Monterey and the Army poised to begin a new partnership.

The city of Monterey has long prided itself on its relationship with the military, calling its maintenance agreement with the Army and Navy the “Monterey Model.” Now the city is poised to boost its status with the military from contractor to partner.

Monterey is taking advantage of a provision in the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act shepherded through Congress by U.S. Rep. Sam Farr, D-Carmel, that allows for intergovernmental support agreements. Government bodies can now bypass the Department of Defense’s contracting command and work directly with military installations.

“It’s the evolution of the Monterey Model,” says Dino Pick, Monterey deputy city manager and former commandant of the Defense Language Institute at the Presidio of Monterey. “This will be precedent-setting.”

The city provides maintenance services that include road repair, sewer upkeep and landscaping for the military at the Naval Postgraduate School, the Presidio and even Fort Hunter Liggett. All projects the city does at military installations must first be approved by the contracting command. Under the pending agreement, projects that now take months of paperwork could begin immediately.

With an intergovernmental support agreement, the city will no longer need approval from the command and will be able to directly engage with Army officials at the Presidio. The agreement has been in the works since 2013, and is expected to come before the Monterey City Council for approval in August. If passed, the agreement will take effect Nov. 1.

The partnership will save time and money, says Col. Lawrence Brown, garrison commander of the Presidio of Monterey, who expects the pending agreement to save the Army up to $500,000 over the next five years.

“This puts Monterey at the forefront of creating new ways cities and the Army can work together,” Brown says. “We look forward to working even closer with the city.”