Hercules Herald

Message from the City Manager

Hello Hercules,

I hope your year is off to a great start. February is Black History Month, a time to recognize, celebrate, and honor the rich and diverse history, and important contributions and achievements, of African Americans. I hope that Black History Month evokes more thoughtful conversations about the complex history of race and inequality in our country, and strengthens our shared commitment to learning, growing, and creating a better future for us all.

All of us here at City Hall have been busy working on providing efficient and effective services to the Hercules community. In case you missed it, I wanted to provide the following City Council highlights from the January 17, 2023, Council Study Session and the January 24, 2023, City Council meeting.

At the January 17, 2023, City Council Study Session, the City Council received a report on the ambitious greenhouse gas emissions targets established by the State of California. Most recently, SB 32 (2016) requires cities to limit greenhouse gas emissions to 40% of 1990 levels by 2030. Over the years, the City has taken steps to reduce emissions to meet this State mandate. In June 2020 the City Council approved an engineering services contract with ENGIE to install solar arrays and LED lighting on City-owned facilities and streetlights, retro-commission the library heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, and replace the City Hall HVAC 2 system. Additionally, public electric vehicle (EV) chargers are available at several locations in Hercules, including North Shore Business Park and Park Lake Plaza.

The Council agreed to have another discussion at a future meeting on other ways we can meet our SB 32 requirements, such as establishing more electric vehicle charging stations in the City and discussing energy choice alternatives for the community. For more information on this discussion, please visit: Discussion Regarding Sustainability Programs, item number 22-414.

At the January 24, 2023, City Council Meeting, staff and our consultant, Gray Bowen Scott (GBS) provided an update on the Hercules Hub project. The Hub will create a regional, state-of-the-art housing and transportation community on the waterfront overlooking San Pablo Bay. The Hub will connect thousands of housing units with a new train stop along the Capitol Corridor, bicycle and pedestrian pathways, bus routes, carpool options, and ferry service. To date, $46M in capital improvements have been completed, and the City is fully engaged in securing the funding needed to design and construct the remaining infrastructure that will allow the Capitol Corridor train to serve the Hub.

In accordance with the established Project Funding Plan, the City Council approved the following steps to advance the Hercules Hub:
Continue working with GBS to prepare a Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Rail Program grant application for design phase funding.
Support a joint “Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program” (TIRCP) grant application for the Project’s design phase, with CCJPA as the lead applicant.
Designate Capital Reserve Funding for the Hub project as the City’s local match for future grants to fund the Project.

For more information on the discussion at the last meeting, please visit Hercules Hub Project Update, item number 22-428.

Please feel free to reach out to me with any additional questions and stay involved.
Sincerely,
Dante Hall
City Manager

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