Watsonville City Council · Tuesday, October 13, 2026, 4:30 PM · Item 8.l · CONSENT AGENDA
City would accept $275,000 Measure Q grant to revitalize the City Plaza
In plain English
The City Council would formally accept a $275,000 grant from Santa Cruz County's Office of Response, Recovery, and Resilience for the Watsonville City Plaza Revitalization Project, which is described as restoring and modernizing the historic downtown plaza. A yes vote puts the money into the City's Special Grants Fund [0260] and lets the City Manager negotiate and sign the grant agreements and any amendments needed to carry it out. The Council would also find that the environmental review already done for the plaza project is sufficient, since accepting the money does not change the project.
The money pays for work on the downtown Watsonville plaza, a public gathering place used by residents, downtown visitors and nearby businesses, and it comes from countywide Measure Q funds rather than the City's own budget.
Key facts
- Grant amount: $275,000, to be appropriated to the Special Grants Fund [0260]
- Source: Santa Cruz County Measure Q competitive grant program, FY 2025–26 grant cycle; the County Board of Supervisors approved final awards on June 9, 2026
- Measure Q — the Safe Drinking Water, Clean Beaches, Wildfire Risk Reduction and Wildlife Protection Act — was approved by county voters in November 2024, and roughly 40% of its annual revenue goes to grants for public agencies, 501(c)(3) nonprofits and tribal entities
- Project permits: an Administrative Use Permit and Design Review Permit with Environmental Review (PP2022-448) were approved by the City's Zoning Administrator on December 13, 2019
- A Notice of Determination with a Mitigated Negative Declaration and a Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Plan was filed in November 2019; the resolution finds no supplemental environmental review is needed under CEQA Guidelines section 15162
- Listed on the consent agenda, meaning it is set to pass with other routine items in a single vote unless a Council member pulls it for discussion
Reasons to support
- The $275,000 comes from countywide Measure Q funds the City competed for and won, bringing outside money to restore and modernize the historic downtown plaza.
- Measure Q's stated purposes include expanding equitable access to parks and open space, which the downtown plaza project fits.
- No new environmental study is needed because the project's 2019 review and mitigation plan already cover it, and accepting the grant proposes no changes to the project.
Reasons to oppose or change it
- The resolution gives the City Manager broad authority to negotiate and sign the grant agreement and any amendments without returning to Council, so the final terms and conditions attached to the money are settled administratively.
- The environmental analysis the Council would rely on dates to 2019; someone could argue conditions downtown have changed enough since then to warrant a fresh look rather than a finding under CEQA Guidelines section 15162.
- As a consent item, the $275,000 award and how it will be spent on the plaza would be approved without a separate Council discussion unless a member asks to pull it.
Make your voice heard
Pick a side and we'll draft a short email to citycouncil@watsonville.gov that you can edit and send from your own account. Emails to the body become part of the public record.
How to take part
Show up: Tuesday, October 13, 2026 at 4:30 PM, City Council Chambers, 275 Main Street, Top Floor, Watsonville. California's open-meetings law (the Brown Act) gives you the right to speak on agenda items. Remote-participation links, when offered, are on the agenda.
Write in: citycouncil@watsonville.gov (from the address this meeting's agenda gives for public comment)
Put "Public Comment" in the subject line and give the agenda item number and title in the body.
Official wording
ACCEPT MEASURE Q GRANT FUNDING FROM THE SANTA CRUZ COUNTY OFFICE OF RESPONSE, RECOVERY, & RESILIENCE MEASURE Q GRANT PROGRAM FOR THE CITY PLAZA REVITALIZATION PROJECT (Recommended by Parks & Community Services Director Calubaquib) 1.Report - Accept Measure Q Grant City Plaza Revitalization Project.pdf 2.Resolution - Accept Measure Q Grant City Plaza Revitalization Project.pdf RESOLUTION ACCEPTING $275,000 IN GRANT FUNDS FROM THE SANTA CRUZ COUNTY OFFICE OF RESPONSE, RECOVERY, & RESILIENCE MEASURE Q GRANT PROGRAM FOR THE WATSONVILLE CITY PLAZA REVITALIZATION PROJECT; APPROPRIATING SUCH FUNDS TO THE SPECIAL GRANTS FUND [0260]; & AUTHORIZING CITY MANAGER TO NEGOTIATE & EXECUTE ALL AGREEMENTS, INCLUDING ANY AMENDMENTS NECESSARY TO IMPLEMENT GRANT
Summary written by claude-opus-5 from the agenda and the Resolution - Accept Measure Q Grant City Plaza Revitalization Project.pdf. It can contain mistakes. The official documents govern.