Form revised February 24, 2010

FISCAL NOTE FOR CAPITAL PROJECTS ONLY

Department:	Contact Person/Phone:	DOF Analyst/Phone:
Seattle City Light	Dave Barber / 684-0400	Calvin Chow / 684-4652

Legislation Title:

AN ORDINANCE relating to the City Light Department, authorizing the acquisition of real property commonly known as 1126 North 98th Street and 1133 North 100th Street in Seattle, Washington, for electric system purposes; amending the 2010 Adopted Budget by transferring existing appropriations between budget control levels; adding a new project and revising project allocations for certain projects in the 2010-2015 CIP; authorizing the acceptance of the deed; and ratifying and confirming certain prior acts.

Summary and background of the Legislation:

Project Name:	Project I.D.	Project Location:	Start Date:	End Date
North Service Center Expansion	9220	1126 N 98^th Street 1133 N 100^th Street	2^nd Qtr 2010	4^th Qtr 2012

City Light’s North Service Center is badly overcrowded and cannot be expanded to the north, south, or east due to the presence of residential neighborhoods.  The University of Washington has offered two parcels of land for sale which adjoin City Light’s North Service Center to the west.  City Light wishes to purchase this property on a willing seller basis.

City Light has offered the University of Washington $2,905,000 to purchase this property, subject to approval by the Seattle City Council.  The University has accepted City Light’s conditional offer, and the proposed sale to the City of Seattle has been approved by the University’s Board of Regents.

City Light obtained an appraisal and review appraisal which informed its offer to the University, and has since obtained a Phase I environmental assessment, an ALTA survey for extended title insurance, and has conducted facility programming to determine how this property could best be used on both a short and long-term basis.  City Light has met with the Licton Springs Community Council to discuss, and advised the Aurora Merchants Association of the proposed acquisition.  All comments have been supportive of the proposed acquisition.

City Light’s conceptual plans for use of this property are to tear down the older south warehouse to provide additional yard space; to provide security and drainage detention for the additional yard space; to move work units not requiring loading dock and warehouse adjacency from the main North Service Center (NSC) campus into the newly acquired property; and to move work units which would benefit from warehouse and loading dock adjacency into the main NSC campus.  Funding for these improvements is not being requested with this legislation.  Instead, any funding for improvements will be considered against other City Light priorities in the 2011-2012 Proposed Budget process.

In the longer term, City Light will consider moving Network Maintenance crews from the NSC to South Service Center, and moving Station Maintenance crews currently reporting to scattered sites into the NSC.  City Light would also like to provide semi-enclosed shelter for high-value vehicles and equipment.

__X_ This legislation creates, funds, or anticipates a new CIP Project.

The 2010-2015 Adopted Capital Improvement Program will be amended through this ordinance.  A new project, North Service Center Expansion, will be created.  Portions of two other CIP projects, Transmission Reliability (7104) and North Substation Transformer Replacements (7777) will be deferred to pay for this project.

__X_ This legislation has financial implications.

Appropriations: 

Fund Name and Number	Department	Budget Control Level*	Existing 2009 Appropriation	New 2010 Appropriation (if any)	2011 Anticipated Appropriation
City Light Fund (41000)	Seattle City Light	Power Supply and Energy Delivery – CIP (SCL250)	$0	$2,935,000	$550,000
TOTAL			$0	$2,935,000	$550,000

Notes:  The appropriation of $2,935,000 in 2010 will support $2,905,000 for property acquisition and $30,000 for due diligence and closing costs. 

Spending Plan and Future Appropriations for Capital Projects:

Spending Plan and Budget	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	Total
Spending Plan	$2,935	$550	$1,123				$4,608
Current Year Appropriation	$2,935
Future Appropriations		$550	$1,123				$4,608

Notes:   The planned appropriation of $550,000 in 2011 is intended to support geotechnical and additional hazardous materials surveys, programming, architecture, and cost estimating, demolition of the south warehouse, and provide drainage detention, yard surfacing, and fencing for the new yard area.  The planned appropriation of $1,123,000 in 2012 is intended to build out the north warehouse for operational uses.  These planned appropriations will be considered against other City Light priorities in the 2011-2012 Proposed Budget process.

Funding source:

Funding Source (Fund Name and Number, if applicable)	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	Total
City Light Fund (41000)	$2,935	$550	$1,123				$4,608
TOTAL	$2,935	$550	$1,123				$4,608

Uses and Sources for Operation and Maintenance Costs for the Project:

O&M	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	Total
Uses
Start Up
On-going		$40	$40	$40	$40	$40	$200
Sources (itemize)		City Light Fund (41000)

Notes:  Routine maintenance, janitorial, and utilities.

Periodic Major Maintenance costs for the project:

Major Maintenance Item	Frequency	Cost	Likely Funding Source
Built-Up Roof Replacement	35 Years	$500	City Light Fund (41000)
TOTAL		$500

Funding sources for replacement of project:   N/A

Total Regular Positions Created, Modified, Or Abrogated Through This Legislation, Including FTE Impact:   None

· What is the financial cost of not implementing the legislation:

Crew Inefficiencies.  The intent of this acquisition is to improve the efficiency of City Light’s field operations by relieving overcrowding in the North Service Center.  At present, overcrowded conditions require that some crew vehicles must queue for dock space, and some crew vehicles must be loaded from the warehouse to the yard.  Operations at the North Service Center are highly organized to avoid delays, but nonetheless, some are unavoidable under current conditions.  The costs of continuing inefficiencies are difficult to determine, but the delays of multiple crews in dispatching and returning can be thousands of dollars per hour.       

Deferred Acquisition.  This purchase could be deferred to a time with less budget shortfall.  Real estate prices are currently low, and City Light believes that the agreed upon price for this improved property is close to raw land values.  If City Light were to purchase this property at a later date, it would likely be in private ownership (as opposed to the current public ownership), and the price could be much higher.  The City might need to use its powers of eminent domain, and would likely   incur relocation costs in addition to the purchase price.   

· Does this legislation affect any departments besides the originating department? 

No.

· What are the possible alternatives to the legislation that could achieve the same or similar objectives?

City Light could purchase land and develop facilities for some of its crews at a satellite site.       A separate field operations complex would require some duplication of administrative, ware-house, and crew facilities. 

The acquisition of this property supports the model of providing City Light customer service   and managing field operations out of two shops and yards facilities, one in north Seattle and one in south Seattle.  This model works well for City Light due to the compact size of its service area, and for disaster preparedness (e.g., provides response capacity north and south of the Lake Washington Ship Canal).  The alternative of more decentralized shops and yards is better suited for utilities with larger service areas and greater work site travel times. 

· Is the legislation subject to public hearing requirements:   No

· Other Issues:   None

· List attachments to the fiscal note below:

Attachment A:  Map of Parcels Proposed to be Acquired

Map of Parcels Proposed to be Acquired