Marina City Council unanimously approve advertisement for blight removal project

MARINA, Calif. (KION-TV)-- Marina City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday night to approve advertisement for bids for the City Park Barracks and Cypress Knolls Buildings Blight Removal 2022 Project.

Staff was directed to prepare bidding documents for the first phase of the blight removal project.

The advertisement and call for bids will not have any fiscal impact on the project's total budget of $5,700,000.

On November 16, 2021, the City Council approved the project's final budget.

Included in the Capital Improvement Program was $4,1000,000 in blight bond funding to remove the barracks buildings on 2nd Avenue and 8th Street on the future site of Dunes Park.

If an award is made for funding the money will come from CIP HSF2101 and HSF2103.

The Engineer’s Opinion of Probable Construction Cost for this project is $4,750,000.00.

An additional $1,600,000 in blight bond removal funding was approved to remove 31 housing duplexes on 3rd Avenue and Rendova Avenue.

The project is to abate, properly remove and dispose of 45 barracks and debris from two burnt buildings on the proposed site of the new City Park.

Around 30 duplex buildings and debris, including debris from a burnt-out building, are planned to be removed from the Cypress Knoll area along Rendova Avenue and Third Street.

A park or more residential development is planned for the second site.

In addition, 32 trees were approved for the City Park location and five trees at the Cypress Knolls location in order to remove the blighted buildings and all healthy trees to be replaced at a 2:1 ratio.

The Planning Commission approved the addition of the tress under the following conditions:

• Pictures of all trees to be retained and removed will be kept by the project arborist and
• made available on the City website.

• The project arborist shall monitor the landscaping plan based on the current drought
  conditions in California.
• Site 1 (Dunes): Sixty-four (64) replacement trees of comparable size and species shall be
  incorporated into the City Park landscaping plan when it is prepared, based on the
  conceptual design plans approved by the City Council.
• Site 2 (Cypress Knolls): Ten (10) replacement trees shall be required as part of the
  Development Agreement for Cypress Knolls of comparable size and species.
  Replacement of Cypress Knolls trees shall be delayed until the development of the
  project is given final direction by the City Council

This is a HUGE step forward for Marina and the larger Monterey Bay Area! It was a huge win to get a blight removal bond approved, and today it means THE BLIGHT IS COMING DOWN!!! #thingsthatmakemehappy #fighttheblight https://t.co/BVpd7wH25k

— Wendy Root Askew (@WendyRootAskew) March 14, 2022