Foothills Sentry August 2024

NEWS INSIDE A Monthly Community Newspaper AUGUST 2024 Letters Page 4 Canyon Beat Page 6 Obituaries Page 11 Service Directory Pages 11-12 Classifieds Page 13 Community Sports Page 14-15 The Best News In Town Since 1969 FOLLOW US at Foothills Sentry MORE GRACE FOR OPEN SPACE The Orange City Council added sand and gravel- zoned properties to those eligible to swap development rights for parkland. See Orange, page 5 SPARK AND RIDE 4th of July celebrants paraded and glittered in red, white and blue. See Patriotic, page 16 ACCIDENTAL ARCHAEOLOGY Orange resident finds a 180-year-old Spanish cannonball protruding from the dirt in his front yard. See A Spanish, page 2 THE EARTH MOVED Grading has finally begun on the long- delayed Crawford Canyon Park in North Tustin. See Ground broken, page 3 VAUNTED VOLUNTEERS Tustin names Man and Woman of the year, recognizing lifetimes of service to the community and numerous nonprofits. See Tustin, page 8 See "Ask voters" continued on page 5 See "VP pool" continued on page 5 See "Water flowing" continued on page 3 NFL Rams quarterback Vince Ferragamo enjoyed coaching grandson Javier Vincent Gutierrez (center rear below Ferragamo's shoulder) and his team, and has started the Ferragamo Flag Football League in con- junction with Santiago Canyon College. See Ferragamo, page 15. Orange to ask voters for half- cent sales tax increase By Carrie Graham Would you be willing to sup- port a sales tax increase on the ballot, for how much and for how long? Those were the three ques- tions put before the city council by Mayor Dan Slater at a special meeting on June 28. His goal was to identify common ground before the decision making dis- cussion began. “These are my answers,” Slater affirmed. “Question number one: yes. Question number two: a half- cent to a full cent. I am willing to consider anything in that range should get us there. And lastly, I am willing to consider four years to 20 years. Again, what's it go- ing to take council? I'm ready to listen to you.” After months of discussion, community outreach and polling, the city council finally made the 5-2 decision to put a sales tax in- crease initiative on the November ballot. The proposed half percent increase would end after ten years and is expected to generate an ad- ditional $20 million annually for the city. Voters will decide While there were community members like Kurt Peterson, a self-identified conservative, who argued that a ballot measure wouldn’t impose a tax, it would just give residents the power to decide. Others like Carol Walters levied a number of complaints, from a lack of accountability to issues with the wording of the initiative itself. “I am so against you using our fire and police department to scare people to get them to vote on your tax,” chided Walters, re- ferring to the intended language that will appear on the ballot. “I think you knew we were having problems. As a politician it's eas- ier to raise taxes than to use your head and come up with a decision that would help everyone.” The language in question states that funds gained from the initia- tive would go to “providing fund- ing for City of Orange’s general government use such as main- taining 911 response, fire/police protection/paramedic services; recruiting/retaining well-trained police/firefighters; preventing property crimes/thefts; address- ing homelessness; keeping public areas/parks safe/clean; maintain- ing safe routes to school; repair- ing streets/potholes.” Walters and others felt it im- plied the funding would all be go- ing to safety services. In reality, it will go to the city’s general fund to spend as needed. Although the budget for fire and police does come from the general fund, so does the funding for most city op- erations. The initiative comes after the council made final decisions on the city’s budget for the coming year at a June 25 meeting that ran for over five hours. Council- members struggled to make cuts during past meetings, ultimately reducing the city’s looming $19 million deficit to $8.5 million. Every city service sees cuts Those reductions will impact the residents of Orange. The li- braries will see just over half a million dollars in cuts, meaning reductions in hours, services and new acquisitions. While police and fire will not lose any existing staff, 11 sup- port positions within the police department and five positions for firefighters that are currently un- filled will be held vacant, saving the city about $2 million annually. Cuts to Public Works mean residents may also begin to notice the city losing some of its shine. Santiago Creek cleanup services and steam cleaning of Old Towne are being completely discontin- ued. Tree trimming and planting services, fountain maintenance, city janitorial services and land- scaping at city facilities and park- SWD meets challenges to keep the water flowing By Andie Mills Serrano Water District (SWD) updated its rate-payers on its pro- posed new path at a town hall meeting, held June 24 in Villa Park. SWD General Manager Jerry Vilander shared the challenges facing the district: namely, the huge uptick in estimated costs to replace the Santiago Reser- voir Spillway, which soared from $35 million in 2020 to $85-$120 million in 2024. In addition, the Smith Reservoir Tank replace- ment cost increased from $6 mil- lion to $30 million during those four years; and costs for pipeline, treatment plant rehabilitation, the groundwater well generator and other equipment jumped from $4 million to $8-$12 million. The price tag for all projects jumped from $35-45 million in 2020 to $100-$150 million. The repairs are the result of the 2018 state mandates following the Lake Oroville Spillway fail- ure, and the seismic upgrades re- quired by the California Division of Safety of Dams. The SWD Board of Directors, including President Brad Reese, Jerry Haight, Greg Mills, Frank Bryant and Mike Pelly, deter- mined the 2,285 water meters Cost of Villa Park 50m pool rises by $4 million By Tina Richards The estimated cost of the pro- posed 50m swimming pool at Vil- la Park High School has swelled from $15,891 million to $19,829 million, based on preliminary ground surveys and resulting schedule delays. The news was presented to the OUSD trustees by architectural firm PDK at the July 18 board meeting. PDK has been doing preliminary work on the proj- ect since the then-board major- ity gave the firm the go-ahead in December. Ironically, of the four board members who promoted the 50m pool and insisted the contract be awarded right away, two have been recalled and those remaining, John Ortega and An- gie Rumsey, did not attend the meeting when the update was presented. “’I’m sorry those board mem- bers aren’t here,” a constituent said during public comments. “I wanted to see their faces when the update was presented.” Left holding the bag Their absence left board mem- bers who had opposed leaping into the pool project without further cost analysis or consider- ation of alternatives and two new- ly appointed trustees to deal with the $4 million cost increase on a project that hasn’t even started. The board also recognized that this initial price hike likely would not be the last. The original plan was to build the new pool in a location sepa- rate from the existing pool so that VPHS aquatic teams could continue to practice during con- struction. As part of the pre-con- struction phase, a survey of the proposed site revealed that a gas main line ran through it as did a utility conduit that supplied pow- er to the gym and the new Build- ing 500. The survey also found that the water table is high there, requiring any new construction to be elevated two to six feet. The cost of rerouting the gas main and the utility conduits is $497,600. The pipelines cannot be relocated until the portable classrooms there are decommis- sioned, which can’t happen until Building 500 opens in November. That delay, along with concerns about major construction occur- ring on campus during the school year will impact the schedule, The Santiago reservoir dam and tower require costly upgrades.