Monterey NCIP committee recommends using $3.5 million of neighborhood funds; residents urge protecting undergrounding, crosswalks and trees

The Neighborhood Capital Improvement Program (NCIP) committee voted unanimously to recommend that the City Council allow the use of $3,500,000 of NCIP cycle funds to help address the city’s budget shortfall, after hearing more than a dozen public commenters and completing a card-by-card ranking of 37 prior-year projects.

The recommendation, approved on a roll call covering each neighborhood representative, follows a weekslong review and a publicly recorded vote tally that staff said would produce a prioritized list and identify inactive or low‑priority projects whose balances could be reappropriated to meet the council’s direction to find $3–4 million. Staff told the committee the ranked list, as tallied, would place the committee at approximately $4.226 million if the low‑ranked projects with available balances were reallocated.

Why it matters: the committee’s recommendation is advisory to City Council but is the primary neighborhood-level prioritization of previously approved NCIP projects. Many speakers urged the committee to resist removing funds from long-running neighborhood projects — in particular, the Fremont Street undergrounding effort — arguing that doing so would break community trust and undo years of volunteer work.

Residents and neighborhood advocates made multiple appeals during the public‑comment period. "Monterey has $12,700,000 in funds available that could be forfeited," said Ray Myers, who identified himself as the chair of a neighborhood undergrounding group, arguing that diverting roughly $2.25 million would jeopardize progress negotiated with PG&E. "It makes no economic sense to take about $2,250,000 of NCIP money," Myers said, and urged the committee to keep the undergrounding project a high priority.

Other speakers pressed specific neighborhood safety items. Sharon Blight, a New Monterey resident, said recent work on the Taylor Street 600 block removed healthy street trees, narrowed the roadway and left no place for pedestrians to walk in front of homes; staff replied the project is unfinished, the trees were removed to clear power lines, and curb, gutter and continuous sidewalk will be installed when work resumes.

Several commenters urged the committee to limit any defunding to projects that are demonstrably dead and available for reallocation only after council demonstrates there are no general‑fund alternatives for ordinary and necessary services. "There is nothing in the charter that allows them to defund," one commenter said, citing Section 6.6 of the city charter and urging the committee to tell council it lacks legal standing for the request; staff and committee members acknowledged differing interpretations and said council had asked for a prioritized list.

How the committee proceeded: staff explained a 1–10 card ranking (10 = keep/high priority) and advised handling projects with conflict‑of‑interest constraints first. Members voted card-by-card across 37 project cards, discussing completed, in‑progress and contested items (examples included Del Monte Beach boardwalk repairs, a downtown pickleball proposal, Lower Presidio slope/monument restoration and multiple crosswalk and drainage projects). Staff read the final tallies and described cumulative totals and project balances.

Motion and vote: after the tally, a committee member introduced a position statement recommending that council allow use of $3.5 million of the '2627' cycle funding to assist the city's budget shortfall. The motion received a second and passed on a roll call; every named neighborhood representative present recorded an "Aye." The roll call included Aguaheda Oaks, Altamesa, Casanova Oak Knoll, Deer Flats, Del Monte Beach, Del Monte Grove/Laguna Grande, Downtown, Fisherman's Flats, Glenwood, Monterey Vista, New Monterey, Oak Grove, Old Town, Skyline and Villa Del Monte.

What comes next: staff said the prioritized list and committee position will be taken to the Parks & Rec Commission (Feb. 11), Planning Commission (Feb. 24) and then City Council (noted in the meeting as April 7). The committee adopted a draft schedule for the next NCIP cycle (orientation May 13, project submissions due July 31 and voting in November) and discussed Brown Act/quorum logistics for any planned field trip.

Context and caveats: the committee’s vote does not itself reallocate funds; it is a recommendation for council consideration. Several residents and committee members said they preferred not to defund projects that are already under way and asked council to clarify how any frozen projects would be refunded in future cycles. Staff noted some projects previously listed as "not started" had since used some funds or had partial work completed, and available balances vary by project.

The meeting closed after committee comments and the adoption of the draft NCIP schedule; the committee set its next meeting for May 13, 2026 and adjourned at 8:19 p.m.