To: Board of Supervisors
From: John Kopchik, Director, Conservation and Development
Report Title: Funding Agreement to Disburse Navy Mitigation Funds to Complete Final Design and Environmental Permitting for the Great California Delta Trail Gap Closure project in Martinez
☒Recommendation of the County Administrator ☐ Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Public Works Director, or designee, to execute a funding agreement between the East Bay Regional Park District and Contra Costa County to disburse $201,580 in Navy Mitigation Funds to complete final design and environmental permitting for the Great California Delta Trail Gap Closure Project in Martinez.
FISCAL IMPACT:
No impact to the General Fund. (100% Navy Mitigation Fund)
BACKGROUND:
In the early 1990s, the United States Navy closed vehicular, pedestrian, and bicycle access on the Port Chicago Highway through the Concord Naval Weapons Station. To mitigate this closure, the Navy paid the County $5 million for transportation improvements in the Port Chicago, Clyde, and Bay Point areas. As of 2008, $4 million had not been spent. With accumulated interest, the fund had grown to $8.6 million. To make use of these funds, in June 2008, the Board of Supervisors adopted the Navy Mitigation Fund Expenditure Plan, which was amended in 2010 (Expenditure Plan - Exhibit A). The current balance of the fund (as of January 2024) is $5,042,311.
The Expenditure Plan identified a number of transportation improvement activities and projects, along with the amount to be allocated to each activity/project. One of these activities is “planning and environmental impact review for the Great California Delta Trail”. This activity is defined as follows in the Expenditure Plan:
7) Planning and environmental impact review for Great California Delta Trail
Project involves planning and environmental review for the portions of the Great California Delta Trail within Contra Costa County (the overall trail will eventually ring the Delta Region, connecting to the Bay Trail in Martinez). Participants will include the East Bay Regional Park District, Contra Costa County, Delta Protection Commission, and the City of Pittsburg.
Navy Fund Allocation: $350,000 (full funding)
Lead Agency: East Bay Regional Park District ($310,000)
Delta Protection Commission ($40,000)
The Navy Mitigation Fund Expenditure Plan identifies a total of $350,000 to be allocated for planning and environmental impact review for the Great California Delta Trail, $310,000 of which is specifically allocated to the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD). EBRPD has previously expended $108,420 on other planning activities.
EBRPD wishes to enter into a funding agreement (Exhibit B) with the County to receive the remaining $201,580 to conduct final design and environmental permitting for the Great California Delta Trail Gap Closure Project (“Activity”), specifically a proposed segment of the Great California Delta Trail between Berellessa Street and the Nedjedly Staging Area in Martinez, which will also be a segment of the Carquinez Strait Scenic Loop Trail and the San Francisco Bay Trail. A map of the trail segment which the Activity will be conducted is included in EBRPD’s request to the County.
The Activity is consistent with recommendations in the 2022 Great California Delta Trail Master Plan (Exhibit C).
EBRPD will provide the County with the opportunity to review and comment on activity deliverables.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
If the funding agreement is not adopted, the East Bay Regional Park District will not have the funding to complete final design and environmental permitting for the Great California Delta Trail Gap Closure Project in Martinez.