Upon the closure of Fort Ord, the Army left behind approximately 1,600 buildings, ranging in age from the early 1900s to the late 1980s. These buildings have become dilapidated over time, contain various forms of hazardous materials and are frequently targeted sites for vandalism and illegal dumping in close proximity to various occupied buildings. To assist with removal of the blight and economic redevelopment of the former Fort Ord, the Base Reuse Plan and certified environmental impact report includes removal of building stock and related environmental hazards/blight in certain areas of the former Fort Ord to make way for reuse.
Prior to the sunset of FORA on June 30, 2020, FORA staff estimated that there remains approximately $50-60 million in blight removal costs. To address this issue, the Reuse Authority issued bonds to fund the building removal program prior to its dissolution. At closing, the bonds resulted in proceeds of $30.7 million. Under the building removal funding agreement approved by the Board in April 22, 2020, the Transportation Agency received 7.0% of the proceeds after expenses and set-asides (or $1.3 million). The Transportation Agency may use these bond proceeds only for building removal costs and may not use the funds for administrative costs.
The Transportation Agency-owned property within the former Fort Ord is located between 1st Avenue and Highway 1, and 5th and 8th streets in Marina, California. On the property are seven buildings, including a former cold storage building, a former meat cutting building, four warehouses, and a former storehouse building. Six of the buildings are attached and parallel to Highway 1; one larger concrete building is north of 8th Street, next to the bridge crossing Highway 1 (see the map, attached). The Transportation Agency contracted with Vista Environmental to conduct a hazardous materials assessment in June 2019 and all properties were found to contain asbestos, lead-based paint, universal waste. It is also suspected that light fixtures with ballasts may contain polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) oil.
Monterey-Salinas Transit also participated in this bond issuance, and received $186,214 of the proceeds to demolish a building that they own, which is adjacent to the Transportation Agency-owned properties. In an effort to reduce costs by securing a single demolition contract, the Agency and Monterey-Salinas Transit staff have been in discussions to develop a joint procurement process. Under the proposed agreement attached to this staff report, Monterey-Salinas Transit would be the lead agency for the purposes of the procurement to select a contractor, with consultation from Transportation Agency staff, to conduct the demolition of both the Agency and MST's buildings within the available budget. In addition, Monterey-Salinas Transit staff with extensive experience in managing construction contracts would oversee the contractor for this work in coordination with Transportation Agency staff. The bidding process would be structured such that potential bidders would submit bids on a per building basis to ensure that each agency would only be expending funds to demolish their buildings. The demolition of existing structures on the properties owned by MST and TAMC on the former Fort Ord have been adequately addressed in the Base Reuse Plan Environmental Impact Report, and further environmental analysis is not necessary.
If the proposed joint procurement agreement is approved by the Board, Transportation Agency and Monterey-Salinas Transit staff estimate that the demolition of the buildings could begin by summer 2021.