City Leaders Discuss Priorities for Infrastructure, Other Capital Improvements Over Next Five Years
In other news, city details damage toll from storms, adds position to process building permits; Martinez police chief praised by NAACP; MRC Oversight Committee to hear from consultant on soil sampling
The following article by freelance writer Sam Richards is made possible by the financial support of paid subscribers and other donors to the newsletter.
By Sam Richards
The City Council recently spent 75 minutes getting an update on the city’s five-year Capital Improvement Plan.
Councilman Mark Ross that while he knew the subject matter isn’t particularly exciting, it’s things like infrastructure, water delivery, streets and sidewalks and street lights are the bread and butter of a city’s public responsibilities.
“It’s not at the top of most people’s thriller list, but this is what government is supposed to do,” Ross said near the end of the March 29 CIP capital projects workshop.
Among the most expensive projects on that five-year plan are street paving ($27 million stretched out over five years); water main replacement ($10 million); water storage tank replacement and repair, including seismic upgrades ($13.3 million); marina seawall repair and related dredging ($4.6 million); and building a park in the new Pine Meadows subdivision, off Morello Avenue, on the former golf course land ($2 million).
The eastern seawall repair project, proposed for 2025-26 though as yet unfunded, was one of the most talked-about items at the March 29 meeting. That project would include repairs and renovations to the eastern seawall and other areas of the seawall to reduce silt accumulation and periodic maintenance dredging, and will involve both design and construction of the improvements. Mayor Brianne Zorn said a firm plan for what to do with the seawall could help bring federal money for part or all of that work, and Councilmembers Debbie McKillop and Jay Howard weighed in on making the seawall work a funding priority.
Ross and Zorn both said they would like to see whatever resources anticipated for the North Court Street Railroad Overcrossing Study (2023-24) instead be used toward the seawall work. The overcrossing, which would carry Court Street over the Union Pacific railroad tracks, has been talked about for almost a decade.
“I’d be surprised to see that project ever come to fruition,” Ross said of the overpass.
The other major waterfront project would be renovation of the Martinez Marina Fishing Pier, which will include structural repairs, Americans with Disabilities Act decking replacements, new steel cable railing and breakwater repairs to the southeast corner. This project, too, could be in line for federal funding.
City Engineer Ali Hatefi told the council that $18,855,000 has been approved for the 2023-24 projects, and another $15 million for 2024-2025 projects. Projects in the CIP for years three, four and five of the five-year plan have not yet been funded, but he expected that about $18 million or so per year is expected to be available.
Council members praised the five-year plan but also had questions and suggestions. McKillop and Howard both said downtown sidewalks and lighting need more attention than they’ve recently received. And Councilman Satinder Malhi asked why the five-year plan doesn’t include electric vehicle chargers. He and Ross said they often can qualify for government funding, and that they are becoming more common and, accordingly, more accepted by businesses and other entities.
Other prime topics of discussion at the workshop were much smaller, more localized projects. One was planned safety improvements for both drivers and pedestrians at Center Avenue and Glacier Road ($50,000), near Hidden Valley Elementary School. Improvements will be based on a traffic study performed at the intersection and staff recommendations.
School Principal Nina Crossland called into the workshop to thank the council for its work on the Center Avenue/Glacier Road. Zorn and Malhi had met earlier with Hidden Valley school leaders about the citation, helping lead to its inclusion on the five-year list.
“It goes to show we see you, we hear you, and we’re working in earnest to bring workable and tangible solutions to this issue,” Malhi said.
He and others said the various projects will be discussed at future council meetings and workshops, and that they want the public to weigh in on them.
The entire five-year list of capital improvement projects can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/2494uwnt
The following items were written by Craig Lazzeretti
City details toll from winter storms
With the destructive winter storm season finally fading into the background, City Manager Michael Chandler took some time during last week’s council meeting to list the toll exacted on Martinez by the series of atmospheric rivers that pounded the region from December through March.
Eight mudslides
10 creek incidents
Five flooding incidents
11 downed trees (several of which blocked roadways)
Two major power outages
Four significant storm drain incidents
He also noted that 14,000 sand bags were handed out to residents during the storm season. The city has filed a damage claim of $8.6 million with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in hopes of recouping city costs associated with the storms. “Well see what we get back from them,” Chandler said.
Police chief praised by local NAACP chapter
A local representative from the East County branch of the NAACP paid a visit to the council chamber on Wednesday to praise Martinez’s new police chief, Andrew White.
Tom Lewis, a resident of unincorporated Martinez who chairs the chapter’s committee on labor and industry, praised White for comments he made on policing and social justice at a NAACP-sponsored forum last month for chiefs of Bay Area law enforcement agencies.
“We have a very modest, credible and articulate man here, and I can tell you that from those of us in attendance, he stood out among the participating chiefs and the sheriff,” Lewis told the council during the meeting’s public comment period. “Many East County NAACP members walked away wishing that they could trade chiefs with ours. I look forward to witnessing his impact on the department.
“We hope to continue to have an open dialogue with all the police departments to recognize successes and discuss opportunities to improve in all aspects of policing.”
Lewis went on to contrast White’s leadership of Martinez PD with the racist text message/abuse-of-power scandal among Antioch police officers that has elicited outrage in that community in recent weeks and generated national attention (even basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has weighed in on it through his Substack newsletter).
“By contrast, a nearby local law enforcement agency has brought great shame to their city with abuses of power and lack of respect for their citizens that they have sworn to protect,” Lewis said.
Other council meeting tidbits
A few other items of note from the April 16 council meeting:
The council authorized the addition of a second permit technician position at City Hall to help process building permit applications. Chandler noted that building permit requests have risen significantly in recent years and the addition of this position will help to process such permits in a timely matter. In addition to improving customer service, Chandler said the additional resource could generate more revenue for the city as permits are processed.
The council appointed Councilmembers Mark Ross and Satinder Malhi to a new subcommittee to try to speed along negotiations with the Martinez Historical Society for use of the Old Train Depot as a museum. The council also extended the timeframe for the exclusive negotiations with the Historical Society to Dec. 31, 2023. In approving the extension, Mayor Brianne Zorn noted that this is but the latest in a string of extensions that have been granted to try to hammer out a deal since negotiations began in 2021, and she made clear that the council’s patience is starting to wear thin on the matter. “I just want to voice my support for wrapping this up by the end of 2023,” she said, adding that if another extension request surfaces in 2024, “I think we might get some frustrated votes at that time.”
Assistant City Manager Lauren Sugayan, the city’s liaison to the county-led Martinez Refining Co. Oversight Committee investigating the Thanksgiving night toxic dust release, said the Thursday, April 27 committee meeting will include a presentation by consultant TRC, which has been hired to carry out the “community risk assessment” from the accident and devise a plan for soil sampling and testing to try to determine any long-term health and environmental consequences from the release. Thursday’s meeting begins at 1 p.m. on Zoom. Find the agenda and information on how to join the meeting by clicking here.
The Healthy Martinez Refinery Accountability and Sierra Club table at Saturday’s John Muir Birthday/Earth Day celebration at the John Muir National Historic Site.
The city’s Anti-Racism and Discrimination, Pro-Inclusion and Equity (ARDPIE) Task Force rolled out its draft roadmap based on nearly two years of work at a meeting held Thursday (it can be viewed by clicking here). I hope to have a thorough report on the plan before it goes to the City Council in the coming months, but, for those interested, it can be read by clicking here. In discussing the roadmap at Wednesday’s council meeting, Sugayan, the task force’s staff liaison, said: “This is just Step 1. We have the opportunity to build as we go and figure out new things as we continue to engage the community and work with one another.”
Mayor Zorn said docent-led tours of the new Alhambra Highlands Open Space will begin on Saturday, April 29, marking the opening of the area to public access following the vote last year to turn the land into a city-run park. Here is the website to sign up.