City staff outline 80‑acre nature-park, wetlands work and $13 million in grants; utility portal and urban forest plans also discussed

City staff provided multiple project and operational updates at the March 25 Newman City Council meeting, covering wetlands and an 80‑acre site the city purchased, grant funding, utility payment system upgrades, and an urban forest management plan.

Wetlands and nature park: City staff described work on the Newman Wetlands Project, a restoration that reestablished about 11 acres of emergent marshland, seasonal wetland and riparian habitat using water deliveries from the Miller Ditch. Staff recommended — and the council adopted — a resolution accepting the wetlands project as complete and authorized staff to record a notice of completion and to release retention funds to Rolfe Construction, Inc.

Larger 80‑acre site and nature park: Staff reported on an 80‑acre parcel the city owns that will include additional constructed wetlands for stormwater treatment, trails, an observation deck, an ADA-accessible nature park with a playground, a learning center, pollinator garden and exercise stations. Staff said an area on the site will be used as an outdoor laboratory in partnership with UC Merced, intended for graduate-level environmental and wetland studies.

Funding and schedule: Staff told the council the city has received approximately $13 million in grants toward construction of the larger site. Plans for the nature park are at roughly 60–90% completion and staff expects to put the nature-park work out to bid this fall or early winter, with an estimated one-year construction period; the tentative public opening was described as late 2026 or early 2027.

Access and safety: Staff noted main public access for the nature park will be from Brazos Road; construction access and some maintenance access will use other points. Council members raised traffic and safety questions for Canal School Road; staff said they will look at access and parking to address potential vehicle queuing or turning onto a two-lane road.

Other staff updates: - Utilities online payments: Staff said the city will replace its web-pay portal around June or July. Residents will need to create new accounts because payment details and card data cannot be migrated for PCI security reasons. New features will include auto-pay, paperless billing, and improved bill images. Staff said the city will not add an online-payment surcharge. - Urban forest management: Staff described an urban forest management plan and TreeKeeper database for tracking city trees, maintenance and heat‑map data; the final draft is due mid-April and will be brought to council after staff review. - Foster Farms site: Staff said the Foster Farms site cleanup may require specialized abatement (lead paint, asbestos) and estimated remediation costs of roughly $600,000–$750,000; staff is pursuing congressional and state grant avenues.

Why it matters: The 80‑acre project is a multi-year effort combining environmental restoration, public access and research partnerships; grant funding significantly reduces the city's direct capital burden but several pieces (public access infrastructure, remediation) will require additional design and procurement steps.

Next steps: Staff will complete design and bid documents for the nature park and continue grant and cleanup negotiations for the Foster Farms site. Council will consider subsequent bids and project-specific funding or contract awards as those items are brought forward.