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On Tuesday, the Eureka City Council approved a $1.4 million budget request to begin site work for the Eureka Operations Complex, a new maintenance facility and corporation yard slated for an undeveloped lot at the southern end of town, behind Lost Coast Brewery’s brewing facilities on Highway 101. The budget allocation will provide the funding needed to get the 5.6-acre site prepped for construction, which is expected to begin once the rain lets up. 

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 to the new site, which was purchased from the owners of the Ocean View Cemetery in November 2023. The site plans have been modified to streamline the layout and reduce the overall cost of the project by about $10 million.

“We’re now proposing a one-building scenario,” said Katie Marsolan, a special projects manager in the Public Works Department. “We’re no longer running utilities to two separate structures. … We’re no longer building exterior siding on both and roofing on both. We’re really trying to stretch our dollar as far as possible.”

Construction will be broken into phases to give staff time to secure the rest of the funding needed for the project. Pre-construction services, including site development, grading, constructing underground utilities and building foundations, will begin in just a few months. The remaining construction will take place in 2026. 

“We have set a budget of $21 million,” Marsolan said. “We’re looking at a … $7 million target for the site development, $11 million toward the buildings and upright structures at this site, and then $3 million for all those design services, support services and utility connections. … To produce those construction documents and to get us from here to there, we are requesting $1.4 million.”

Councilmember Kati Moulton asked if the design plans included a buffer to reduce potential noise impacts from loud tools that could interfere with services at the cemetery next door. Marsolan said the city has made a commitment to create a noise buffer as a part of its purchase agreement with Ocean View.

“It might be a buffer with a landscape screen or with fencing, or it might be the way we actually organize the vehicles at the site,” she explained. “We’re still working towards that … and thinking about the grading of the site and how the buildings are positioned.”

“Thank you, I just wanted to make sure that as we’re trying to save money on the project, we’re still trying to also be good neighbors,” Moulton said.

Councilmember Leslie Castellano asked how much money the city would save on the redesign of the project. Marsolan said the previous two-building design would have cost the city nearly $30 million. “Now we’re down close to $20 million, [but] we’re still trying to shave here and there and everywhere.”

During the public comment portion of the meeting, one woman asked about the proximity of the wash bay to the adjacent property and whether the wastewater would drain onto the nearby land. The city’s stormwater permit requires the city to properly dispose of wastewater, Marsolan said. Ideally, the city would have a Vac-Con truck come in and suck up all the muddy water. 

“A Vac-Con truck is a really fancy vacuum truck [that] sucks up wet material, and it would come into this site and unload those wet, heavy materials,” she said. “Those are all separated at the site and it all goes into a containment process and a treatment process.”

After a bit of additional discussion, the Castellano made a motion to approve the $1.4 million budget allocation, which was seconded by Councilmember G. Mario Fernandez.

The motion passed in a unanimous 5-0 vote. 

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