Fiscal Note
Adoption of the Resolution will not commit the Council to additional expenditures at this time, but represents a step toward ultimately significant potential impacts on future City capital and operating expenses. The Madison Streetcar Preliminary Feasibility Study will develop estimates for capital and operating costs of a Start-Up Streetcar System and identify necessary steps for implementing the system, should it be recommended to move forward. Costs for the system will be borne by a mix of Federal, State and Local dollars. Future extensions of the initial Start-Up Streetcar System may have additional impacts to City finances.
This Resolution authorizes initiation of a Preliminary Feasibility Study. City planning staff estimate that the study process will require one year to complete - at an estimated cost of $300,000. Funding of $300,000 in General Obligation Debt funds is available and authorized in the 2005 Planning and Development Capital Budget (via Resolution #01418 enacted 7/5/05) in Account #CE22-58015-810521.
Planning staff resources will be reallocated to provide support for the Streetcar Study Committee without the need for additional expenditure. Any future expenditures associated with the project will require further Council approval.
Title
Authorizing the Mayor and the City Clerk to enter into an agreement with the consultant team of HDR, et al., for conducting the Madison Streetcar Preliminary Feasibility Study.
Body
PREAMBLE
Redevelopment of underutilized urban land, or infill development, is an important land use and economic development goal for the City of Madison. To that end, electric streetcars on rails represent a viable urban neighborhood-friendly form of transportation that can meet numerous community goals - including the important goal of promoting residential and commercial infill development.
Electric streetcars can act as a circulator among downtown destinations for both visitors and residents. Streetcars have the ability to move students and employees around the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, and also provide commuter options between homes and jobs within the City. Streetcars are urban neighborhood-friendly because they are clean and quiet, small enough in scale to fit into the urban landscape, and can make multiple stops to serve dense neighborhoods. In addition, they are versatile enough to run on railroad rights-of-way and within urban streets.
In order to help encourage urban infill development, many existing streetcar projects incorporate the use of various private sector funding mechanisms, such as tax increment financing, the creation of benefit assessment districts or other agreements among private sector interests. The Madison Streetcar Preliminary Feasibility Study will explore some of these innovative financing mechanisms, working with the streetcar line, to potentially be used to foster urban redevelopment in Madison.
The Madison Streetcar Study Committee has been established to provide management and oversight of the study. City of Madison staff will assist the work of the committee. The committee has 15 members and is charged with conducting the study and issuing a report with recommendations. This committee will submit its report and recommendations to the Mayor and the Common Council for further consideration.
The Madison Streetcar Preliminary Feasibility Study will, at a minimum, include the following regarding the electric streetcar and urban redevelopment in Madison:
· An identification of specific sites, sub-areas and districts within central Madison that exhibit strong potential for urban infill development;
· An evaluation of potential streetcar routes and potential future extensions to Madison neighborhoods;
· An evaluation of potential streetcar financing mechanisms - including the use of benefit assessment districts or other private sector agreements;
· A recommendation for initial streetcar routes - including estimates of capital and operating costs, and the timing and phasing of construction; and,
· A recommended financing and management plan for the streetcar system.
WHEREAS, the total cost of the Madison Streetcar Preliminary Feasibility Study contract is $300,000; and,
WHEREAS, the City of Madison released a request for proposals (RFP) for Streetcar Preliminary Feasibility Study services. Copies of the RFP were sent to approximately fifty (50) consultants and advertised in Passenger Transport, a national transit industry publication. The City of Madison received three (3) proposals; and
WHEREAS, the three proposals were reviewed by City of Madison staff and members of the Streetcar Study Committee. The consultant team of HDR et al. were found to be a responsive and responsible proposer whose proposal is most advantageous to the City of Madison; and
WHEREAS, this calls for the consultant team of HDR et al. to conduct the Madison Streetcar Preliminary Feasibility Study project as specified in the RFP; and,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the bid for the Preliminary Feasibility Study services be awarded to the consultant team of HDR, et al. and authorizing the Mayor and the City Clerk to sign any necessary subsequent agreements.