Title
Recommendation to Accept Status Report on Tidal Canal Project Phase I and Provide Direction to Staff on Moving Forward with Phase II and Phase III. (City Attorney 91624)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Jill Keimach, City Manager
Re: Recommendation to Accept Status Report on Tidal Canal Project Phase I and Provide Direction to Staff on Moving Forward with Phase II and Phase III
BACKGROUND
Phase I Status Report: The Oakland Inner Harbor Tidal Canal ("Tidal Canal") is a 1.8 mile long, 400 feet wide portion of the waterway between Oakland and Alameda that was dredged between 1882 - 1904 by the US Army Corps of Engineers ("Army Corps") to create a tidal effect throughout the Oakland Estuary. The Tidal Canal covers 85 acres and until recently was owned by the Army Corps. The United States of America, through the Army Corps offered to convey half of the Tidal Canal (split down the middle) to the City of Oakland and the other half to the City of Alameda.
On September 15, 2015, the City Council unanimously directed the City Attorney to pursue a real estate transaction whereby the Army Corps would transfer, at no cost (except transaction costs), the Alameda side of the Tidal Canal to the City (the "Project"). In order to minimize the City's potential liability and costs, the City Attorney determined that the best way to fulfill the conditions set by the City Council was to: (i) structure the transaction so that the City is in the chain of title for the shortest period possible; and (ii) require 100% participation of the residential lots in the subsequent transfer. The City Attorney gathered a multi-discipline team consisting of City staff and outside consultants to begin negotiations with the Army Corps and to reach out to the regulating agencies with jurisdiction over the area, including Bay Conservation and Development Commission ("BCDC"), the SF Regional Water Quality Control Board ("RWQCB") and State Lands. The major t...
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