Two more Solano County cities will join in considering adoption of a resolution endorsing a regional approach to the possibility of revitalizing shipbuilding in Solano County when they meet Tuesday, April 15.
Suisun City leaders included the resolution on their agenda Friday and later that day both Rio Vista and Fairfield followed suit.
“While it is still very early in the process and project details are unknown, City Managers have met to discuss the potential of what an entire shipbuilding industry could mean for the region from an economic standpoint,” explains a staff report from Rio Vista City Manger Kristina Miller, included in the city’s agenda packet. “Long-term benefits include job creation, enhanced national security capacity, and support for auxiliary industries such as advanced manufacturing, logistics, and engineering.”
That is why, she explains, the city managers group drafted the resolution that will be considered by all three cities’ elected councils on Tuesday. The resolution expresses support for continued regional dialogue and exploration of opportunities to attract investment in Naval and commercial shipbuilding, repair, and maritime industrial development within Solano County. And Miller’s report says “Many other Solano County Cities will be considering approval of this or a similar resolution at their closest city council meeting to April 15.” Neither Benicia nor Dixon has the item on their Tuesday meeting agendas. Vacaville and Vallejo do not have scheduled meetings in the coming week.
As previously reported, The shipbuilding resolution references Solano County’s ideal location on the San Pablo Bay, providing water access to San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento, the Port of Stockton and other resources. It also notes the region’s history of maritime industry, including Mare Island, as well as saturation of educational institutions, including UC Davis, Stanford, UC Berkley, UC San Francisco and five California State University Campuses within a two-hour drive.
In her report, Miller notes the bi-partisan SHIPS for America Act and President Donald Trump’s formation of the White House Office of Shipbuilding, saying they “indicate strong federal support for shipbuilding.
Trump’s executive order:
- Establishes a Maritime Security Trust Fund to provide consistent funding for maritime programs in addition to shipbuilding financial incentives to boost private investment in U.S. shipbuilding;
- Develops Maritime Prosperity Zones to incentivize investment in waterfront communities modeled on President Trump’s Opportunity Zone concept;
- Expands Mariner training and education through an investment in the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and a plan for expanding training opportunities; and
- Ensures national economic security, increases the fleet of commercial vessels trading internationally under U.S. flag as well as domestically between U.S. ports.
“California Forever is advocating for a clean, modern, new shipyard to be located in southeastern Solano County, two miles east of Collinsville, just across the water from Pittsburg’s industrial waterfront,” Miller notes. “The area is currently located in the unincorporated County” and it designated in the county’s general plan for water dependent industrial use.
The Rio Vista council will also on Tuesday receive an update on the city’s annexation efforts and vote on a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Suisun City about collaboration in the annexation process with California Forever. Suisun leaders are scheduled to do the same at their meeting.
Meanwhile, in Fairfield, City Manager David Gassaway writes in a report to his council, “Solano County has a long history of shipbuilding, notably with the establishment of the Mare Island Naval Shipyard in 1854.” Explaining that since Mare Island’s closing in 1996, many of the more than 5,800 jobs in shipbuilding there were lost and renewed U.S. focus on increasing shipbuilding capacities makes Solano County “well-positioned to benefit from the establishment of new shipbuilding facilities and the jobs and positive economic impact they bring.”
The Fairfield resolution expresses the City Council’s full support in attracting new shipbuilding facilities to Solano County and authorizes Gassaway to work with regional partners to help in attracting needed investment and it also “calls on elected representatives in Sacramento and Washington D.C. to support regional efforts to restore and enhance shipbuilding in Solano County.”
