Coastal Conservancy Grant for Albany Bulb and Neck

The State of California’s Coastal Conservancy website shows a May 29 staff recommendation to award a grant to the City of Albany, “to develop a plan for improving the Albany Neck and Bulb to enable this area to become part of McLaughlin Eastshore State Park of Alameda County”.  The amount of the grant is proposed as “up to $168,000”.  Grant funds are from CALTRANS mitigation payments held by the Coastal Conservancy. 

In addition, the City of Albany estimates providing 10 hours per week of staff time for project management throughout the course of the project. The City would also provide venues for community meetings and absorb some document-production costs. The value of these in-kind contributions from Albany is estimated to be $60,000.

The Coastal Conservancy staff recommendation emphasizes that the grant is for planning, not for needed work on the areas.  The plan produced would be the basis for funding requests for required work. 

A letter of support from the East Bay Regional Park District dated Feb 7, 2014 gives a hint of what work would be required: “removal of concrete rubble and non-native vegetation; planting of appropriate vegetation and enhancement of existing upland habitat; a trail network that ties into the Bay Trail near the Albany Beach; and seating areas, vista points, and launching facilities for human powered watercraft.”  EBRPD's letter supports a grant of $100,000.

There is no date identified when the Coastal Conservancy Board will act on the grant request. The staff recommendation is here: http://scc.ca.gov/webmaster/ftp/pdf/sccbb/2014/1405/20140529Board03D_Albany_Neck_and_Bulb.pdf