Storm Water Management Oversight Committee - April 22, 2025

Committee backs budget memo using current funding forecast

The Storm Water Management Oversight Committee approved an amended memorandum on the proposed fiscal 2026 Stormwater Management Fund budget, adding language reflecting staff’s current analysis that funding is not indicated to be insufficient to complete 13 ballot-measure projects. The memorandum passed by voice vote, but the count and individual votes were not stated. The precise wording of the amendment was not clear in the meeting record.

The proposed budget calls for $10.603 million in revenue and $14.242 million in total expenses, including $7.115 million for capital improvements. It includes a proposed 2.4% stormwater fee increase that would raise the monthly ERU charge by 41 cents, from $17.20 to $17.61, and generate about $211,000 in additional annual revenue. The committee took no separate recorded action on the rate increase.

Staff said current forecasts show sufficient reserves to complete the ballot-measure projects through 2032, when the projects-and-infrastructure fee component sunsets. Members nevertheless raised questions about whether future construction bids could exceed estimates. Staff said it would continue updating the forecast as bids and costs become clearer.

The Hamilton Avenue System Upgrades budget would increase by $1.5 million because of utility-connection issues and construction-cost escalation, without a change to the project schedule. Capital-project reappropriations total just over $2 million, while an expected $1.2 million EPA grant would move from fiscal 2025 to fiscal 2026 because its timing remains uncertain.

Staff will circulate the revised memorandum for fact-checking and minor feedback before submitting it with the budget. The proposed five-year capital plan contains no new ballot-measure projects or schedule changes for Hamilton Avenue, Center Drive and Lewis Road.

Staff reports three projects complete as drainage upgrades advance

Three of Palo Alto’s 13 stormwater capital projects have been completed, and low bidders have been secured for three more, staff told the committee. The finished projects are East Meadow Drive, East Meadow Circle and Momo Verde. Staff said it hoped seven of the 13 projects would be complete by 2027.

The Hamilton Avenue project would replace 12-, 15- and 18-inch pipes with a 48-inch pipe to reduce flooding and ponding. Staff said the larger pipe is designed for a 10-year storm event and could convey additional flows. A future project would connect a pipe of at least 36 inches along Center Drive, from Hamilton Avenue to Channing Avenue, to the new Hamilton system.

The East Bayshore Road project includes about 700 feet of pipe enlargement from 21 inches to 30 inches and a new 25-cfs pump station. At West Bayshore, plans call for enlarging 1,400 feet of pipe from 15 inches to 30 inches and installing a 50-cfs pump station to help move stormwater toward Adobe Creek.

Staff also reported that a contract had been awarded April 7 to Anderson Pacific Engineering Construction after a low bid of $9,994,970. The meeting record does not clearly identify which specific capital project the award covered. Staff anticipated completing contract approvals before issuing a notice to proceed around mid-May, followed by approximately 12 months of construction.

Green infrastructure debate leaves workplan approval unclear

The committee considered a motion to accept its draft 2026–2027 workplan after removing a goal related to the One Water Plan, but the meeting record contains no vote or explicit final approval. The record also conflicts on the number assigned to the goal, leaving the workplan’s final status unverified.

Committee member Kevin Mayer questioned how the panel would assess the effectiveness of existing green stormwater infrastructure. Staff characterized detailed scientific evaluation as outside the committee’s usual fiduciary oversight role, while noting that site conditions such as shallow groundwater can affect implementation. Staff said the next committee meeting would include a presentation on green stormwater infrastructure and offered to discuss more detailed monitoring questions separately.

Primary sources

Watch the meeting on YouTube · Read the official meeting packet