Supervisors authorize North Coast coordination to pursue FLAP funds, limit initial county staff time

The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on May 19 approved a motion to convene local, state and federal partners to explore Federal Lands Access Program (FLAP) grant opportunities for safety, parking and access improvements on the North Coast tied to Cotoni (Cotoni) Coast Dairies National Monument.

Supervisor Nelson Cummings described a set of projects—parking improvements, pedestrian and bicycle access, Cement Plant Road safety upgrades and potential rail-trail connections—that could qualify for FLAP funding. He noted that FLAP can cover up to 100% of eligible project costs and cited a prior FLAP allocation (approximately $24 million) that helped build Segment 5 of the rail trail.

“The end goal is to try to connect the city of Santa Cruz all the way to the national monument,” Cummings said. He emphasized interagency coordination—Caltrans, Coastal Conservancy, Bureau of Land Management and local jurisdictions—to increase the chances of winning federal funding.

Board members questioned environmental-mitigation costs, lead applicants, and staff bandwidth. CDI and Public Works staff said initial meeting attendance and coordination are manageable within ordinary workloads, while drafting grant applications and preparing environmental documents would be a larger effort requiring budgeting and possibly consultants.

Public commenters were split. Zachary Ormsby, field manager for the Bureau of Land Management's Central Coast office, called in in support. Trail advocates and some residents urged caution about a tourist train, tree removal and equity concerns, and said the county should not divert resources from other districts.

Supervisor Jeff Koenig offered a friendly amendment—adopted by the maker and seconder—that limits total county staff time on the effort to 24 hours and requires a report back before preparing or submitting any grant proposal. The board also asked staff to return with a status update by no later than the board's second meeting in October.

The action, moved by Supervisor Cummings and seconded by Supervisor Hernandez, passed unanimously (5–0). The directive authorizes coordination and participation in regional meetings and does not commit county funds for application match or construction; any such requests would return to the board for approval.

Staff noted that larger projects (rail alignment purchase, significant environmental mitigation) would likely require federal agency partnership or a lead agency such as Caltrans, RTC or BLM, and could require local match or supplemental funding depending on the grant program.