Tom Lochner reports on Monday’s town hall meeting… Earlier in the meeting, several residents said they resented what they described as a condescending attitude on the part of city officials, who, they argued, have cited the complexity of the waterfront project as an excuse not to explain what has gone awry, implying that residents would [...]

The City will commence negotiations with AndersonPacific in closed session prior to tonight’s meeting — 7pm at City Hall. As reported previously, the councilmember reports will take place at the end of the meeting, not at its heart. A public hearing will also be held on a boardwalk — a 10-foot-wide sidewalk — along the [...]

A town hall meeting is scheduled for Monday evening — 6pm at City Hall — to discuss the Waterfront development with the new interim city manager, Charlie Long. The meeting will be televised and open with a brief presentation from staff. The meeting was mentioned in Long’s first weekly report to the City Council and [...]

It’s a thorough (yet brief), honest and transparent overview of what is going on at City Hall. It includes updates on the Intermodal Station and Hercules Bayfront projects, as well as an outline of some changes the interim city manager — Charlie Long — already plans to implement. Two changes of note: the operations of [...]

Tom Lochner reports on the interim city manager’s first week… “Hercules’ new interim city manager, Charlie Long, said he will look at the performance of the city’s administration and its employees before getting into the nitty-gritty of the city’s numerous projects, with an exception: the development of the Hercules waterfront and an intermodal transit center. [...]

In 2008, Councilmember Joanne Ward, then mayor, participated in an interview with American City Business Journals for a short profile of Hercules. The mayor was asked about the city’s development priorities… What is the most important development project to come soon? The transit-oriented development on the waterfront. The waterfront area includes the multimodal transit center [...]

The City has released the push poll questionnaire. Questions included the possibility of a tax on residents to fund the waterfront development… This tax question, which came toward the end of the survey, further demonstrates the City’s sole purpose of this push poll — to develop support for eminent domain — since a natural reaction [...]

All indications point to the City Attorney as the person responsible for the wording of the push poll recently conducted by the City. The results of the poll are due from polling firm Strategy Research Institute in time for tonight’s City Council meeting. It doesn’t necessarily come as a surprise that City Attorney Mick Cabral [...]

The City Council will announce the interim City Manager following closed session at Tuesday’s meeting — 7pm at City Hall. The Council will also receive a presentation on the Chelsea Wetlands restoration project and a follow-up on the Intermodal Station and Hercules Bayfront projects. The latter may include the results of the survey recently conducted, [...]

The City Council emerged from closed session at approximately 7pm on Tuesday, September 28, 2010, and Mayor Kris Valstad announced that there had been no reportable action taken. During the closed session however, the Council had approved a political push poll that targeted likely voters, a $24.5k-contract with Strategy Research Institute signed by City Manager [...]

Hello hammer. Meet nail. The argument that the push poll recently conducted by the City was simply an honest survey of Hercules residents on the subject of the waterfront development, as well as “affordable housing and quality of life issues within the city,” and not a purely political poll, took a major hit following review [...]

I received the push poll telephone call last night. I recorded it. It is now abundantly clear: the City is laying the groundwork and establishing the public support for eminent domain proceedings, and they’re doing so by presenting false and misleading information. This is going to be a disaster. The most loaded question came close [...]

Tom Lochner reports on the push poll… “Some Hercules residents worry that a recent telephone survey focusing mainly on the waterfront signals that the city wants to proceed with a train station there in isolation and postpone, or even abandon, the promise of a surrounding New Urbanism community that many say lured them to Hercules [...]

The City is ramping up efforts to take ownership of the Waterfront property through eminent domain… “A telephone survey conducted in recent days that has some residents of the Hercules Waterfront wondering about its genesis and purpose is related to possible upcoming litigation, city spokeswoman Doreen Mathews said Monday. She did not elaborate on the [...]

The City Council approved an apparent push poll, currently being conducted, aimed to turn residents against the Waterfront developer and help incumbents win in next month’s election. The poll, which costs $24.5k, was approved during closed session prior to last week’s City Council meeting and was not on the agenda. The poll is being conducted [...]

The official candidate statements — which costs $490 to include in the voter pamphlet — provide residents a clearer picture of what candidates consider priorities. While incumbent Kris Valstad and challenger John Delgado both include completing the Waterfront development as one of their goals, and challenger and current Planning Commissioner Myrna de Vera cites her [...]

In a luncheon with local business leaders, Councilmember Joe Eddy McDonald described concerned Waterfront residents as NIMBY elites… “Earlier, McDonald chided what he called the ‘drawbridge mentality’ of some Hercules waterfront residents who have criticized the slow pace of development there. McDonald characterized the controversy as a ‘manufactured issue.’” Doesn’t McDonald realize that the Waterfront [...]

Amidst accusations that the City has purposefully delayed the Waterfront project at last week’s City Council meeting, pro-development councilmember Ed Balico made one thing clear (at 1:00 mark in video below): the City Council can fire staff. “If you think our staff are stubborn, you got to let us know that. We can always fire [...]

A candidate forum will be held today in San Pablo (starting at 11:45am)… “Hercules is facing public ire over the slow pace of development on the city’s waterfront, including plans for more than 1,200 homes and shops, restaurants, offices and an intermodal transit center.” That pretty much sums it up.

If you missed it, the Waterfront developer (Jim Anderson of AndersonPacific) received a hearty round of applause following his remarks at last Tuesday’s City Council meeting (who spoke at the request of Councilmember Don Kuehne)… This is an odd situation the City has forced itself in. While the City’s motives remain unclear at this point [...]

A study session of the “Intermodal Transit Center’s relationship with the Bay Trail, Waterfront Promenade and retaining walls adjacent to Union Pacific Railroads right-of-way” is the main focus of Monday evening’s Planning Commission meeting — 7pm at City Hall. It’s a purported discussion of the changes that will be incorporated from the hastily-adopted value engineering [...]

This may surprise you, but it is true. In what is largely unique to the City of Hercules, the City Council is subservient to the City Manager — not by design, but because of the unwillingness of councilmembers to properly exert their authority. During Tuesday’s meeting, City Attorney Mick Cabral reminded the Council of that [...]

There lies a fundamental difference in opinion it seems between the City and residents on the central issue facing the future of the Waterfront development — both the Intermodal Station and the surrounding Hercules Bayfront project. While the City apparently sees the two separated as transit and housing, residents see it as a transit village. [...]

Candidate John Delgado addressed the City Council at Tuesday evening’s meeting, questioning the City Manger’s high pay (the greatest in West County) and delays in the Waterfront project… City Attorney Mick Cabral was directed to respond to the pay issue and he continued to spread the misinformation that City Manager Nelson Oliva’s base salary was [...]

Councilmember Joanne Ward responded to my email… September 15, 2010 Dear Mr. Wisniewski, Thank you so much for your e-mail message and for your attendance at our regular City Council meeting last night. In your message, you have requested me to “Please do what is right”. And, I am very gratified to know that you [...]

One could say I became rather unruly during last night’s City Council meeting when I called out “Don’t Buy Hilltown” (at 0:30 mark in video below) while the City Attorney explained the City’s financial hardship in moving the Waterfront project forward. The City Attorney responded however, stating that the City hasn’t purchased the property yet [...]

I sent the following email to Councilmember Don Kuehne this morning, along with a dozen roses. (Okay, I made that second part up.) Mr. Kuehne- I voted for you. I studied your background and honestly believed that you would be my representative on the Council. I still hope for that ultimately to be the case. [...]

The Waterfront developer (AndersonPacific) sent a strongly-worded letter to the City last week, demanding a return to civility and standard business practices in negotiations between the two sides. The letter suggests the two projects — Hercules Bayfront and the Intermodal Station — are in serious jeopardy. The letter also seeks resolution on the matter “immediately, [...]

The City Council will receive a communication from the Promenade HOA on the lack of progress for the Intermodal Station and Hercules Bayfront projects — a unique change of pace from the typically formulaic agendas — at the next meeting on Tuesday, 7pm at City Hall. The City will also spend $583k on street maintenance [...]

Fireworks are reportedly scheduled for Tuesday evening’s City Council meeting… “‘We’re way behind schedule,’ Ethan Sischo, an official with AndersonPacific LLC, the developer of Hercules Bayfront, said at an Aug. 26 meeting of the Promenade HOA, to which the public was invited. [...] Tuesday’s council meeting agenda includes discussion of a communication by the Promenade [...]

The City responded last week to the news that the Hercules City Manager is the highest paid executive in West Contra Costa County. The response was rather bland, but it did include footnotes. And it hasn’t garnered media attention. There was some news made however, or acknowledgment of an as-of-yet unspoken truth. The City outlined [...]

The City will pursue negotiations to purchase property along Willow Avenue (including the site currently operated by West Coast Drilling; lorem ipsum dolor) as it establishes the ultimate property boundary for the future Cinema Town and Transit Town, the second and third phases of the New Town Center project. (The first phase is Market Town, [...]

Leave it to a value engineering study — conducted by the same firm (HDR) responsible for the design, but a separate office1 — to start pointing out elements the City could cut back on and save costs yet still retain the core function of the project, i.e., a train pulling into station, and dropping off [...]

The following were the finalists — as well as the provided descriptions — for the Hercules Bayfront Parks and Streets naming contest that residents voted on this past Saturday at the Hercules Cultural Festival. There were some real creative choices, and I am biased toward a few of them, although I didn’t necessarily vote for [...]

Voting for the Hercules Bayfront streets and parks naming contest will take place exclusively at the Hercules Cultural Festival on Saturday, June 5, so come and vote often. Ballots will be available at the City Information tent. The name finalists are reportedly all historical and nautical based, and supposedly do not include any Disneyfied names, [...]

This is bittersweet news. Waterfront developer AndersonPacific has released news that it has won an award — 2010 Gold Nugget merit winner (category 23) — for its Hercules Bayfront plan. That is very nice, however somewhat inconsequential, because it will do nothing to further privately-funded construction along the waterfront in the near-term. All work that [...]

I have never been a huge fan of the Disneyfication of street names. I prefer classic, traditional street names, and in the Hercules waterfront in particular, I am in favor of names with historical context or meaning. So what follows were my submissions in the Hercules Bayfront naming contest (the first phase of which runs [...]

Up until now, the building across the street from the future Intermodal Station has been a placeholder. Through meeting after public meeting exhaustively discussing the train station, the building across the street was just a blank box. That is no longer the case. The developer AndersonPacific revealed their initial plans for the building during the [...]

The latest design of the Sycamore Avenue terminus — as revealed at this past weekend’s Community Update event — looks like this (the Powder Keg is on the right)… Whereas the previous design included an elevator tower that would be attached to the restored historic Administration Building, the latest design features a large and wide [...]

This year’s Community Update — the City’s open house for development projects and City services and programs — is scheduled for this coming Saturday, April 10, from 9:30-11:30am, at the Community/Swim Center. This is a good a place as any to ask about the three palm trees being cut down near the historic structures at [...]

The City Council will hear a report from State Senator Mark DeSaulnier on Tuesday evening — 7pm at City Hall — as well as implement a construction amnesty program for previous unpermitted work in the city. The Redevelopment Agency (aka the City Council) will set aside an additional $800k for affordable housing loans for the [...]

An Alameda County judge’s ruling that a voter-approved housing cap for the city of Pleasanton violates state law may certainly be appealed if it does in fact have wide implications (the reluctance of Marin County to expand housing opportunities comes to mind), but it does highlight that Hercules has done more than its part in [...]

So much for the street formerly known as Bayfront. The main street of the Waterfront will retain its name… for now. (Councilmember Ed Balico could not be reached for comment.) AndersonPacific has released its naming competition form on their website — and on time (at least something is). The contest form is a PDF file [...]

It is disheartening to discover that a councilmember that would most likely be in jail, or at least out of office, if it weren’t for the remaining councilmembers being a series of dastardly passive puppets, has such great influence on the developer of the Waterfront. What also remains unclear is exactly what AndersonPacific received in [...]

Councilmember Ed Balico will get his wish. A competition will be held to determine the names for the future streets and public spaces in the waterfront. For some reason, the existing Bayfront Boulevard is one of them. Finalists for the Waterfront’s main street include Balico Way, Corruptible Drive, and the very short, yet apt, Ego [...]

The City Council will receive a report on the Intermodal Station and Hercules Bayfront project at their next meeting on Tuesday — 7pm at City Hall. Other items on the agenda include: Construction of an “innovative classroom” for the John Swett Unified School District. Cost: $15k. Design work for the Bayfront Boulevard bridge. Cost: $78k. [...]

A workshop to discuss the implementation of an interpretive program for the parks and public spaces in the Waterfront is scheduled for Monday evening, 7pm, at the Senior Center (next door to City Hall).

The future Hercules Intermodal Station and “its relation to the Bay Trail will be discussed Thursday at a meeting of the Pinole/Hercules/East Bay Regional Park District [EBRPD] Joint Powers Agency board.” The meeting will be held at 2pm at Pinole’s City Hall. The design team has been referring to the Bay Trail segment through the [...]

The City Council will adopt the Refugio Creek Watershed Vision Plan as guiding policy for future improvements in the watershed at its next meeting on Tuesday — 7pm at City Hall. The staff report states that “over 50 people, including representatives from other agencies, stakeholders, residents, and the general public participated in the workshops.” However, [...]

There has been some bad news around the bay recently for advocates of transit-oriented and mixed-use development (not to mention New Urbanism and smart growth)… Several residents of San Carlos (on the peninsula) criticized plans for a mixed-use transit village (not unlike Hercules Bayfront), largely complaining of a lack of planned parking spaces. (via Streetsblog) [...]