Salinas Rail Project Negotiations:

1. APPROVE a Request for Qualifications for negotiation assistance on the Rail Extension to Monterey County project, subject to counsel approval;
2. AUTHORIZE staff to publish the Request for Qualifications and return to the Board with a recommendation for approval of a consultant; and
3. APPROVE the use of reserve funding for this contract in an amount not to exceed $350,000 over three fiscal years, FY 20/21-22/23.

The attached Request for Qualifications seeks qualified consultants for rail negotiations and strategy advice for the Monterey County Rail Extension project. 

Staff anticipates executing in the second quarter of fiscal year (FY) 20/21 and completing the work by the second quarter of FY 22/23. Staff proposes using reserve funding for the contract, split between FY 20-23 as follows:

Staff is proposing to use reserve funding for this element of the project as the grant funding awarded to this project was awarded for specific phases of work and negotiations work was not contemplated in the grant applications for that funding.

The Monterey County Rail Extension project has evolved over time and is currently proposed in the near term to be an extension of two Caltrain trains from Gilroy to Salinas, operated by Caltrain on Union Pacific-owned Coast Mainline tracks. Negotiations with Caltrain (Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board) and Union Pacific are critical to implement this project. TAMC is interested in hearing suggestions on the best strategy for negotiations and coordination with Caltrain and Union Pacific to bring this project to the operations stage.

This work is anticipated to take approximately two years to complete, starting in Fall 2020 and being completed by December 31, 2022. The proposed schedule for the Request for Qualifications (web attachment) is as follows:

• Request for Qualifications: Monterey County Rail Extension Negotiations