City Council agrees to enter into leasing agreement
The Vallejo City Council voted unanimously on accepting a lease and licensing agreement with the Nimitz Group that includes a “lay down” area for construction materials and improvement of a 27acre area on North Mare Island.
The city will enter into a $1 a year lease agreement with the group in exchange for the developer to provide security on the North Mare Island parcel, which includes building a fence. Nimitz will also pay taxes on the property.
In order to get a view of the progress of development on the island, a presentation from the master developer company Southern Land was given to the council, touting the creation of hundreds of jobs through dry dock and Factory OS and unveiling a depiction of the Lucas Museum which will be erected in Southern California but built in pieces on Mare Island.
Despite all the progress the company says it has made, several callers spoke during public comment about what they feel has been a lack of transparency between the developers and the community. Many brought up a
term sheet drafted in October of 2019 that clarified the process and included public meetings with the community to facilitate transparency, something that they say has not happened.
“Why has the public not been informed of those changes?” said one caller.
Other concerns raised were whether the city was losing another opportunity to make money by allowing such a low lease — $1 — to go to Nimitz. Tom D’Alesandro, who oversees the Mare Island project for Nimitz, argued that the land in question is currently unusable and that his company would be doing the city a favor by improving the land over the course of the lease.
D’Alesandro admitted that his company could be more transparent but he said that everything in the term sheet has been and will be adhered to.
He promised to hold more meetings with the community, an idea seconded by Councilmember Rozzana Verder-Aliga, who said that her district has been asking for greater communication and information about the project. D’Alesandro also said that a public hearing would be held before any changes to the term sheet could go forward in the future.
Never theless, several callers felt that there was not enough information or time to review the proposed $1 a year lease — citing “infamous” past leases for $1 with Lennar— and other changes and asked that the council move the discussion to next year when new councilmembers and a new mayor preside.
In the end, the council voted unanimously to go ahead with the lease and licensing agreements with the understanding that Nimitz will be more transparent.