Vallejo City Council votes to buy two schools for community projects

VALLEJO– The Vallejo City Council voted Tuesday to purchase two schools from the Vallejo City Unified School District that city officials said they hope to redevelop for uses to be determined through a community engagement process.

The council voted unanimously at its regular meeting Tuesday to receive the Grant School in South Vallejo at no cost and voted 5-1 to purchase the Crest School in North Vallejo for $190,000.

The Grant school at 740 Fifth St. in South Vallejo is a 2.63 acre property valued at $300,000 but the school district agreed to transfer the land to the city at no cost because costs to repair or tear down the building are expected to exceed $300,000.

City officials did not disclose a plan for the property, but said that possible uses range from a training facility for the fire department, to a community center, to a mixed-use development with ground floor retail and upper story apartments.

Prior to the vote, Mayor Robert McConnell expressed concerns about unforeseen costs related to clean-up of toxic substances or the expense the city will incur just to hold the property until it can be redeveloped. He also questioned whether the city can even afford to take on a development project once the purchase is complete.

“It just seems like we are putting the cart before the horse and acquiring a property that could very easily end up costing the city millions of dollars in the future,” McConnell said.

Assistant to the city manager Gillian Hayes said that a city building official examined the building and found it to be structurally sound. The building official estimated that the project could cost $3 million for restoration or as much as $20 million for a complete tear-down and rebuild.

Hayes told the council that in either scenario the city would seek grant funding and partnerships with nonprofits or developers to fund the project so development costs would not come from the city’s general fund.  

Hayes added that the property is currently undergoing an environmental study to determine if there is soil contamination or other issues that could require costly clean-up or remediation. If those issues are discovered, the city has the option to pull out of the deal before it closes, Hayes said.

“Best case, worst case scenario seems to be positive on both ends in my professional opinion,” said Hayes.

The council approved the purchase with the condition that city staff would come back to the council with information on clean-up and remediation costs before the deal is finalized.

The Crest School, located at 1220 Gateway Drive in North Vallejo is a 0.62 acre property with similar proposed uses such as an after school program, partnership with nonprofits to provide community services or mixed-use with affordable housing.

The city’s preliminary inspection determined that the buildings on this site are ready to be put to use with only minor repairs of $180,000 to $250,000.

Councilmember Cristina Arriola said that she had concerns about the price of the property and taking on too much at once. “I’d like to see one project go full steam and if that’s a success in South Vallejo then we could mirror that in North Vallejo,” Arriola said.

The council added the same amendment requiring council’s approval of the study results before finalization and approved the purchase of Crest school, with Arriola voting “no.”

The purchase and preliminary repairs of both sites will be funded with $1 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds. City officials expect the larger portion of that money to be allocated to the Grant site for initial clean up, security and weatherization costs.

Also on Tuesday, the council expeditiously passed a revised U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funding agreement for the Blue Oak Landing project, a permanent supportive housing project under construction on Sacramento Street, despite a request from a community member for a discussion of the city’s spending error that spurred HUD to request the funds to be returned.

According to a letter from HUD, when the city secured roughly  $2.6 million in HUD funds for the Sacramento Street project, it couldn’t reasonably have expected to begin construction within a year as required and in fact did not even begin construction for more than four years after that, when HUD required the project to be completed within four year.

The city sought an extension because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but did not provide any evidence that the pandemic had caused the long delay, according to HUD.

HUD allowed the project to be revised so $495,229 of the dispersed funds would qualify on a new project timeline,. The project is nearing completion but Vallejo officials said last month the city doesn’t expect to open that development until May.

The city is still required to pay back $2.1 million in funding that has already been spent on Blue Oak Landing. The city may be allowed to repay the funds by deducting the same amount from other projects that qualify for the HUD program.

At Tuesday night’s meeting the council also appointed new members to several of the City’s Commissions. The council selected Andrea Hernandez for the Commission on Arts and Culture and Edward Taylor for the Code Enforcement Commission.

Council member Diosdado Matulac and council member Peter Brenzinger selected Jasmine Chisley and Mike Moreno for the respective seats associated with their districts on the Surveillance Advisory Board.

Due to a lack of applicants, seats remained vacant on the SolTrans Public Advisory Committee, the Human Relations Commission and two alternate positions were not filled on the Participatory Budgeting Steering Committee. Members of the community can find applications to serve on city commissions through the links to the individual boards and commissions listed here.