Post by ferryfast admin on Dec 19, 2011 10:59:59 GMT -5
Hercules waterfront development agreement postponed to January
By Tom Lochner
Contra Costa Times
www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_19570810?source=rs
Posted: 12/17/2011 12:00:00 AM PST
Updated: 12/17/2011 09:28:06 PM PST
Hercules and a developer appeared just days away last week from tying the knot around a waterfront mixed-use project with a transit center for buses, trains and ferries. But recent snags knocked the matter off Tuesday's City Council agenda.
Instead of approving a map and a development agreement with Hercules Bayfront LLC for about 1,400 homes, offices and shops anchored by the city's intermodal transit center, the council will discuss the latest hurdles, including a concern, expressed in a Nov. 9 letter from the state Office of Historic Preservation, that the project could disturb buried archaeological resources. The area is known to contain historic shell mounds and other cultural remains.
An agenda for Tuesday's special council meeting was not ready for posting on the city's website Friday and likely will not be available before Monday, City Manager Steve Duran said.
It was not clear Friday why the archaeological concerns were not resolved during the already-completed state environmental review process; the state's letter of concern will go into the ongoing federal environmental review that officials hope to complete by March 31.
Completion of the review is one of the milestones, according to the city's consultant, Charlie Long, necessary to demonstrate "site control" by April to the California Transportation Commission, which has conditionally committed $9.1 million for the train station and related access.
The council will consider an additional $136,000 that consultant HDR Engineering estimates it will cost to finish the federal environmental review.
The map and development agreement are expected to go to the council in January to give both sides time to go over them, Duran and Long said.
"We're going through the documents one more time in view of the city's financial situation to make sure all the i's are dotted and the t's are crossed," Long said.
"These things take a while," Duran said. "We want to make sure we get it right."
Duran said a general fund deficit this fiscal year, previously pegged at $850,000, stands at about $1.5 million. The city would advance the $136,000 from its Development Impact Fee fund, to be reimbursed from grant money once the federal environmental review is complete, he said.
Long has warned for months that further delays could jeopardize the $9.1 million state funding, and he reiterated that concern in a memo Wednesday. But the city and the developer downplayed the effect of the latest snags.
"The project is never dead," Duran said. "The land is there, the tracks are there and the bay is there."
"Even if we lose the $9.1 million," he added.
Ethan Sisco, of AndersonPacific LLC, the developer partner in Hercules Bayfront, said, "The train doesn't really add that much value to the project. What adds value is the ferry."
A ferry is a distant prospect that would require at least $17 million just to dredge a harbor on Hercules' mudflat-bound shore, unless Hercules convinces the San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority to deploy hovercraft ferries, touted by disaster-relief experts for their ability to access shallow waters and even beaches. But hovercraft hold no advantage as commuter vessels over conventional high-speed catamaran ferries.
Also last week, the city learned it would not receive any of the $23 million it sought in the current cycle of TIGER III federal transportation stimulus funding for Phase II of the transit center project, Duran said. He is optimistic the city will fare better in the next TIGER funding cycle if there is progress on Phase I, which includes a John Muir Parkway extension, Bayfront Bridge and Bay Trail segment.
The city to date has invested almost $13.6 million into the project. Officials estimate the outstanding cost at more than $65 million, the bulk of it to come from grants.
By Tom Lochner
Contra Costa Times
www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_19570810?source=rs
Posted: 12/17/2011 12:00:00 AM PST
Updated: 12/17/2011 09:28:06 PM PST
Hercules and a developer appeared just days away last week from tying the knot around a waterfront mixed-use project with a transit center for buses, trains and ferries. But recent snags knocked the matter off Tuesday's City Council agenda.
Instead of approving a map and a development agreement with Hercules Bayfront LLC for about 1,400 homes, offices and shops anchored by the city's intermodal transit center, the council will discuss the latest hurdles, including a concern, expressed in a Nov. 9 letter from the state Office of Historic Preservation, that the project could disturb buried archaeological resources. The area is known to contain historic shell mounds and other cultural remains.
An agenda for Tuesday's special council meeting was not ready for posting on the city's website Friday and likely will not be available before Monday, City Manager Steve Duran said.
It was not clear Friday why the archaeological concerns were not resolved during the already-completed state environmental review process; the state's letter of concern will go into the ongoing federal environmental review that officials hope to complete by March 31.
Completion of the review is one of the milestones, according to the city's consultant, Charlie Long, necessary to demonstrate "site control" by April to the California Transportation Commission, which has conditionally committed $9.1 million for the train station and related access.
The council will consider an additional $136,000 that consultant HDR Engineering estimates it will cost to finish the federal environmental review.
The map and development agreement are expected to go to the council in January to give both sides time to go over them, Duran and Long said.
"We're going through the documents one more time in view of the city's financial situation to make sure all the i's are dotted and the t's are crossed," Long said.
"These things take a while," Duran said. "We want to make sure we get it right."
Duran said a general fund deficit this fiscal year, previously pegged at $850,000, stands at about $1.5 million. The city would advance the $136,000 from its Development Impact Fee fund, to be reimbursed from grant money once the federal environmental review is complete, he said.
Long has warned for months that further delays could jeopardize the $9.1 million state funding, and he reiterated that concern in a memo Wednesday. But the city and the developer downplayed the effect of the latest snags.
"The project is never dead," Duran said. "The land is there, the tracks are there and the bay is there."
"Even if we lose the $9.1 million," he added.
Ethan Sisco, of AndersonPacific LLC, the developer partner in Hercules Bayfront, said, "The train doesn't really add that much value to the project. What adds value is the ferry."
A ferry is a distant prospect that would require at least $17 million just to dredge a harbor on Hercules' mudflat-bound shore, unless Hercules convinces the San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority to deploy hovercraft ferries, touted by disaster-relief experts for their ability to access shallow waters and even beaches. But hovercraft hold no advantage as commuter vessels over conventional high-speed catamaran ferries.
Also last week, the city learned it would not receive any of the $23 million it sought in the current cycle of TIGER III federal transportation stimulus funding for Phase II of the transit center project, Duran said. He is optimistic the city will fare better in the next TIGER funding cycle if there is progress on Phase I, which includes a John Muir Parkway extension, Bayfront Bridge and Bay Trail segment.
The city to date has invested almost $13.6 million into the project. Officials estimate the outstanding cost at more than $65 million, the bulk of it to come from grants.