To: Board of Supervisors
From: Monica Nino, County Administrator
Report Title: Operations and Maintenance Agreement with the City of Martinez for the Pine Street Plaza Area
Recommendation: Recommendation of the County Administrator
RECOMMENDATIONS:
APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the County Administrator, or designee, to sign the Operations and Maintenance (O & M) Agreement and to negotiate on behalf of the County, the terms for a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the City of Martinez for use of the Pine Street Plaza Area, Martinez.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The County has been in physical possession of, and responsible for, the former Pine Street area that the City is vacating and the surrounding plaza areas since the construction of 1026 Escobar Street was completed in April, 2024. The costs for the maintenance of the Plaza areas has been incorporated into the building occupancy costs of 1026 Escobar for the last two fiscal years. The area being vacated by the City does not include any of the facilities named in the Operations and Maintenance Agreement and this specific area of the former Pine Street has not generated any maintenance costs in the past two years of operation. It is not anticipated that there will be any additional maintenance costs for the former street area as it is now covered by concrete and pervious pavers that do not require ongoing maintenance. The infrastructure mentioned in the O & M agreement are on County property and have always been, the responsibility of the County to maintain and operate. The O & M agreement does not impose any new or expanded maintenance costs on the County that have not already been budgeted in the annual building occupancy cost calculations.
BACKGROUND:
When the County Administration Building at 651 Pine Street was demolished and replaced by 1026 Escobar Street, County Administration Building B, it included the construction of a new pedestrian plaza on the Pine Street right-of-way between Escobar Street and Main Street. The County Board of Supervisors approved the analysis of the temporary closure in their adopted CEQA categorical exemption when they approved the project at their September 7, 2021 meeting. The decision on permanent closure of Pine Street between Main and Escobar Streets was formally requested by the County on July 28, 2023 to facilitate the construction and operation of the new plaza. On October 10, 2023, the City of Martinez’s Planning Commission adopted Resolution No. 23-15 recommending the City Council approve the County’s request to vacate the portion of Pine Street between Escobar and Main Street. The plaza construction was completed in June of 2024 and is currently closed to traffic, except for emergency vehicles through the use of removable bollards.
The County has been asked to adopt the Operations and Maintenance Agreement for the Pine Street Plaza area in anticipation of the City of Martinez formalizing the vacation of the area on September 16, 2026, a date set by the Martinez City Council in their meeting on August 19, 2026.
The City and County also wish to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to outline the use by the City of Martinez of the vacated block of Pine Street and the public Plaza area. Staff requests permission to negotiate the terms of the MOU and return to the Board with a MOU for final adoption.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
If not approved, the City of Martinez will be unable to formally vacate the portion of Pine Street between Escobar Street and Main Street to the County and a MOU for use between the City of Martinez and the County will not be executed.