COUNTYWIDE OVERSIGHT BOARD
Meeting Date: September 22, 2025
Subject: ADOPT Resolution No. 2025-16 to APPROVE the Amended Recognized Obligation Payment Schedule for the period of July 1, 2025 - June 30, 2026 (ROPS 25-26B) for the Contra Costa County Successor Agency
Submitted For: COUNTYWIDE OVERSIGHT BOARD
Department: DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION & DEVELOPMENT
Presenter: Deidre Hodgers || OVERSIGHT BOARD SECRETARY
Contact: Deidre Hodgers | (925) 655-2892
Recommendation(s):
ADOPT Resolution No. 2025-16 to APPROVE the Amended Recognized Obligation Payment Schedule for the period of July 1, 2025 - June 30, 2026 (ROPS 25-26B) for the Contra Costa County Successor Agency.
Background, History and Update:
The ROPS 25-26, which is a condensed version of both the “A” and “B” six-month periods, is due to the State Department of Finance (the “DOF”) by February 1, 2025, and amendments are due by October 1.
As required under Health and Safety Code Section 34179.6, ROPS 25-26 will be submitted to the DOF, the County Administrator and the Contra Costa County Auditor-Controller and posted on the Successor Agency's website in accordance with the requirements thereunder.
ROPS 25-26 authorizes all payments to be made by the Successor Agency for enforceable obligations for the twelve-month period between July 1, 2025, and June 30, 2026. The payments noted on the ROPS are estimates. In most cases, assumptions made for ROPS 25-26 were based on actual expenditures in the prior ROPS and expected expenditures in the upcoming period.
The County Successor Agency’s amended ROPS is to amend line item #63 - Hookston Station Remediation. The Hookston Station site is located in the former Contra Costa Centre Redevelopment Area in unincorporated Pleasant Hill. The County/County Successor Agency is responsible for 50 percent of the total cost for the remediation per a settlement agreement executed in 1998 by the County, Union Pacific Railroad Company (UPRR), and the property owners of the Hookston site. Under the Settlement Agreement, the County and the others deemed to be responsible parties agreed to (i) cooperate in the remediation of certain chemicals from the property to meet the standards required by the Regional Water Quality Control Board overseeing the remediation, and (ii) share the cost of remediation. Line item #63 of the County’s ROPS is to reflect the County’s 50 percent obligation for the remediation of the Hookston Station site.
The California Department of Finance’s review of the County’s 2025-26 ROPS that was submitted on February 1, 2025, determined that the $961,327 that was stated in Line Item #63 was partially allowed, and that the correct amount allowed for Line #63 is $858,343. The DOF explained that, given the estimated cost for the remediation activities was approximately $1,716,685, the County Successor Agency’s share is $858,343, or 50 percent of the total estimated cost.
In August 2025, a change in scope for some of the remediation activities was provided to the County by the County’s consultant performing the remediation work (ERM West) to request additional environmental services necessary for the remediation at the Hookston Station site. The additional changes to the scope increased the estimated total cost of remediation by $374,417 for a total estimated cost of $2,091,102.
Therefore, the amendment is for Line #63 to add $187,209 for the ROPS 25-26 B period to cover the County Successor Agency portion for a new 25-26 total of $1,045,552.