Debate Over Name of New Park, City History Dominates Marathon City Council Meeting; Latest on Refinery Flaring
Council will look for other ways to honor indigenous tribe after choosing Pine Meadow over Karkin Park; park funding; fallout from refinery incident; CWS survey; Alhambra Highlands study session
Note: Scroll to the bottom of today’s post for an update on Friday’s major flaring incident at Martinez Refining Co.
The following report from the Dec. 6 City Council meeting was written by freelance writer Tom Lochner and made possible through the contributions of paid subscribers and other financial donors to the newsletter. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber if not already to fund more local coverage of Martinez.
By Tom Lochner
The naming of a city park to be built at the site of a former public golf course a half-mile south of Highway 4 was the main event at a Dec. 6 City Council meeting that stretched past midnight. A series of speakers from the public as well as council members debated, often passionately, whether to name the park to celebrate the area's original indigenous inhabitants, or to commemorate its more recent history as a popular community recreation and gathering place.
In the end, they chose the latter, and the name Pine Meadow Park.
The 8.2-acre park site lies amid the planned 65-home "Traditions (at the Meadow)" subdivision at the site of the former Pine Meadow Public Golf Course east of Morello Avenue and north of Center Avenue; the developer is DeNova Homes. A naming policy instituted by the city last year that includes various outreach requirements culminated in a recommendation by the Parks, Recreation, Marina & Cultural Commission (PRMCC) in October to adopt the name "Karkin Park" to honor the Carquin Ohlone people ("Karkin" is the spelling widely used for the language of the Carquin people).
Meanwhile, the Martinez Historical Society, in a unanimous vote of its board, recommended the name Pine Meadow Park "in remembrance of the golf course and the tavern in the location for 55+ years as well as the family that owned the land since the late 19th Century." Additionally, 384 residents signed a petition in support of the name Pine Meadow Park.
The Pine Meadow Park master plan
The golf course, opened by the late James Frederick Coward in 1965, closed in 2015. The 26.77-acre site subsequently was mired in litigation over a plan to transform it into a 92-unit residential subdivision. The current master plan was approved by the City Council in 2022. The park, to occupy about one-third of the site, is supposed to include a playground, recreational turf, picnic area, restroom, pathways, a nature play trail, and new trees, among its features. Some of the park plan's financing is still being worked out.
Outreach was made to, among others, nearby residents, local tribes, and the Martinez and Mt. Diablo unified school districts, said Assistant City Engineer Ali Hatefi. No recommendations were received from any of about a dozen tribes on the Contra Costa County list, Hatefi said, in answer to a question from Mayor Brianne Zorn; he added that the staff reached out to the Confederated Villages of Lisjan (Ohlone) after the PRMCC made its naming recommendation.
Zorn said she spoke to Corrina Gould, a Carquin Ohlone who is tribal chairwoman of the Confederated Villages of Lisjan, in November, and that Gould said it would have been nice to be a part of the conversation early on. Vice Mayor Mark Ross commented that Karkin Park was "kind of a well-intentioned nomenclature that popped up. It wasn't submitted by the tribes. They were notified kind of after the fact."
During the public comments that followed, Rob Parolek of the PRMCC urged the council to vote for the name Karkin Park. "History goes back a lot further than the planning of our city, or the last 50 years, or the establishment of the rancho that we were a part of at one point in time," he said.
Several speakers countered that the name Pine Meadow appears in many official documents, including GIS maps, and Contra Costa County Fire Protection District maps, not to mention the already widespread public use of the name Pine Meadow. It also came up on Google Maps in a search for "Pine Meadow Park."
One proponent of Pine Meadow Park said the proposal to name the park Karkin is "a sweet gesture towards the indigenous people that used to live in and around the area," but that also deserving recognition and consideration are the multiple generations of current inhabitants of the area that know it as Pine Meadow. The Coward family had owned the land since the late 1800s, the speaker noted.
The notion of naming Karkin Park as a mere gesture, which was expressed by other speakers as well, prompted some pushback from Karkin advocates that it trivializes the issue.
Among the public speakers at the meeting were golf course founder James Frederick Coward's daughter, Christine Coward Dean, and granddaughter, Laura Dean Ingrassia. Christine Coward Dean said the notion that the site was never officially named Pine Meadow is "implausible," given all the references to the name in official records and maps.
Laura Dean Ingrassia said her grandfather fulfilled a dream when he opened the gate to Pine Meadow Golf Course back in the 1960s: "Created by a man filled with altruism and community spirit, a course created with so much vision and love and all the blood, sweat and tears needed to pull off such a wonderful dream," she reminisced. "And the most important thing to him? That this be an inexpensive, family-friendly golf course — a place for all. Kindness required."
She said that renaming the park is "a very well-intentioned suggestion" and that Carquin history should be recognized — as it is in the naming of the Carquinez Shoreline, Strait and Bridge, and in town, Carquinez Scenic Drive and Carquinez Way.
"To name this park Pine Meadow is not just an act of honoring an individual but an acknowledgement of our history," she said.
There was general agreement throughout the council chamber that both Native American history and more recent non-indigenous Martinez history should be honored. Several speakers held the view that there are places better suited than the new park to honor the former. One, who said he lives near the former golf course, learned to play golf there, and has "great memories" of the place, suggested renaming the Radke Martinez Regional Shoreline park, which overlooks the Carquinez Strait, Karkin Park.
Part of the East Bay Regional Park District, that park is named after the late environmentalists Ted and Kathy Radke. Ted Radke, a longtime board member of the park district, was instrumental in the establishment of Carquinez Regional Shoreline, among other parks.
Another speaker, Julian Frazer, said that if some kind of archaeological feature were found at the planned park, it would "make sense to show deference to the native culture.” Absent that, "the logic says, keep the name that's been there for so long."
Carol (who did not provide a last name), speaking remotely, said: "This is, has always been, and will always be the traditional land of the Carquin Ohlone. All of us here tonight are in their original homeland."
She added that the Carquin people had survived three “genocidal attempts” on their territory: “the Spanish mission period, the Mexican land grant/rancho period, and now, the United States. Prior to this, they lived in this area for thousands of years. They continue to live within their territories … raising families, and tending to their land, and bringing back language, song and ceremony. I look to them with reverence as they work to rematriate their unceded land."
"I know that people that have lived in Martinez for the last 50 years have a connection to the park the way it is named now," she said, acknowledging that change is hard. But by opting for the name Karkin Park, Carol said, "I hope that the city of Martinez ceases erasure of the history of the Carquin, and incorporates a permanent recognition to these people."
Councilman Jay Howard, who attended the meeting remotely, noted the historical society's unanimous support of the name Pine Meadow.
"I have no problem with recognizing the Carquin people, but this location is just not the best one," Howard said. "Perhaps another part of town would be more suitable,"
"The old Pine Meadow golf course was a Martinez legend that served generations of residents," he said. "We need to remember that." He cited a passage in the naming policy: "All names shall first focus on local Martinez significance."
The final public speaker on the issue, Jaydee, noted that the people who worked on making the place into a park called themselves the Thousand Friends of Pine Meadow. "We refer to it as Pine Meadow for a reason," Jaydee said. "It will always be Pine Meadow. Pine Meadow Park is what it should stay."
Councilman Satinder Malhi noted he was on the PRMCC when it began to deliberate the naming of the park, and that he was "a little embarrassed to admit that the very first time I had even heard about them (Carquin tribespeople) and their rich history was just within the past couple of weeks in the lead-up to our meeting here tonight."
He praised the PRMCC for its "bold, progressive choice" of a name, and added that "as the lone person of color up here on this dais, I believe it is imperative, and long overdue, for us to acknowledge the injustices and indignities that our Native American brothers and sisters had thrust upon them —the violent legacy of which continues to reverberate today."
The question is not whether we should recognize them — we absolutely should —Malhi continued, but whether the new park is the most appropriate location to do so. "After carefully evaluating all of the feedback we have received, I don't believe that it is."
Instead, Malhi said, he would favor renaming an existing park, in consultation with the area's tribal representatives —specifically, Waterfront Park near the marina. He noted that he and Ross have advocated for an interpretive center at the waterfront, "where everyday citizens can learn about the rich history, culture and language of all of our indigenous peoples who have lived on this land long before any of us."
Councilwoman Debbie McKillop said she agreed with Malhi that the marina area would be a good spot to memorialize the Carquin, and that she wants them to be involved in the process. Pivoting to the proposed new park's more recent history, she delivered among the evening's most powerful eulogies of the golf course and its founder, noting that Coward was a World War II veteran who allowed other veterans — and their caretakers — as well as some students to golf for free.
"He honored our veterans, and I think that's something that needs to be recognized," McKillop said. "This wasn't just a golf course. It was a family."
It was also a fundraising venue for many organizations, she said, citing the Tiger Woods Foundation, cheerleader groups, the Boys and Girls Club, Boy Scouts of America, a cancer foundation, the Martinez Women's Club, Rotary Club and Lions Club. Additionally, it hosted 100th birthday parties at the tavern —for free, McKillop noted. "People had weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, karaoke on Fridays, celebrations of life — it goes on and on."
Ross, segueing on McKillop's statements, said the Coward family and Pine Meadow are "ingrained in Martinez lore." Then he told a story of how in 1787, a Spanish expedition, tired and hungry, encountered a group of indigenous people who led them to the place now known as Carquinez Strait. Just imposing a name on a subdivision park without context and without consultation with indigenous people "seems eerily familiar to the type of cultural imposition they've endured for centuries," he said. "We want to make not just a gesture but a real effort in the coming year, to understand our neighbors, to work in partnership with them."
Zorn said she completely agreed with all the arguments for the name Karkin Park but was not comfortable naming it without input from indigenous people — she likened it to "thinking on behalf of someone else."
She said indigenous representatives, notably Gould, will be consulted early on in the naming of various portions of the waterfront as part of the Waterfront Master Plan, starting early next year. As for the subdivision park, she said she supported the name Pine Meadow Park, adding that what clinched it for her was the volunteer group naming themselves Friends of Pine Meadow.
With all five council members having expressed their support for the name Pine Meadow Park — Zorn likened it to a straw poll —the naming will be the subject of a formal resolution and vote at the Dec. 20 council meeting.
Design and funding for park development
The council next took on the design and financing of the new park, as well as awarding contracts for some of the work in an initial phase and putting other work out to bid.
Phase 1 will include parking, a bioretention plot to filter stormwater, a nature trail, new trees, pathways (some paved), a picnic area with tables, a playground for kids of all abilities, a recreational turf, a restroom building and a monument sign. The council voted 4-0 (Jay Howard was not physically in attendance) to approve the plan and its specifications and to advertise for bids for some of the work.
Also by 4-0, the council authorized the execution of a contract for the play structures with Landscape Structures Inc. in the amount of $251,394; and for the restroom building with Romitec, for $116,139. As part of the same vote, the council had to deal with a shortfall of just under $900,000 for the project's initial priority phase — the total budget for Phase I is estimated at $2,727,765, while the available funding was $1,833,240, including $1,074,153 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. The council's solution: an additional allocation of $600,000 in ARPA funds, plus reallocation of another $300,000 in ARPA funds from an already approved basketball court repaving project at Mountain View Park.
The City Council agreed to strip $300,000 that had been earmarked to repave the crack-laden basketball court at Mt. View Park and spend it on the new park planned at Pine Meadow.
The idea of stripping funds from one neighborhood's already-approved project to fund another neighborhood's project does not sit well with some residents. It also appeared to clash with principles espoused by some council members. Malhi said that it was his long-standing belief, when he was a PRMCC member, that "before we start … investing in new facilities …. we need to …. make sure that the existing facilities that we have are taken care of and are funded." McKillop said she was not comfortable taking $300,000 away from the Mountain View basketball court. Ross said he was concerned, and Zorn said she felt uncomfortable, about reallocating the basketball court funds. In the end, Chandler said he would work to find the funds to keep the basketball court project viable.
Chicken, Bees and Trees Ordinance
Next, the council tackled what is becoming known as the proposed Chickens, Bees and Trees Ordinance. The proposal would update the definition of protected trees; update the list of discouraged trees; update other tree regulations; adjust some vocabulary pertaining to chickens and bees, and update regulations and set some new ones. Mayor Brianne Zorn said early on in the discussion that previous rules were "not super-conducive" to backyard agriculture and that "everybody was just breaking the rules."
The proposals related to bees outlined in a staff report were hammered out before the staff received input from the Mt. Diablo Beekeepers Association, said Planning Manager Michael Cass. They call for two apiaries per parcel and set other standards related to size and positioning. A past president of the association, Tom Lewis, said the term "apiary" is a misnomer here — it signifies a collection of hives — and that the term "beehives" would be more appropriate.
Several public speakers touted the positive environmental effects of amateur beekeepers as replenishers of a population of essential pollinators that face decimation in many places from chemicals such as those used in industrial agriculture. Beekeepers perform another public service by removing bee swarms from neighboring properties, sometimes at the request of fire and police departments, Lewis pointed out.
"Don't shoot yourselves in the foot by chasing beekeepers out of your community," he said, "because you'll be calling us to come and get 'em."
Proposed chicken regulations would maintain the prohibition of roosters in residential-zoned areas for noise-related reasons. Other rules relate to placement and sanitary conditions of coops and other structures, and the permissible number of chickens for various lot sizes.
There is a limit of 20 for lots between 20,000 square feet and an acre, and "no defined maximum" number on lots larger than an acre, under current regulations. The proposed new regulations would limit the number of chickens at 16 on lots larger than 40,000 square feet (= 0.92 acre). The minimum gross lot size for raising chickens —with a limit of four — would be 4,000 square feet (down from the current 5,000 square feet).
The council continued the discussion to Dec. 20 while the city staff studies the matter further.
Ballot argument for city clerk measure
Earlier in the meeting, the council debated tweaking the draft argument in favor of a measure to be placed on the March 5, 2024, ballot asking voters if the city clerk, currently elected, should be appointed; the appointment would be made by the city manager. The argument was drafted by an ad hoc subcommittee formed for that purpose, consisting of Vice Mayor Mark Ross and Councilwoman Debbie McKillop.
At issue was a passage saying the measure "will potentially save the City money by eliminating salary and benefits provided to an elected Clerk and removing the cost of the Clerk election every four years." Mayor Brianne Zorn thought the word "eliminating" is somewhat misleading because the city would actually redirect the salary and benefits to the city clerk's office, not "eliminate" them. She proposed changing the wording to "reinvesting" (the savings) in the City Hall staff or clerk's office.
Ross opined that Zorn's concern was addressed by the word "potentially," which he had written into the draft because someone could conceivably run for city clerk and not take any salary or benefits. Also, City Attorney Terri Highsmith said that the wording as drafted was correct — that if the elected position were eliminated, then the salary and benefits would indeed be saved, and that how they might be reinvested was "speculative."
In the end, Zorn said she was OK with the sentence as drafted.
Zorn also asked to amend the sentence, "Your 'YES' vote will convert the elected Martinez City Clerk position to a position appointed by the City Manager and ensure the City’s operations be run effectively by a qualified and trained individual." She suggested adding the word "staff" before "position appointed by the City Manager," explaining she wants it to be clear that the person appointed won't be someone outside City Hall.
The draft argument in favor of the measure, with the addition of the word "staff' as requested by Zorn, was approved 4-0.
The argument in favor notes that the only current qualifications for the increasingly complex and professional job of Martinez City Clerk are to be of age and registered to vote in the city, and that nearly 85 percent of California cities now appoint their city clerks.
Near the close of the meeting, the council approved a resolution appointing McKillop vice mayor for the coming year.
The following items were produced by Craig Lazzeretti
Fallout from latest MRC incident
Even before Friday’s major flaring incident that led to the issuing of a “Level 2” alert through the Contra Costa County Community Warning System because of strong odors, the Martinez Refining Co. was already scheduled to provide its regular bi-monthly update on its operations to the City Council on Dec. 20. The incident, which came almost a year to the day after another significant flaring event that lit up the night sky and alarmed the community just weeks after the November 2022 spent catalyst release, figures to be a major topic at Wednesday’s meeting. In addition to the strong odors, residents reported hearing loud rumbling throughout the flaring event.
Contra Costa Health issued a CWS alert lifting the public health advisory related to the flaring at 5:44 p.m. Friday.
While those signed up for alerts through the CWS and Martinez’s own alert system (Martinez Alerts) received email and text notifications about Friday morning’s incident, one question that figures to be raised at Wednesday’s council meeting is how widespread were health impacts on residents. A Level 2 alert indicates that there will only be possible health effects (typically eye, skin, nose or throat irritation) for individuals “sensitive” to respiratory issues, and that most people will be unaffected. But some residents who say they don’t fall into the “sensitive” category nevertheless reported being affected by the strong odors.
Lynette Toney, who lives on Mellus Street, said the smell from the flaring “was so bad that I had to go inside” and that “my neighbor ran around looking for a gas leak.”
“It made my eyes water and my throat to feel irritated,” she said. “I am not sensitive. Never a history of lung issues.”
Toney said she heard of several people experiencing serious reactions to the flaring, including one whose “eyes swelled shut” and another who had an “immediate skin reaction upon walking outside.”
According to an incident report from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), the Air District, as of 4 p.m. Friday, had received 58 air quality complaints in Martinez, San Pablo, Richmond and El Sobrante, primarily related to sulfur and gas odors.
BAAQMD photo of Friday’s MRC flaring event
According to the incident report, BAAQMD staff noticed a plume from the refinery at 8:56 a.m. while conducting a routine patrol around the refinery. It received Community Warning System Level 1 alerts about pluming and flaring at 9:17 a.m. and 9:35 a.m.; at 10:38 a.m., the alert was upgraded to Level 2 “due to odors in the community.”
Another issue that is likely to be raised at Wednesday’s council meeting is the hour-plus period before the CWS alert was upgraded to the more serious Level 2, which triggered automated email and text message alerts to the community. Could or should MRC and county health officials have known earlier about the possible health impacts from this event to the community? While flaring events are common at refineries, they rarely result in Level 2 alerts with direct notification to residents of possible health effects.
Contra Costa Health Services only this year modified its notification procedures under the CWS to include direct notification for Level 2 incidents; prior to that, only Level 3 incidents that anticipate widespread public health impacts resulted in direct notification. The lack of direct notification for these lower-level incidents is what prompted Martinez to institute its own alert system, after residents complained that they were too often being left in the dark about incidents at the refinery.
BAAQMD issued a public nuisance violation to the refinery over the incident, though it also said in the report that, based on initial results from a mobile air-monitoring van deployed to Martinez and San Pablo, it observed “no violations of the applicable Air District regulatory standards” for sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide.
In a Facebook post update on Friday evening, MRC said the flaring resulted from an “operational incident” and caused “sulfur dioxide odors that were smelled offsite.” The BAAQMD incident report described the incident that triggered the flaring as a “major upset.”
MRC said that intermittent flaring may continue throughout the weekend “while our employees work to re-start affected equipment.”
“We will investigate the root cause of the incident and identify corrective actions,” MRC said, a refrain that it has repeated time and again over the past 13 months in the wake of a string of other incidents that have impacted the community and raised concerns about the overall safety culture of the refinery.
In response to these incidents, the county has hired an independent contractor to visit the refinery and conduct a safety culture assessment of its operations, which is expected to take place in late January or early February, according to last week’s Martinez Refining Company Oversight Committee meeting.
What exactly is refinery flaring? Here’s how Nicole Heath, head of Contra Costa Health’s (CCH) Hazardous Materials Program, explained the process to the City Council in this post I wrote in February (which also addressed various issues around the operation of the Community Warning System):
Given the number of recent flaring incidents, Heath also provided a good tutorial (I liken it to “Flaring for Dummies”) on what exactly these events are and why they occur. She compared a refinery flare to an “Instant Pot” in cooking where a safety valve is needed to release temperatures and pressure in the pot that have risen to unsafe levels. “If you just opened your Instant Pot, there would be grave consequences,” she said. She explained that refineries typically “reclaim” gases during the refining process and reuse them in operations, but when something falls out of balance (due to an equipment malfunction, unit shutdown or processing problem), the gases are released via flaring. She also said that not all flares are created equal in terms of pollutants, with some being clean-burning (emitting primarily carbon dioxide and water) and others, due to “incomplete combustion,” emitting visible, black smoke filled with much more dangerous gases such as carbon monoxide. Although the large Dec. 9 (2022) flaring at the refinery that sent towering flames into the night sky caused considerable community alarm, Heath said it was actually “a very large clean-burning flare.” Finally, she noted that in some cases, black smoke will initially be released through flaring before dissipating during the combustion process.
Community Warning System survey
Speaking of the Community Warning System, Contra Costa Health Services is asking the public to complete a survey offering input and feedback on its operation. The survey can be completed at the following link:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScIy-QMC7rrr3sI9F-Fz-NzVxQdzU-n3w8N7SEfPWnp94UnOQ/viewform
According to the survey description:
CCH is conducting this survey to gather valuable input from residents and optimize the effectiveness of level 1 notifications. Currently these level 1 incidents are reported and investigated, but responders do not believe they pose immediate health risks to the community.
Your feedback is important and will help determine what changes can be made to ensure members of our community receive timely and helpful alerts about hazardous materials incidents that do not pose an imminent threat to public health.
Alhambra Highlands study session
In addition to a jam-packed regular council meeting agenda on Wednesday that figures to again stretch the meeting late into the night (or early Thursday morning), the council has scheduled a study session for 6 p.m. on the next steps in prioritizing the management of the Alhambra Highlands Preserve and making it widely accessible to the public. Thanks to the 2022 voter approval of Measure F, the city acquired the 297.5-acre highlands property for permanent “public parkland and wildlife habitat” and has been working with the John Muir Land Trust to craft a plan on managing the site and making it accessible to the public (earlier this year, the city began conducting docent-led tours of the property by reservation).
I hope to have a longer post previewing all the issues before the council in its last meeting of 2023 (including the revised Housing Element and proposed changes to the city’s Cannabis Ordinance) within the next few days. For now, the agendas for both the study session and regular meeting starting at 7 p.m. can be viewed at the following link: https://www.cityofmartinez.org/government/meetings-and-agendas