I. RECOMMENDATION:
Adopt the Street Hump Program and direct staff to prepare the program to be ready at the start of the new fiscal year.
II. BACKGROUND:
Staff presented a draft program on the May 6th City Council Meeting. Changes were made to create a program that best fits Coalinga at the direction of City Council. Specifically, these changes were to make the minimum length of a segment valid for a street hump align with the average length of a street segment in Coalinga (400’), Investigate the cost of asphalt street humps, and cost share the program.
III. DISCUSSION:
An investigation was conducted to determine the average length of a street segment. This length was found to be 602’. However, it did not seem sensical the exclude one area over another. Thus, the program was modified to accept 400’ segments. This will include most of the block segments in the city.
Typically, in a block segment, there are approximately 15 homes. As a minimum, 10 of those homes would have to sign a petition to have a street hump installed. Once a valid petition has been handed to the city, a vote process would be enacted. This is a simple 2/3 majority vote would occur. If and when the vote was to pass, there is a 10-day notification minimum to the surrounding area. Residents, extending to 300’ of the edge of the segment would be notified. A public hearing would then be held at the earliest City Council meeting, and residents for or against the street hump would have their chance to have themselves heard prior to Council acceptance or rejection.
If council accepts the installation, a durable rubber speed hump would be installed by public works in the area. This rubber street hump would then be replaced by a more permanent asphalt street hump after a 6-month trial period, assuming no successful petitions to remove/relocate the hump passed.
Cost of the program is shared between Public Works and the residents requesting the street hump. Due to the variable nature of street width, an average of 41’ was established to generate an average cost of installation. The cost was found to be approximately $1000 per street hump. Both rubber and asphalt installations were found to be approximately equal cost. When residents form their petition, a “Community Representative” must be established. This individual will then be responsible for collecting funds. A total of $600 will be due at the time the petition is handed to the City. Should the petition fail, $500 of those funds are given back to “Community Representative”. The $100 not returned represents costs associated with staff time required to enact the voting process.
More details can be found in the guidelines document attached to this report.
IV. ALTERNATIVES:
- Adopt the program as it is written
- Adopt the program with modifications
- Reject the program entirely
V. FISCAL IMPACT:
The cost of each street hump, both rubber and asphalt, were found to be approximately $1000. This price excludes the labor costs of Public Works employees. The City’s portion of the cost share element would be taken from local street funds. |