To: Board of Supervisors
From: Warren Lai, Public Works Director/Chief Engineer
Report Title: County-Owned Property at 968 23rd Street in Richmond
☒Recommendation of the County Administrator ☐ Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Public Works Director, or designee, to execute a Service Contract with Weigh of Life (WOL), a nonprofit corporation, for the management of the County-owned property located at 968 23rd Street in Richmond (the Property), beginning October 15, 2024, and continuing through September 30, 2025, with a payment not to exceed $2,500 per month; APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Public Works Director, or designee, to execute a License Agreement with WOL for the nonexclusive use of the Property at no charge for the purpose of providing activities related to health, wellness, education and social support to residents of West Contra Costa County.
FISCAL IMPACT:
100% General Fund.
BACKGROUND:
The subject Property is the site of Richmond Veterans Hall. The 14,920 square foot building at the site was constructed in 1955 and was operated as a grocery store for many years. The County acquired the property in 1973. Over the years, various Veterans organizations have used the building for meeting space and rented out the facility for community events. Pursuant to a separate action being considered by the Board today, the County is entering into a License Agreement with a Veterans organization that allows the group to use a conference room in the building to hold meetings. The new agreement with the Veterans, however, does not require the group to maintain the building, which is suffering from deferred maintenance, or to be responsible for managing the use of the building by members of the community.
WOL is a nonprofit corporation that has been providing exercise classes, nutrition education, and social support services in West County since 2006. Under the proposed Service Contract between the County and WOL, WOL will oversee the day-to-day operation of the building for scheduled events and ensure that any building maintenance or operational issues are reported to County staff. The County will pay WOL $2,500 per month for this service. The term of the Service Contract is through June 30, 2025. The County intends to solicit bids from other potential property managers to determine who will manage the property beginning October 1, 2025.
Under the proposed License Agreement with WOL, WOL will have nonexclusive use of the building, at no cost, to conduct exercise and nutrition classes and social support services.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
Failure to approve the Service Contract will result in County staff having to manage the day-to-day operation of the building, potentially at a higher cost to the County than the amount to be paid to WOL under the service contract, until another property manager can be found. Failure to approve the License Agreement with WOL for use of the building could limit WOL’s ability to make exercise and nutrition classes available to residents of West County.