Supes approve TIF reimbursement for Rosemary's Mountain

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors approved an agreement with Granite Construction Company to reimburse the company for work performed on State Route 76 as part of the Rosemary’s Mountain quarry project.

The 5-0 vote October 18 sets conditions for acceptable reimbursement amounts and the scope of work. The Transportation Impact Fee (TIF) for the Rosemary’s Mountain development will be deducted from the total reimbursement amount.

In October 2002 the supervisors granted a major use permit for the Rosemary’s Mountain project and also certified the Environmental Impact Report and addendum for the controversial project. The project site consists of 96.4 acres approximately 1.25 miles east of Interstate 15; the project entrance is approximately 2,000 feet west of Couser Canyon Road. Over a 20-year period an estimated 22 million tons of aggregate is expected to be mined.

As part of the project’s conditions of approval, Granite Construction Company will realign State Route 76 and widen the road from two lanes to four from Interstate 15 to the project entrance. State Route 76 east of Interstate 15 has been designated as a Circulation Element road, but its improvement was not included in the Regional Transportation Plan approved by the San Diego Association of Governments and had the county not approved the Transportation Impact Fee in April 2005 the road improvements likely would not have been constructed in the near future.

The TIF ordinance includes a clause allowing for reimbursement for developers who advance funding and construct road improvements which eliminate capacity deficiencies in roads identified in the TIF plan. Such reimbursements will only cover verified actual costs beyond the TIF costs the developer is required to pay for the project impacts. The agreement with Granite Construction Company is the first use of the TIF reimbursement policy.

The initial adoption of the TIF ordinance deferred the portion of Highway 76 east of Interstate 15 for future adoption of costs. In September 2005 the supervisors amended the list of TIF roads to cover State Route 76 east of I-15. The TIF fee includes both the project’s share of costs for future road improvements within the project’s community planning area and a regional roads fee to cover multi-community roads within the designated region. The Bonsall, Fallbrook, Pala-Pauma, Rainbow, and Valley Center community planning areas are all within the North Region.

In addition to stipulating that reimbursement will be for actual costs beyond the TIF requirement, the agreement notes that reimbursement will occur through TIF credits for other projects, cash reimbursement, or a combination of those two. Payments will be made quarterly from fees collected in the North Region TIF fund.

The agreement also stipulates procedures for competitive bidding of the contract and establishes appropriate reimbursement procedures for design, environmental planning, construction management, California Department of Transportation permitting, environmental permitting, off-site right-of-way dedications, and off-site mitigation parcels. The reimbursement will cover construction costs, fair market value paid for right-of-way and mitigation parcels necessary for construction and permitting, Caltrans oversight costs, and 13 percent of design, environmental planning, and construction management costs.

The construction contract must be a firm fixed price contract with allowance only for changes initiated by a public agency or additional work due to latent conditions. Reimbursement will not be allowed for extra work due to design errors or omissions or due to inefficiencies in construction management. Granite Construction Company will be required to solicit competitive bids and a minimum of three bids will be required. If the lowest qualified bid is not selected, Granite Construction Company will pay the difference between the low bid and the bid chosen.

The agreement itself is categorically exempt from California Environmental Quality Act guidelines, but before the specific Highway 76 project is approved environmental review will be conducted with potential alternatives and mitigation requirements being addressed.

The reimbursement to Granite Construction Company will begin upon completion and acceptance of facilities and determination of actual cost.