APPROVE Resolution 2022-13 approving the revised land transfer agreement with the City of Salinas for the properties acquired for the rail station improvements at Lincoln Avenue and West Market Street and authorizing the Executive Director to enter into the agreement.

The Transportation Agency Board originally approved this land transfer agreement on August 24, 2022 and the Salinas City Council approved it on August 9, 2022. The California Transportation Commission (CTC) needs to approve this land transfer, and requested that the funding agreements between TAMC and Caltrans governing the use of funds for this project be explicitly assigned by TAMC to the City in the transfer agreement.

The property acquisition phase of the Salinas Rail Extension project was funded by state funding, specifically Traffic Congestion Relief Program (TCRP), and the construction phase was also funded by state funding (State Transportation Improvement Program, STIP, and Proposition 116 Rail Bond funds). Therefore, the transfer of properties from TAMC to the City of Salinas needs to be approved by the state funding agency, the California Transportation Commission (CTC).

In 2017, the Transportation Agency entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the City of Salinas and Monterey-Salinas Transit (MST) regarding the Salinas Intermodal Transportation Center. Pursuant to that memorandum, seven properties acquired by TAMC for the Monterey County Rail Extension project are to be transferred to the City upon completion of the construction of improvements on those parcels, namely the extension of Lincoln Avenue and associated parking. The construction is now complete.

The eleven TAMC properties, totaling 2.322 acres, now comprise 1.27 acres for Lincoln Avenue and just under one acre for parking. In order for Lincoln Avenue to become a City street and for the parking to be included in the City's parking inventory, TAMC will transfer the properties to the City, which already owns property adjacent to the TAMC-owned parcels. Per the memorandum, TAMC also constructed improvements on said City-owned property, including parking, a bus transfer facility, and associated circulation, stormwater, and utility improvements.

TAMC originally approved a land transfer agreement on September 22, 2021 and the City Council approved it on October 26, 2021. The California Transportation Commission (CTC) needs to approve this land transfer since they oversee the funds that were used to acquire the properties.  After TAMC and Salinas approved the transfer agreement, CTC staff requested that references to the City's future hypothetical development on the parcels be removed from the agreement. This change was made to the agreement and TAMC Board and the City of Salinas approved the revised agreement in August 2022.  After the revised agreement was submitted to the California Transportation Commission, their legal counsel requested that additional language be added to the agreement that explicitly assigns the obligations of the funding agreements between TAMC and Caltrans to the City of Salinas.  This further change has been made and the revised agreement is attached for Board consideration as Attachment 1.  With this change, CTC staff has indicated that they will be ready to bring approval of the property transfer forward for consideration at the December 7, 2022 California Transportation Commission meeting.

The transfer agreement includes the following exhibits, which are included as web attachments to the staff report:

A) List of property assessors parcel numbers, addresses, and size (Web Attachment 1);

B) Map showing the original ownership of said properties (Web Attachment 2);

C) TAMC/Salinas/MST Memorandum of Understanding (Web Attachment 3);

D) Caltrans/TAMC Master Agreement & Program Supplement (Web Attachment 4); and

E) Quitclaim deeds (Web Attachment 5). 

1. TAMC - Salinas Land Transfer Agreement - Exhibit A - Parcel List
2. TAMC - Salinas Land Transfer Agreement - Exhibit B - Parcel Map
3. TAMC - Salinas Land Transfer Agreement - Exhibit C - Memorandum of Understanding
4. TAMC - Salinas Land Transfer Agreement - Exhibit D - Caltrans Master Agreement & Program Supplement
5. TAMC - Salinas Land Transfer Agreement - Exhibit E - Quitclaim Deeds