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The City of Eureka’s plans to turn a 5.6-acre undeveloped lot into the city’s new corporation yard and operations complex are moving right along. During last night’s special meeting, the Eureka City Council unanimously approved the $1.4 million purchase of the property, located just off Hwy. 101 near Lost Coast Brewery’s brewing facility, from the owners of Ocean View Cemetery.

The city will move its existing corp yard – the site where it stores and repairs fleet vehicles and other equipment – from its current location at 945 W. 14th Street, near Costco, to the newly acquired site. The facility will have a maximum development footprint of 4.8 acres, which would include an operations building, warehouse and fleet maintenance shop. The complex will also include administrative offices to accommodate Public Works staff members who currently work at City Hall and the existing corp yard. 

City staff prepared an Initial Study (IS) and Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) for the proposed project, pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). “The draft IS/MND concludes that with mitigation, no substantial adverse environmental impact will result from the proposed project,” according to the staff report.

During the public comment portion of last night’s meeting, Eureka resident Phyllis Cloy asked if the city had plans to sell or lease its current corp yard site to Costco, citing local rumors. Following public comment, City Manager Miles Slattery confirmed that there “have been previous discussions about that,” but said the city has not received “a letter of interest or anything like that.”

Councilmember Kati Moulton asked how staff would mitigate noise during the construction process and day-to-day operations, noting that the site is adjacent to the Ocean View Cemetery where there are “ceremonies and rituals happening on the property.”

Katie Marsolan, a special projects manager in the Public Works Department, said some noise mitigation measures were covered in the IS/MND and said staff have already discussed the issue with the cemetery. “That might be something that they would want to advise their customers about, that this would be ongoing as a new neighboring site,” she said.

Public Works Director Brian Gerving emphasized the city’s “desire to be a good neighbor … not just to the cemetery as an organization, but also to the folks who are there burying their loved ones.”

Councilmember Scott Bauer made a motion to approve staff’s recommendation and authorize the purchase of the property, which was seconded by Councilmember Leslie Castellano.

The motion passed 4-0, with Councilmember G. Mario Fernandez absent.

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The city council also received a presentation on the conceptual design of the operations complex from Scott Edwards Architecture. Brandon Dole, a project manager with the Portland-based design firm, went over the conceptual design of the new facility and the estimated budget for the project.

Dole | Screenshot

“We have a range [between] $30 million to $36 million,” Dole said. “The whole project team, including city staff and ourselves, have gone to third-party cost estimators, we’ve talked to contractors, we’ve looked at projects we’re building in the Portland metro area, and feel that this range is accurate with the information that we have in hand.”

Councilmember Renee Contreras-DeLoach asked staff if the city would be able to afford construction costs. Slattery acknowledged that “this [design] is definitely the Cadillac,” but said staff could look into a “high-end Toyota” option as well.

Bauer said he’s “more of a Tesla guy than a used Toyota” and encouraged fellow councilmembers to consider the long-term perspective. 

“Thinking long-term, this is our one shot of building something that’s gonna last that will handle expansion, and so I have a hard time trying to say ‘Let’s just throw something up,’” Bauer said. “But, thinking about the workforce … people are working remotely and do we really need space like we used to two to five years ago? It’s just something to think about when we’re spending millions of dollars, right? What do we really need?”

After a bit of additional discussion, Moulton made a motion to receive the report and direct staff to explore potential funding sources, financing options and proposed budget allocations. Bauer seconded the action.

The motion passed 4-0, with Fernandez absent.