ALBEMARLE COUNTY SERVICE AUTHORITY AGENDA ITEM EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AGENDA TITLE: All Saints Anglican Church Request Turn Lane Project STAFF CONTACT(S)/PREPARER: Gary O Connell, Executive Director Jeremy Lynn, Senior Civil Engineer AGENDA DATE: November 21, 2013 ACTION: ATTACHMENTS: YES BACKGROUND: As was discussed at the past two Board meetings, the All Saints Anglican Church on Ivy Road has been concerned about the safety of turning into the Church off of Route 250, to the point that they had approached VDOT about this on numerous occasions. VDOT has said this location does not rise to the level for a state funded safety project. VDOT does however agree that if the Church constructed the turn lane, VDOT would accept it. The Church raised funds, based on a contractor s estimate, to build the turn lane. The Church had the contractor start initial work when we became aware of the project. There was no consideration of the water valves/lines affected by the turn lane project, nor funding set aside for that purpose. In a normal VDOT managed project, it would be built into the project to relocate the utilities VDOT does not like for utilities to be in the roads, as they can get damaged from that practice. We have been involved for about four months now in the turn lane project being constructed by the All Saints Anglican Church, under the auspices of VDOT. About three months ago, we met with a representative of the Church and their contractor Digs, Inc. to further discuss the project and the fact that the turn lane would be constructed over an existing waterline which would leave it at a depth of 8 to 9 feet (our normal depths are 3 to 4 feet). At the meeting, we were asked if the ACSA would contribute to the funding of the project since this was a public safety issue. We have said that the ACSA, in our opinion, would not contribute to the project and that it was not in the best interest for the ACSA to have a water main this deep to maintain in the case of an emergency repair. We felt at that time that our customers should not bear the expense of relocating the waterline, as that it is a normal development-related expense. Since the initial meeting, we have had a series of meetings and discussions with VDOT, the contractor, members of the Church, and recently at last month s Board meeting. We have recently had several follow-up conversations with the Church about options. The Church, nor VDOT, as we are told have any additional funding. For our safety purposes (if the project moves forward without relocating the waterline), we are in a location very close to a major roadway that makes a repair more difficult, and less safe for our employees. We are concerned about 010101AgendaExecSumAllStAnglicanChurch112113
ALBEMARLE COUNTY SERVICE AUTHORITY AGENDA ITEM EXECUTIVE SUMMARY allowing a waterline depth of greater than 3 to 4 feet. In similar circumstances, in other locations, the waterline would be required to be relocated. The request to add fill over the existing waterline to install a turn lane along Route 250 West creates the following issues and expenses to repair or expose the lines or valves, and special safety considerations: The existing lines and valves have been in service for 30+ years. The older the line, the more they are prone to have issues. Test plugs and bolts on valves are the most likely to fail, we have seen this occur in other parts of the system. OSHA safety standards requires a trench box to be used whenever the excavation is five feet or greater in depth. Based on the turn lane proposal, we would be required to stack our trench boxes in order to safely access the pipe or valves. This adds to the employee safety risk. Adding the turn lane would make the time necessary to access the pipe and set up the safety measures much longer. This would mean that Greencroft Club, Greencroft Subdivision, Knoll Ridge and Kearsarge Subdivision and the Church would be without water service and fire protection for an extended period of time (in extreme case could be several days). The valves that would be in the slope outside of the pavement during excavation would cause issues with the possibility of undermining the fill under the road. The volume of traffic and high speeds would necessitate the ACSA renting a crash cushion (safety barrier) and an arrow board for traffic control, whenever we would need to work on lines or valves. Depending on the extent of the problem and location, the restoration costs can be very significant; under the worst case scenario a repair could be as much as $60,000 in today s dollars. The installation of the turn lane and the slope, as proposed, would potentially require closing the eastbound lane of Route 250 in order to load and remove asphalt and any material excavated to expose pipe and valves. The water pressure in the area exceeds 100 psi (a high pressure in our systems), which will increase the potential for damage. We re-approached VDOT to see if any traffic safety funding could be provided to this project, and to our understanding there are not any additional funds. The VDOT Charlottesville Resident Administrator, Joel DeNunzio, reiterated this point at September s meeting, and again in a subsequent conversation and email. In the attached email, Mr. DeNunzio contends that it is the private property owner s responsibility and not VDOT s to fund. See the attached email, state law and state administrative code: Public transportation funds cannot be used for these improvements all are the responsibility of the property owner for the funding. 010101AgendaExecSumAllStAnglicanChurch112113
ALBEMARLE COUNTY SERVICE AUTHORITY AGENDA ITEM EXECUTIVE SUMMARY DISCUSSION: The Church is requesting relief on moving the waterline. Our staff opinion is for emergency maintenance and employee safety that we do not allow waterlines this deep (8-9 feet), and that this waterline should be relocated. Normally, the waterline relocation is at the full expense of the developer (the Church in this case). Financing Options for the Board to Consider: The staff continues to believe that the project should not be allowed for the waterline to be covered (at a proposed depth of 8 to 9 feet), and that the waterline should be relocated. Given some of the Board s interest to find another solution, we have been exploring some additional options that were discussed at the Board meeting, plus the options brought up last month. Here is background on two other options. We do not recommend these, but providing information for a full range of options: (a) Future Repair Agreement Church agrees to pay for future emergency costs in the event of a major water break. The difficulty with this is knowing when and how to arrive at a cost figure. The current line is over 30 years old and a break could happen tomorrow or 20 years from now. We have estimated to repair the line in a major break (labor, materials, and costs to replace a good deal of the turn lane that could get damaged), that it could cost as much as $60,000+ depending on the magnitude of the break. A recent example is a leak at Fontana, not under a state road, that cost over $20,000 to repair the leak. A typical, simple leak can cost between $7,500 and $9,000 at normal depth, and outside a roadway. The Church sharing in this cost at some percentage would be very expensive, and unpredictable. There would be no way for the Church to plan for such an expense. (b) Share in the Relocation of Waterline We explored an approach that would move the current waterline out of the proposed turn lane location (this is the ACSA staff preferred solution if the turn lane project is to move forward). This approach recognizes the useful life (50 years) of the waterline, and that the line is about 30 years old. At some point in the future 20+ years, it is likely the ACSA would be replacing the current line and valves. This approach would credit the replacement, by the ACSA contributing 60% (30 year current life, to estimated useful life of 50 years = 60%). The Church, VDOT or Albemarle County would be responsible for the other 40% (remaining future useful life of the waterline). The Board requested at your last meeting that we prepare a cost estimate to conduct surveying for the waterline relocation, and in-house design costs for the project. We have a surveying estimate of $3,675.00, and estimated in-house engineering staff time for a design sketch of $1,300.00, or a total cost for a design of $4,975.00 in order obtain contractor bids. 010101AgendaExecSumAllStAnglicanChurch112113
ALBEMARLE COUNTY SERVICE AUTHORITY AGENDA ITEM EXECUTIVE SUMMARY RECOMMENDATION: Support the staff recommendation and policy to not allow a waterline beyond a 3 to 4 foot depth, which in this case would require the relocation of the waterline. Summary of Current Options for the Board to Consider: (1) Waterline needs to be relocated: a) At full expense of the Church; b) At the full expense of the ACSA; c) At a shared expense (ACSA 60%, Church 40%) based on the current useful life of the waterline (consider 10 year financing for the Church if this option is chosen). (2) Allow the turn lane construction (to a depth of nine feet for the waterline), no current additional costs. Expensive option when in the future a waterline repair needs to be made. An agreement, as outlined earlier, could be developed to attempt to cover a future emergency repair cost, shared with the Church. BOARD ACTION REQUESTED: We continue to believe that the water line should be relocated if the turn lane project goes forward. We don t believe that ACSA funds should be used to relocate the water line. The Board needs to decide if you agree with that position. ATTACHMENTS: -Drawing of turn lane; -Map of waterline location; -VDOT Email; -State law and administrative code. 010101AgendaExecSumAllStAnglicanChurch112113