Measure T1 -$100 Million to Improve Existing City Infrastructure & Facilities
Click here for Measure T1 Program and Project Updates
Click here for Measure T1 Community Meetings and Events
In November of 2016, Berkeley voters passed Measure T1 with
an 86.5% approval. This measure authorizes the
City to sell $100 million of General Obligation (GO) Bonds to repair, renovate,
replace or reconstruct the City’s aging infrastructure and facilities,
including sidewalk, storm drains, parks, streets, community centers and other
important City facilities and buildings. Phase 1 projects were approved by City
Council on June 27, 2017 (see the current list of 45 Measure T1 Phase 1 planning or construction projects). Information on Phase 2 Public Process, Phase 1 operations, and T1 bond program management is below.
Measure T1 Bond Program Management
The T1 Management Team, comprised of Parks, Recreation & Waterfront and Public Works management, manages the Measure T1 bond program. The team meets regularly to review the T1 budget, expenditures, project process and prepare detailed reports for Council, Commission and the Community.
A consultant was hired to develop a Policies and Procedures manual for the T1 program. The goal of the T1 manual is to provide clear and concise guidelines on the management of T1 funds. This manual is expected to improve the understanding of policies and procedures by staff and the community and help prepare the City for future audits.
See the T1 Policies and Procedures Manual (as of January 2019).
T1 expenditures will be audited every two years in order to verify that all T1 funding is being spent correctly. The audit for the first two year period, July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2020, was completed by Badawai and Associates.
On September 13, 2016, in anticipation of the passage of Measure T1, City Council adopted Resolution No. 67,666-N.S. The City Council resolved to employ measures to maximize accountability, fiscal responsibility and public input by providing guidelines for public participation and City Council decisions in determining spending priorities and allocations of bond revenues. City staff and commissions began development of these measures and processes.
In November of 2016, Berkeley voters passed Measure T1 with an 86.5% approval. This measure authorizes the City to sell $100 million of General Obligation Bonds (GO Bonds) to repair, renovate, replace or reconstruct the City’s aging infrastructure and facilities, including sidewalk, storm drains, parks, streets, community centers and other important City facilities and buildings. Phase 1 projects were approved by City Council on June 27, 2017. The current list of those projects shows the 45 planning or construction projects that are receiving T1 funding. Information on the public process for Phase 1 and Phase 2 and Bond Program Management is below
The Public Works Commission & Parks & Waterfront Commission were designated as the two lead commissions for the community input process for the T1 program. Each lead commission would solicit input from 10 other participating City Commissions:
Other interested commissions were welcome to provide input through the two lead commissions. The Landmarks Preservation Commission expressed their interest and joined the process.
The proposed program would phase the implementation of the T1 Program projects over three phases spanning a total of 12 years. The phases would enable the City to evenly distribute the workload over time, minimize disruption to City services and facilities during renovations, provide adequate time for the planning and design of a variety of projects destined for construction, incorporate project-specific neighborhood and community meetings for input into design details, allow opportunities to seek alternate or supplemental funding sources to leverage funds, and phase expenditures to comply with bond requirements.
Phase 1 Public Process and Selection of Projects
From January 2017 through February 2017, the lead Commissions gathered and reached out to the participating commissions to discuss various T1 projects during their regularly scheduled public commission meetings. These commissions provided their feedback regarding T1 projects to the lead commissions by several methods, including sending a commission representative to one of the lead commissions, delegating City staff who attended their commission meetings to provide their comments to one of the lead commissions, or providing written comments to the lead commissions.
By June 2017, City staff and Commissions completed this robust public process to receive input. A joint report to the City Manager and the City Council was presented with recommendations for the implementation of Phase 1 of the Measure T1 Bond Program. On June 27, 2017, the City Council adopted its final recommendations for the implementation of Phase 1 of T1 Program per Resolution 68,076-N.S.
The timeline of this process is summarized below.
- September 2016: City Council adopted Resolution No. 67,666-N.S., T1 Bond Guidelines for Public Participation and City Council decisions. City staff and lead commissions (Public Works and Parks & Waterfront) began development of these guidelines.
- November 2016: Berkeley voters passed T1 Bond Measure.
- January 2017 - February 2017: Public Works and Parks & Waterfront Commissions engaged participating commissions to determine and prioritize proposed T1 projects.
- March 2017 - April 2017: Lead commissions held three additional well-publicized Measure T1 Workshops to gather input from the public regarding prioritizing projects and input on recommendations.
- June 2017: Lead commissions and City Manager presented a joint report with recommendations for the implementation of Phase I of Measure T1 to City Manager and Council. Council approved the T1 Program Plan with revisions per Resolution 68,076-N.S.
- (updated June 2019): March 2019: City staff, lead commissions, and City Manager presented a report with recommendation to authorize additional funding for T1 Phase 1. Council approved Resolution 68,802-N.S. authorizing $5.3 million in additional funding to complete T1 Phase 1 projects.
- (updated July 2019): July 2019: City Council approved Resolution No. 69,051-N.S. authorizing the removal of the King School Park Bioswale project and the addition of 12 alternate green infrastructure projects to the Measure T1 Phase 1 project list.
Public Process for
Phase 2
In 2019, the two lead sub-committees for Measure T1 (Public
Works and Parks and Waterfront) met for several months to design the public
process to identify projects for Phase 2. The resulting plan was approved by the
two full lead Commissions at the end of 2019 (Public Works and Parks and
Waterfront Commissions) and the public process was kicked off in January 2020. The
Phase 2 public process consists of meeting with at least 20 neighborhood focus groups to provide an update on Phase 1 and discuss potential
projects for Phase 2 from February to April 2020, conduct five large area public
meetings in mid-2020, and hold meetings with all eleven Participating Commissions, all of which would inform the final recommendations to City
Council by the two lead commissions. A full description of the Phase 2 Public Process can be found in the May 13, 2020 Off Agenda Memo to Council.
Due to the City’s Health Officer Shelter-In-Place (SIP) Orders
in the first half of 2020, the five large area public meetings as well as the meetings
with the two lead commissions to discuss public input, have now been
rescheduled as Zoom meetings in October and November 2020. These meetings are posted
on the T1 Community Meetings and Events page.
The City’s T1 staff will meet with those participating commissions
that are scheduled to meet during the Shelter-In-Place period before the end of
2020. Any community or neighborhood
group that would like an update on the status of Phase 1 projects and provide
feedback for the Phase 2 public process before October of 2020, can email Scott
Ferris at sferris@cityofberkeley.info
to schedule.
For detailed information about T1 Phase 1
projects, click on T1 Program and Project updates.
Capital Project Story Maps
For an overview of current T1 projects, explore our interactive story map below:
Pre-T1 Information about Infrastructure and Facility Needs
The passage of the T1 bond measure will help the City begin to address longstanding infrastructure needs. The City’s facility and infrastructure needs exceed $500 million, and were detailed at the October 18, 2016 Council worksession (update and presentation file) by Public Works and Parks, Recreation and Waterfront staff. Other reports to Council in the last several years have described the vast needs in the City’s aging infrastructure, whose repair or replacement has been too long deferred and whose failure would have substantial impacts on our community.
• In an April 5, 2016 off-agenda report, Parks, Recreation & Waterfront detailed capital and major maintenance projects and unfunded needs.
• A January 19, 2016 report to Council on City care and shelter sites described $16.8M in needs at senior centers and community centers for seismic upgrade & deferred maintenance repairs.
• The Council-adopted FY16-FY17 Capital Improvement Program provided an overview of planned projects and unfunded needs.
• In two March 24, 2015 worksession reports, Parks, Recreation & Waterfront and Public Works presented capital improvement and major maintenance needs and 5-year plans.
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Community members are encouraged to provide feedback by writing to: T1@cityofberkeley.info.