No General Funds are involved. 100% Park Dedication funds that have accumulated in the Contra Costa Centre census tract will be used to finance the planned improvements along the Iron Horse Trail at Hookston.

The County owns property (formerly Tri-Cities Concrete) located at 230 Hookston Road in Pleasant Hill (aka Hookston Station parcel). This property is strategically located within the Iron Horse Corridor (IHC) between the Hookston Station Tree Planting project and the Walden Green Phase II landscaping project. In May 2013 and January 2014, the Board of Supervisors approved allocating $259,000 and $135,575 ($394,575 total) in park dedication funds to finance the installation of landscaping on the County-owned property to improve the visual aesthetics of the adjacent IHC in that area. This will provide a landscaped buffer between the users of the trail and the industrial businesses just west of the trail. Specifically, the proposed project includes constructing a six foot wide 1,500 feet long paved pedestrians-only trail on the subject property from Mayhew Way to Hookston Road to help separate pedestrians from cyclists using the IHC, planting additional landscaping and irrigation, and installing appropriate signage. As was the case with a previous landscaping project in the area, once this project is completed, the Colony Park Neighbors Association has agreed to enter into an agreement with the County to maintain the newly landscaped area for the first five years. The County will maintain the path and signage.   
  
The County's Redevelopment Successor Agency manages the Hookston Station parcel and requested approval from the State Department of Finance for soil testing and remediation funding. However, the State has repeatedly denied the County's requests. Consequently, in order for the project to move forward in a timely manner, including having the County pay for the costs of soil testing and remediation, additional park dedication funding in the amount of $24,000 is being requested by the Public Works Department. If this current request is approved, the total amount in park dedication funding allocated to this project will be $418,575. In addition, the County's Successor Agency has conveyed $74,799 to help finance the cost of soil testing and remediation for this project.  
  
The proposed and previously approved park dedication funding will pay for the anticipated cost of soil testing and remediation (estimated at $230,000), project design and engineering costs (estimated at $88,000), and the cost of installing most of the additional landscaping and irrigation (estimated at $173,575 including construction contingency). At this time, the total project cost is estimated to be $626,575. There is currently insufficient funding to finance the cost of the pedestrian-only path, signage, and all of the additional landscaping and irrigation. Consequently, the County will request funding through Measure WW for the additional cost of approximately $135,000 so the project does not have to be constructed in phases. Once the soil testing and remediation work is completed, the remaining park dedication funds will be combined with Measure WW funding so that construction of the improvements can begin. The entire project is expected to be completed in the Fall 2016.   
  
The Contra Costa Centre Municipal Advisory Committee has recommended approval of the previous park dedication funding, and on January 20, 2015 recommended the Board of Supervisors approve this additional request for park dedication funds. It is the policy of the County to use park dedication funds to meet local park needs. This action is consistent with that policy and staff recommends approval of the request for additional funds.

Not providing the additional funding would result in the proposed project not moving forward in a timely manner.

The proposed additional improvements support the following community outcome established in the Children's Report Card: Communities are safe and provide a high quality of life for children and families.