The Mendocino Transit Authority (MTA) has begun construction on its new $5 million maintenance facility. The MTA has partnered with NCRM to ensure that they comply with current storm water regulations and to implement a Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan for the project. The state-of-the-art building and related work is expected to be finished next Summer.
“This construction project is just one of several pieces of MTA’s forward thinking carbon-neutral approach to doing business in Mendocino County” according to Jim Mastin, the Chair of the public agency's Board of Directors. MTA began this new direction in early 2009 by initiating a feasibility study. The most important part of the study was a series of policy directives written to move the agency toward being a truly carbon-neutral provider of public transit service. The policies were approved by the Board in May 2009 along with the complete feasibility study. “A very important component of the policies” says Maintenance Manager Bob Butler “was the direction on alternative fuel strategy. In the short term, we will move to gas- and diesel-electric hybrid drive systems. In the long term, we will move to all-electric vehicles.”
As part of sustainability planning, staff and consultants also looked at the ability of the existing facility to offer sufficient space to house the headquarters of the county-wide agency 30 to 50 years into the future. The conclusion of the study was that, with reconstruction, anticipated activities could fit within the existing site. Based on the study, the Board of Directors found that the alternative fuel direction and reconstruction was feasible, pending development of funding sources.
In order to fund the project with reasonably sized grants, MTA broke it into parts and started with the most urgent building, the shop. The initial cost estimate just for that part was $9.6 million.
In September 2009, MTA submitted an application for a grant from the US Department of Transportation (DOT) called Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery or “TIGER”. That source was highly competitive and MTA was not successful.
In July 2010, MTA submitted an application for a grant from the Federal Transit Administration (part of DOT) from the State of Good Repair program. Out of 442 applications worth over $4 billion, 152 were selected worth $776 million, and MTA’s was one of those. The $5 million construction grant award was announced in October 2010 and MTA was under contract for design in December with the team that had been selected to perform the feasibility study, design and construction contract administration. Design has been funded mainly by the 2006 California Prop 1B, Public Transit Modernization program.
Although the maintenance building will not be certified to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) criteria, it was designed to sustainable, LEED standards. The architect estimated that the building would have been certified as Silver. Among the sustainable design techniques are building orientation and handling of energy. The building runs north-south and the roof has three parts. Each part has a south-facing slope, two of which will host solar arrays, and a vertical element with north-facing windows. Those windows will allow for exceptionally good “day-lighting” which will provide a great amount of light without direct glare and heat gain from the sun. Lighting fixtures will automatically adjust to the needs. Heating will be provided by a radiant system in the concrete floor. And the solar arrays will provide most or all of the electricity needed to operate the energy efficient shop.
In late July 2011, MTA went out to bid for the project with an opening date of August 19. The low bid was submitted by Arntz Builders of Novato. Other bidders came from Novato, Yuba City and two from Santa Rosa. The low bid was $4,868,800. The next three bids were $5,080,000, $5,177,000 and $5,195,000, all well below the estimator’s $5,471,000. The fifth bid exceeded $5.9 million. The work includes the building, relocation of the fuel island, construction of a new protected area for bus cleaning and detailing, and application of a 2” asphalt overlay on all paved areas of the bus yard.
One local general contractor was interested in the project but was not able to submit a bid. At least two Ukiah-based firms are subcontractors . “We have strongly encouraged Arntz Builders to hire local subcontractors and local workers” said MTA General Manager, Bruce Richard. “The federal government requires us to buy American steel and other products, but forbids us from using a preference for hiring California firms, let alone Mendocino firms. However, construction staking, testing and inspections and stormwater testing are all contracted to local firms.””
Mr. Richard also reports that “a second part of the overall project has been funded – design and construction of Solar Canopies.” This time, the grant comes from the Federal Transit Administration’s Transit Investments for Greenhouse Gas and Energy Reduction “TIGGER” program. The canopies will be built over bus parking stalls to protect the vehicles from sun, facilitating cooling in Summer months and from frost, speeding warm-up in Winter. These canopies will also host solar panels – enough to generate all or most of the electricity needed to operate the administration/operations building.
The TIGGER program attracted 274 proposals worth $1.4 billion. In January 2011, only 27 were approved worth $75 million, including MTA’s $470,000 grant for the Solar Canopies. Design could start as early as December 2011 with construction concluding in Summer or Fall 2012. “Our intention” says Mr. Richard, “is to eliminate our electric bill now, and to nearly eliminate our fuel bill in the long run. With a large reduction in these energy costs, MTA will be able to provide more, better carbon-neutral transit service.”
