roadway and utility easement and a temporary construction easement are required on this property for the County Road (CR) 98 Safety Improvement Project, Phase II. Monument, ROW Inc., the County’s property acquisition consultant, had the easement interests to be acquired, appraised and worked with the property owner to come to a mutually acceptable purchase agreement (Attachment A).

Background

The CR 98 Bike and Safety Improvement Project, Phase II (Project) will extend the improvements completed in 2014 between Woodland and County Road 29 southward to the Solano County line. The Project has received federal transportation funding for the preliminary engineering and project development, right of way, and construction phases through the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) in the amounts of $2,364,782, $4,180,00, and $8,725,000, respectively.

On December 11, 2018, the Board of Supervisors approved staff’s recommendation for roundabouts for the intersection treatment for the main intersections with CR 98. Staff moved forward with the environmental phase of the Project. The Natural Environment Study (NES) was approved by Caltrans on January 27, 2021, and the Board of Supervisors adopted the Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND) on April 26, 2022, as the appropriate level of environmental review in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). On November 7, 2022, Caltrans concluded that a Categorical Exclusion was the appropriate determination for the project under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

Caltrans authorized the County to initiate the right-of-way (ROW) phase on December 7, 2022. Subsequently, the ROW consultant, Monument ROW, Inc. (Monument) and the survey consultant, Mark Thomas & Company, Inc. (Surveyor), began their work. The Surveyor placed stakes along all properties impacted by the Project. The stakes were used by Pattison & Associates, a subconsultant to Monument, to perform appraisals and develop appraisal reports for all acquisition areas to determine fair market value. In mid-September 2023, Monument began to contact all property owners to present written offers to acquire the easements needed for the Project.  Due to harvest season, most property owners elected to receive their offer packages via mail. We expect the right of way acquisition process to continue through 2025.

On November 7, 2023, staff provided a project update and recommended to the Board to authorize staff to phase the Project's construction due to unsuccessful attempts to obtain additional grants to fund the entire cost of construction. Based on the recommendation, the first construction phase would be between Solano County and Hutchison Drive.

The ROW phase is fully funded, and staff is focusing first to acquire the ROW needed for the utility relocation and the area within the first construction phase.  All utilities will be relocated to the east side of CR 98. Utility providers are working on the design for the entire project and have tentatively scheduled to relocate all facilities in fall of 2026.

Staff is also working with willing property owners as they review and respond to their offer packages delivered in mid-September 2023, which is the case with the attached agreement.

County Counsel has approved the agreement as to form.

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