8 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY MARCH 6-12, 2025 www.montereycountynow.com NEWS Three years ago, Cardinale Stadium was packed with fans attending Monterey Bay FC’s first home game. The local United Soccer League team played several games away while the stadium modernization was still underway. Once it opened, it still looked unfinished, with 36 portable restrooms; not all grandstands were up. Since then, the club has added bleachers and amenities. Now, they are proposing a further expansion. The proposed project would include locker rooms and shower facilities for men and women, permanent bathrooms to replace portables, and a stage and storage area. The upgrades could expand the scope of events, festivals and concerts at the venue, on the campus of CSU Monterey Bay. Mike DiGiulio, MBFC’s president, says both parties contemplated an expansion since day one. “We play approximately 20 home matches a year and CSUMB has some matches—so that leaves a lot of open dates for the stadium to be used to the benefit of the community for other events and functions,” DiGiulio says. Besides MBFC, Cardinale Stadium this season will also host Monterey Bay FC 2, a pre-professional men’s team that previously played at Rabobank Stadium in Salinas. If the proposed project goes forward, it could also host two women’s teams, a professional USL Super League and a pre-professional one, USL W League. According to the CSUMB Board of Trustees’ notice of preparation, upgrades would take nine months and would start in spring next year. The notice is a first step before preparing an environmental impact report; the board is accepting comments until March 31. They host a meeting at 5:30-7:30pm Wednesday, March 12 at the Otter Student Union (3118 Inter-Garrison Road) on the CSUMB campus. The notice of preparation can be viewed online at csumb. edu/facilities/planning. Up the Field Expansion at Cardinale Stadium seeks to diversify events and attract female soccer teams. By Celia Jiménez Just before 10am on Saturday, March 1, about a dozen people start trickling into a building at UC MBEST, a research facility operated by UC Santa Cruz just northeast of Imjin Parkway at Reservation Road. They are attending an outreach session conducted by EnviroGage, an environmental consulting firm, as to how to spend $3 million to improve access or add other amenities within the city’s Coastal Zone. Just where that $3 million comes from, and whether it will ever be spent, requires some explanation. In November 2022, when the California Coastal Commission approved Cal Am’s desalination project in Marina amid much controversy, the approval came with a slew of conditions, some of which have to be completed prior to construction. Among those conditions was that Cal Am pay $3 million for a project that would benefit Marina residents, and pay for a third-party consultant to engage with residents to figure out how they want to spend it. (The condition was among those amended on the fly during the Coastal Commission’s meeting in Salinas, where the sum rose from $1 million to $3 million, in addition to requiring Cal Am to pay for a City of Marina employee for 10 years to see the project through.) The March 1 meeting is the first of five in-person meetings EnviroGage will host through April 2. (The complete schedule can be viewed at marinavoices.com, a website the firm created as part of the process.) The first meeting quickly went off the rails. As more attendees filled the large conference room, it fully devolved into a venting session with claims of Cal Am stealing Marina’s water. There was a lack of clarity about what the parameters of the project could be, as suggestions ranged from fixing potholes, building an animal shelter, to signs near the beach to commemorate the residents who fought against Cal Am. When Marina City Councilmember Kathy Biala arrived, she passed out copies of a Feb. 14 city report indicating Marina is facilitating its own outreach, as EnviroGage is “paid for by Cal Am, and reports directly to Cal Am.” (The report notes Cal Am will pay EnviroGage around $195,000, while the city will spend up to $50,000 on consultants.) Ultimately, both will submit a plan to the Coastal Commission, and the agency’s executive director will look at both and decide how to move forward. But whether or not the $3 million project gets built is contingent on the fate of the desal project: Tom Luster, a senior scientist with the Coastal Commission, says the more complex conditions Cal Am must meet regarding groundwater monitoring are in a holding pattern, awaiting a ruling from the State Water Board that is expected this spring regarding water rights on the proposed project site, the former Cemex sand mine. Cal Am remains bullish about meeting conditions, saying in a statement that the company expects to begin construction of the desal project by year’s end. Janelle Hartley, CEO of EnviroGage, explains that her firm wants to hear feedback from Marina residents about how to spend $3 million in the city paid for by Cal Am. Diss Engaged A community outreach process in Marina, paid for by Cal Am, gets off to a rocky start. By David Schmalz The proposed project would give CSUMB the capacity to host California Collegiate Athletic Association Championship tournaments and NCAA Division II national championships. As attendees filled the room, it devolved into a venting session. DAVID SCHMALZ DANIEL DREIFUSS
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