The city of Marina spends more than $40,000 a year to rent 3.5 miles of fencing.
The City Council, which has expressed concerns about the cost in the past, may put a change to that situation on Tuesday night.
The council is being instructed not to renew a lease for the security fencing around the 190-acre Cypress Knolls, which comes at a cost of about $45,100. Moreover, fence repairs would cost another $15,000.
The green-screen fence, which was first installed in 2007, is supposed to keep people out of the former Army housing area where there are 230 badly dilapidated duplexes of former Army housing.
The site is one of Marina’s Fort Ord development areas, but attempts to have a senior housing center built there have foundered. The cost of the perimeter fencing, originally to be borne by the developer of Cypress Knolls, has fallen to the city since early 2008.
The site needs to be fenced because the buildings are deemed unsafe, and they have been severely damaged over the past decade by trespassers seeking shelter and recycling metals.
A council report says the city should either buy the existing fence or purchase a new one for less than $100,000.
The report also says the screening on the fence — which blocks views of old, blighted buildings in some areas — should be scrapped because it’s often damaged by vandals and wind. It also covers views of trees and vegetation and can prevent people from seeing trespassers in the area.
Also Tuesday, the Marina council will consider:
• Adopting the city’s 2014-15 budget with a $17 million general fund, with expenses outpacing revenue by $450,000. The council previously approved $553,000 in spending cuts, but held off on $192,000 other cuts.
• Moving ahead with a city ordinance to regulate parking of trailers and recreational vehicles on city streets. The council first looked at the issue in 2012, but a consultant turned down the ordinance-drafting project and the city attorney’s office took over.
• Consolidating eight parcels in The Dunes on Monterey Bay to a single parcel for the Veterans Affairs Health Care Center to be built at Eighth Street and First Avenue. A grading permit for the site work has already been issued, and the clinic is expected to be done by fall 2015.
If you go
What: Marina City Council
When: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday
Where: City Hall, 211 Hillcrest Ave., Marina
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