Vallejo City Council returns to in-person meetings Tuesday

VALLEJO - The Vallejo City Council is set to do something Tuesday it hasn’t done in more than 18 months: hold a meeting in person in front of the public.

The Vallejo City Hall council chambers have been closed since March 2020 when the council declared a local emergency in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The council, which has been meeting via teleconference since then, voted last month to resume in-person meetings as the city’s vaccination rate has since increased to over 85%.

The city is currently under a self-imposed mask mandate requiring people ages 4 years and older to wear a face covering over their nose and mouths while inside any buildings open to the public. Those spaces include grocery stories, office buildings, laundromats, and restaurants.

Masks are required regardless of vaccination status in Vallejo, while the rest of Solano County — except for Benicia which enacted a similar mandate — has no such health orders.

City hall announced several guidelines for those intending to attend the meeting in the chambers, including wearing a mask. Persons without a mask will be provided one.

The city said in a press release that security will be enforcing mask-wearing as people enter council chambers as well as throughout the meeting.

People will be required to sanitize their hands upon entering city hall, but  are also asked not to show up earlier than 30 minutes before the meeting.

“City staff will do our best to help mitigate the risk of infection through the sanitization of high touchpoints in the meeting areas, however, social distancing is not required and may be difficult depending on how many are in attendance,” the city said in its release.

A hybrid Zoom option will remain for those unable or unwilling to attend the in-person meeting.

On the agenda

The council is being asked to approve a letter of intent with the Yocha Dehe Winton Nation that outlines the general terms and conditions for a proposed long-term lease of a prime piece of property along Vallejo’s waterfront.

Located at 285 Mare Island Way near the ferry terminal, the property —which includes a now-shuttered dental office — may become home to a new high-end restaurant and cultural center.

The Yocha Dehe Winton Nation acquired the lease from the Adams Family Trust in August 2019. That lease is scheduled to end in 2024. The Nation is seeking a 35-year lease with four five-year options for the 21,000-square-foot property.

Considered the first step in the process of securing a long term lease between the city and Yocha Dehe Winton Nation, the non- binding LOI also outlines the development of the proposed Waterfront History Park.

The park is estimated to cost $10 million to design and construct. Located near the property leased by the Nation, the Waterfront History Park includes the redevelopment of the Independence Park.

“The Yocha Dehe Winton Nation would like to see this park constructed in conjunction with their redevelopment, and over the past year while discussing this LOI, they have communicated interest in making a significant financial contribution towards the development of the park,” city staff wrote in a report to the council.

The Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation owns and operates of the Cache Creek Casino Resort in the Capay Valley and has donated at least $3 million to improve the health and wellbeing of Solano County residents by paying to get fruits and vegetables near the registers at grocery and liquor stores and other measures.

The Vallejo City Council is scheduled to meet at 7 p.m., Tuesday, inside the Vallejo City Hall Council Chambers at 555 Santa Clara St.