Attached is a draft Cost Sharing Agreement Between the Santa Clara County Transit District and the City of Sunnyvale for Modifications the to Tasman West Light Rail Project.

This agreement formally establishes certain capital improvements to be provided by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) and the City related to the Tasman West light rail transit project in exchange for funds. These improvements have been identified at various times throughout the implementation of the light rail project. Improvements proposed under this Agreement have been previously approved by the City Council, with the exception of construction of sidewalk along portions of Java Drive. A budget modification is proposed in this report to accept $375,000 in funds from the Valley Transportation Authority for the purpose of constructing these sidewalks. The Cost Sharing Agreement will document agreement to exchange funds, establish invoicing and other requirements and allow reimbursement for certain outside grant funding.

The October 26, 1993 Cooperative Agreement Between the City of Sunnyvale and the Santa Clara County Transit District (aka VTA) Concerning the Tasman Corridor Light Rail Project ("Settlement Agreement") established a working precedent whereby facilities desired by the City and not currently in place, or facilities over and above the VTA basic light rail design standard would be considered project enhancements. Over the course of the project design process, City staff has identified enhancements for incorporation into the Tasman project. City staff determined that these enhancements were desirable to incorporate into Tasman project for several related reasons. Some of the enhancements were things previously budgeted by the City prior to approval of the Tasman project. Also, the City can realize a benefit of minimized construction cost and disruption by incorporation of enhancements into the Tasman project. Or, in the case of a Moffett Park Drive/Lockheed Martin Way traffic signal enhancement, the City negotiated VTA participation in the cost of the signal to leverage City funds for improved traffic operations. All enhancements have been previously considered and approved by Council and funds are budgeted to pay the City’s share.

In addition, the attached agreement specifies that the VTA will contribute $375,000 to the City for the construction of sidewalk on various portions of Java Drive. This contribution was proffered by the VTA as a means to meet mitigation requirements for the Tasman project, and as "seed money" to encourage further future sidewalk construction in the area by the City. Sidewalk along Java was not originally designed into the Tasman project and this contribution was not offered until late 1997. As a result, for various reasons related to project administration, the VTA is requesting that the City construct these sidewalks.

The Valley Transportation Authority Board of Directors considered and approved this draft agreement at its April 2, 1998 meeting.

The attached agreement identifies three City-funded enhancements that have been identified that the VTA has agreed to construct. The three improvements are:

• Sidewalks on Mathilda Avenue between Lockheed-Martin Way and Moffett Park Drive, $132,500
• Fair Oaks Avenue/Persian Drive Bike Path - $ 32,500
• Lockheed Martin Way/Moffett Park Drive Traffic Signal - $ 72,000

Outside grant funds have been secured to pay the costs of the Mathilda Avenue sidewalk and the Fair Oaks/Persian bike path. City funds are budgeted to pay for the City’s share (3/5’s) of the Lockheed Martin Way/Moffett Park Drive traffic signal. This 3/5’s contribution is based on the number of intersection legs affected by light rail and are therefore assumed to be light rail-related costs.

The VTA recognized recently that sidewalks in the area of Java Drive are insufficient to provide suitable connection between light rail stations and nearby businesses. Virtually the entire Moffett Industrial Park area is devoid of sidewalks. The City has recognized this for years and has considered various remedies for what would be a multi-million dollar retrofit of streets and streetscapes to provide sidewalks. Because of the cost and disruption a comprehensive sidewalk retrofit would require, the City Council in 1992 adopted a policy of requiring new development or redevelopment to provide sidewalks. The City has also tried and failed to secure major outside grant funding for a retrofit.

The VTA would like to take an initial step of retrofitting the area with sidewalks by providing some sidewalks in the immediate area of light rail stations along Java Drive. While a detailed estimation of the cost to provide complete sidewalks the length of Java Drive has not been conducted, the VTA has identified an amount of $ 375,000 to construct as much sidewalk as possible in these areas. The VTA will provide $ 375,000 in funds to the City for this purpose. City staff believes this amount may not be sufficient to construct sidewalk the entire length of Java; however it will provide some significant, immediately functional pedestrian links to light rail.

The VTA believes that adding sidewalk work into the light rail transit project at this late date would be disadvantageous because it would not allow a competitive bid process. The VTA has requested that the City construct these sidewalks for this reason. Also, the VTA believes that a separate City capital project would be more efficiently administered than by the large Tasman Project administration, and therefore would be more cost effective. Also, a City-managed project would allow the construction to better adhere to City standards. City staff concurs with the above reasoning.

In exchange for providing funding, the VTA is requesting that the City pursue future outside funding for additional sidewalk construction in the vicinity of light rail from the Transportation Development Act discretionary fund. This fund is for regionally significant bike and pedestrian projects. Santa Clara County cities and the County can compete for grants from this fund on an annual basis. The agreement with the VTA simply commits the City to submitting an annual grant application for sidewalk construction in the Moffett Industrial Park area. It does not preclude the City from applying for other City projects, nor does it harm the ability of the City to receive TDA discretionary funds for other projects. The City will continue to receive a guaranteed allocation of TDA funds annually for other bike and pedestrian projects.

Approval of this agreement constitutes a positive fiscal impact to the City from the receipt of $375,000 for the construction of public improvements. City funding of improvements to be constructed by the VTA has not been previously budgeted and a budget modification in the amount of $375,000 is requested to enable staff to proceed with this project.