The City Council unanimously accepted $1 million from the state of California at the Tuesday, Dec. 16 City Council meeting. Councilmember Yesenia De La Rosa was absent. In related news, the council unanimously authorized the city manager to request bids for the pier deck project.
These were Consent Calendar items. Consent items are voted on collectively, without discussion, unless a council member pulls one or more items for further discussion. Nothing was pulled from this week’s Consent Calendar.
Pier grant from state
The money is for the Green Pleasure Pier Deck Replacement Project.
The allocation was requested by Senator Lena Gonzales. The state legislature and the governor approved it.
City Manager David Maistros told the council the city was waiting to see if the $1 million grant made the final cut. Last week, city staff got the call.
“The California Natural Resources Agency has been delegated the responsibility for administration of the grant project. The City must comply with the processes and procedures established by the California Natural Resources Agency in order to receive reimbursement for activities included in the City’s grant agreement. The California Natural Resources Agency requires all grant recipients to certify by resolution the approval of a Project Information Packet before submission of that packet to the state. After submission and acceptance of the Project Information Packet, the City will receive the grant agreement for these funds,” according to the staff report by Senior Management Analyst Devin Hart.
“The proposed resolution resolves the approval and acceptance of these grant funds, certifies the City’s understanding and compliance with the grant agreement and California Labor code, as well as designates the City Manager as the City’s representative to conduct all negotiations, and execute and submit all documents,” Hart wrote.
Pier project bids wanted
“Since 2018, City Staff has been working on a long term maintenance plan for the Green Pleasure Pier. Currently maintenance work on the pier is accomplished by City forces where feasible, but there is a limit to the size and scope of a project. When the size and scope becomes too large, a contractor is necessary,” Hart wrote in the staff report for this item.
“In 2022, the City Council awarded a contract for the Green Pleasure Pier 2022 Repair Project to Jilk Heavy Construction, Inc., for a not to exceed amount of $266,980.00. This project replaced five pier pilings. The repairs required portions of the pier to be closed intermittently to pedestrian traffic; however, the City worked with the contractor to ensure that the businesses on the pier remained open throughout the project,” Hart wrote.
“On December 1, 2025, the City was informed that thanks to an allocation requested by Senator Lena Gonzales, the California Legislature and Governor have approved a $1 million grant from the state general fund to support the City of Avalon’s Green Pleasure Pier Deck Replacement Project.
“Replacement of the Green Pleasure Pier Deck is a timing sensitive project. The City understands the importance of coordinating construction during the off season so as not to adversely affect commercial and recreational operations of the Pier,” Hart wrote.
“After an initial conversation with the California Natural Resources Agency – the agency delegated responsibility for the administration of the grant project – City Staff believe it may be possible to complete the deck replacement project before Memorial Day 2026,” Hart wrote.
“In order to take advantage of the opportunity to complete this project before the Summer 2026 season, City Staff recommends the City Council authorizes the City Manager or his designee to develop and solicit a request for bids from qualified contractors for the Green Pleasure Pier Deck Replacement Project. Similar to the April 2025 project, the City will include potential structural repair additive bid opportunities for contractors to bid on in case there is sufficient funding in the Harbor Fund to further support additional infrastructure repairs (pile or pile cap replacement, etc.) to the Green Pleasure Pier,” Hart wrote.
“If it is not possible to complete this project prior to Memorial Day 2026, the project will be pushed to the Fall/Winter 2026,” Hart wrote.
