California state Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, and state Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, D-Berkeley, secured $15 million in state funding for repairs at the Berkeley Marina and Municipal Pier.
City Councilmembers Rashi Kesarwani, Terry Taplin and Rigel Robinson, along with Mayor Jesse Arreguín, hoped to “capitalize” on the state budget surplus to fund repairs, according to a newsletter from Kesarwani. The newsletter added that city parks director Scott Ferris had never seen this kind of state funding for Berkeley since he began working for the city in 2006.
According to a budget request letter from Taplin, Arreguín, Robinson and Kesarwani, the Berkeley Marina and “severely dilapidated pier” require $113 million in repairs. The city council unanimously passed the letter last October requesting state budget allocations for the repairs, according to the newsletter.
“The Berkeley Marina is a treasured recreational area,” Wicks said in the newsletter. “I’m ecstatic that another record state surplus has enabled me to secure funding for much-needed repairs to the marina and pier.”