A businessman’s lease of the Commanding Officer’s Quarters, which he plans to use as a place where home-based company owners can meet with clients in a professional setting, has been delayed, Economic Development Manager Mario Giuliani said.

Giuliani will ask the City Council on Tuesday to amend provisions of the lease with Carter Rankin, owner of Carter’s Biz Cafe, so it can be executed Wednesday.

In an April 15 report, Giuliani wrote, “It had been the intent of both parties to execute the lease agreement in November 2014, but due to delays in finalizing the business plan and investment group, it has been necessary to postpone the lease execution date to April 22, 2015.”

That has affected a few other dates, which he said he has modified.

“The most significant change is a reduction of time for which the tenant would enjoy the rent to prepare the facility for occupancy,” he wrote. Also, the paid rent schedule has shifted from May 1 to July 1.

“Originally the tenant had six months to perform that work rent free. The modified agreement provided a 10 week grace period beginning April 22 to June 30.”

Under Giuliani’s proposal, starting June 1, Rankin would pay $500 a month through June 30, 2016. Rent would increase to $3,500 a month July 1, 2016; to $5,900 a month July 1, 2017; to $6,077 a month July 1, 2018; and to $6,266 July 1, 2019.

Also changed is the payment of the security deposit, Giuliani wrote.

Because of the accelerated preparation phase and for cash-flow purposes, Rankin has aksed the $15,000 security deposit be divided into two payments, Giuliani wrote.

The initial payment would be $5,000, and once that is received, Rankin would be granted entry to the elegant white building in the Benicia Arsenal Historic District. The balance would be due July 1, Giuliani wrote.

He said city employees are comfortable with the changes, and the matter is considered so routine, it has been placed on the Council’s consent calendar, to be decided along with other matters by single vote without discussion, unless someone requests an item be voted separately.

Also before the Council Tuesday night is a decision on a list of Benicia projects to be included in the Solano Transportation Authority’s Comprehensive Transportation Plan.

Public Works Director Graham Wadsworth will ask the Council to approve the list and give employees direction about the Solano Rail Facilities Plan Update.

The Solano Transportation Authority (STA) has asked Benicia, the county’s six other cities and Solano County itself to provide a list of local projects they want in the Comprehensive Transportation Plan (CTP), Wadsworth wrote.

City employees have recommended six new projects and an updated version of one other project for submission to STA.

He wrote in his April 15 report that the CTP, originally adopted in 2005, was updated in 2010 and is being revised again this year.

The plan identifies and sets priorities for transportation projects that address the county’s needs through 2035, and divides them into three categories: alternative modes; arterials, highways and freeways; and transit.

Among the seven projects employees have identified as suitable for submission are improvements to the safety and circulation of West Seventh Street and Military West, including Carolina Drive and Buena Vista.

They would like to see Park Road realigned and rebuilt between Sulphur Springs Creek and Industrial Way and widened beginning at Oak Road to include bicycle lanes. Bicycle improvements and walkways should be made to comply with the city’s General Plan, and traffic calming measures should be employed at various sites, Wadsworth wrote. In addition, the Columbus Parkway Reliever Route Project should be changed to a tier 1 priority so the improvements can be finished during the next five years.

In addition, the STA Board has recommended releasing a draft of the Solano Rail Facilities Plan Update (SRFPU) for 30 days so members of the public may comment on the document.

That plan may receive STA approval June 11, Wadsworth wrote.

Such action could impact Benicia and its prospects for a rail station, which has been called “the Intermodal Transportation Station (ITS)” and “Multi-Modal Rail Station. (MMRS).”

Wadsworth said city staff members will ask the Council whether to retain the train station’s establishment as one of the city’s CTP priority projects.

Currently, a Benicia train station at Lake Herman Road isn’t being recommended, Wadsworth wrote. Instead, a Dixon station is favored instead, he wrote.

A Benicia station had been discussed in 1994, and was included as a General Plan goal in 1999. A parcel between Interstate-680 and Goodyear Road was identified as a potential site, but wasn’t purchased. Although some designs for the station were drawn, duck clubs that owned land east of the proposed station objected and threatened litigation, saying noise and air quality might affect migrating birds.

Another impediment was the cost, between $30 million and $40 million at the time, and worries that the station wouldn’t generate enough ridership. Although the city set aside $1 million for planning, design and construction, no further action was taken, and in 2012, the Council “loaned” that money to the Economic Development program, including $750,000 for developing broadband in the Benicia Industrial Park, Wadsworth wrote.

The Council will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Council Chamber of City Hall, 250 East L St.