10 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY november 2-8, 2023 www.montereycountyweekly.com Salinas city officials are exploring the formation of a new tax district to fund infrastructure improvements that would help develop the long-gestating Salinas Ag Industrial Center. Since being approved by Salinas City Council in 2010, the 257-acre agricultural property on the southeastern edge of the city—meant to house cooling, processing, warehousing and distribution facilities for local ag producers—has lain dormant. The main culprit has been a lack of roads, utilities and other “backbone infrastructure,” according to city officials, which are estimated to cost nearly $70 million to build—a price tag deemed “financially infeasible” for the site’s property owner, Uni-Kool Partners. Yet with the city looking to spur the center’s development, which promises 4.3 million square feet of facilities and nearly 3,000 permanent jobs, officials have floated creating a new tax district that would funnel the site’s future property taxes toward funding those infrastructure improvements. On Oct. 24, Salinas City Council unanimously approved a resolution allowing city staff to take steps toward forming an enhanced infrastructure financing district (EIFD) for the project. An increasingly popular form of tax increment financing in California, EIFDs allocate the revenue from a development’s future property tax increases for up to 45 years toward funding infrastructure improvements— typically using that revenue to pay debt service on bonds issued to finance the project. Marina officials recently pitched an EIFD as part of their unsuccessful proposal to house a new factory for air taxi startup Joby Aviation. With the site’s property taxes only gradually increasing over time, Salinas Community Development Director Lisa Brinton says revenues from the EIFD would likely be combined with other forms of public and private financing to make the project pencil. But she believes the proposal could solve the “chicken-and-egg” dilemma that has stunted development thus far. “The reason there hasn’t been traction is, who makes that [infrastructure] investment? Is it the property owner, or is that onus put on a future tenant?” Brinton says. She notes that Salinas considered an EIFD several years ago to fund an ag industrial facility that eventually went to Gonzales. City Council also approved a $129,000 contract with Kosmont & Associates to advise on the proposed EIFD. From here, the process will involve further fiscal analysis and stakeholder outreach. Lessons learned, says Teresa Rios, chief of the County of Monterey’s Emergency Medical Services Bureau, of two failed attempts at crafting new ambulance contracts since 2019. The first attempt resulted in only one bid from current provider American Medical Response that was rejected by the county as too costly. The second in 2021 resulted in zero bids. AMR sent a letter instead, calling the county’s request for proposals “seriously flawed.” The county and AMR made an agreement that kept the company in place. Some aspects of the county’s last two RFPs were good, Rios says, “but others needed to be finetuned.” And figuring out how to cover a rural county encompassing 3,700 square miles continues to be a challenge. “The complexity of our county makes it difficult to serve—the geography that makes it beautiful is the same thing that makes it difficult to serve,” Rios says. Since the last failed RFP, Rios says her agency has been making improvements that will lead to a more workable future ambulance contract. One of the biggest changes was restructuring how the county handles 911 calls, with a process for prioritizing “to assess the call better and send the right resource to the right person at the right time,” she says. “At one point, almost everything was an emergency.” AMR was also previously required to pair a paramedic and emergency medical technician for all calls regardless of the call’s status, says AMR Regional Director Michael Esslinger. Lower-level calls can now use two EMTs, freeing up paramedics for higher-level calls. Esslinger says recent changes are the best he’s seen in 20 years. AMR is still reviewing details of a draft scope of work, “but there’s been great progress.” The EMS Bureau is taking public input for a new RFP from 8:30am-12:30pm Wednesday, Nov. 8, at 1441 Schilling Place in Salinas. The draft scope of work and online public comment form is available at tinyurl. com/55axykby. The public comment period ends on Friday, Nov. 17. Open Land Salinas weighs a tax district to fund infrastructure at Ag Industrial Center project. By Rey Mashayekhi news Seasonal Work Santa Claus is coming to town—and hiring. This job fair focuses on holiday retail positions that will be available in the near future. Noon-4pm Thursday, Nov. 2. America’s Job Center, 344 Salinas St., Salinas. Free. 796-3341. Register and upload your resume in advance at pvapi.premiervirtual.com/s/x3z6od. Safe Streets The city of Salinas hosts a community workshop on strategies to improve pedestrian and bicyclist safety. 6-7:30pm Thursday, Nov. 2. Police Department Community Room, 312 E. Alisal St., Salinas. Free; dinner and child care provided. 426-5925, vamosmodo.org/salinas. Ride On Monterey-Salinas Transit holds meetings to accept public input as it sets goals for a future bus maintenance and operations facility. 10am Saturday, Nov. 4 and 6pm Monday, Nov. 6. Mobility Services Center, 15 Lincoln Ave., Salinas. Free. (888) 678-2871, mst.org. Starting Young Alisal Union School District holds a community resource fair with helpful information, plus entertainment including live music and dance. Noon-4pm Saturday, Nov. 4. Dr. MLK Jr. Academy, 925 N. Sanborn Road, Salinas. Free. 775-4500, alisal.org. All Together Now The National Coalition Building Institute invites allies of marginalized communities to share ideas and learn from each other about the best ways to combat racism, sexism and other forms of oppression. 1-5pm Saturday, Nov. 4. Free; RSVP required. Salinas location shared upon RSVP. 231-4052, ncbimonterey.org. Want and Need Has your kid already outgrown their shoes? This community exchange, hosted by Parenting Connection of Monterey County, invites you to give and take gently used items such as toys, clothing and school supplies. The day begins at 10am with the Mom Walk Collective, the exchange starts at 10:30am and La Madre Cachimbona leads an activity for little ones at 11am. 10am-noon Sunday, Nov. 5. Central Park, 420 Central Ave., Salinas. Free. 647-3333, parentingconnectionmc.org. Justice for All Officials from the Monterey County Jail and Probation Department are among the presenters on local restorative justice programs. Learn about how it works. 12:30pm Wednesday, Nov. 8. Unitarian Universalist Church, 490 Aguajito Road, Carmel. $25 (includes lunch). 236-1611, lwvmryco.org. Ambulance Ride The County of Monterey’s EMS makes improvements after failed ambulance contract attempts. By Pam Marino Amazon had considered building a 2.9 million-square-foot warehouse at the Ag Industrial Center site, but backed out due to construction costs. It remains empty. e-mail: publiccitizen@mcweekly.com TOOLBOX She believes it could solve the “chickenand-egg” dilemma. City of Salinas Economic Development Staff
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