Foothills Sentry August 2024

Page 5 Foothills Sentry AUGUST 2024 JOHNSON MOTORCARS 34 Years of Specializing in the Service and Repair of Mercedes-Benz Gary Johnson 714-997-2567 982 N. Batavia # B13, Orange, CA 92867 gary@johnsonmotorcars.com @ ramblingroseoc "Ask voters" continued from page 1 ing lots will all see a 50 percent reduction in services. Another series of cuts, one that’s generating disappointment from a number of residents, is that of nearly all special events besides the street fair. Residents may have to say goodbye to mov- ies in the park, Veteran’s Day, Treats in the Streets, the tree lighting ceremony and holiday decorations around the circle. Community steps up Orange Community Master Chorale Director Mike Short floated the idea of his group tak- ing over the tree lighting cer- emony when the proposed cuts were announced at a meeting earlier in the month. Less than a day after the June 25 cuts were made, Wilson Automotive Group, owner of Toyota of Orange, of- fered to sponsor concerts in the park which carries a price tag of around $50,000. The Wilson donation prompted council members to propose re- visiting cuts to community events at a meeting in August pending letters of intent from other organi- zations to sponsor the remaining events by August 1. At present, stopping the events themselves will save the city about half a mil- lion dollars, plus an additional $113,000 for police overtime to staff them. In addition to revisiting what events may have received spon- sorship by their Aug. 6 meeting, Councilmember Kathy Tavou- laris also suggested a discussion about what the council members could do personally to help with the budget. “We need to lead by example and we need to give up our stipend, and we need to give up our benefits as well. Several councilmembers chose not to ac- cept a stipend when it was offered to them. with completion now expected in August 2026. Price increase no surprise Delays, coupled with pool demolition (not included in the original estimate), additional ad- ministration costs, surveys and consultants, a 5% contingency al- lowance and the need to raise the building, pool and retaining walls account for the higher estimated price. “To say I’m disappointed is an understatement,” Trustee Andrea Yamasaki protested. “We drilled into these same costs in Decem- ber. These underground lines did not just appear. It’s not like we found dinosaur bones. Why weren’t these utilities consid- ered? We have site plans; it’s not a surprise. And the water table at Villa Park was always an is- sue. We’re moving down a road, we have a commitment, and now we have to make a decision about costs. I warned the board back then. But, oh no, we’re going to keep it under $16 million.” Board President Ana Page agreed. “We asked these very specific questions. Promises were made.” Because the presence of the gas main has never been a secret and the water table issue was made clear when the new VP track was warped by it, Page gen- tly asked the PDK representatives if the firm had been pressured to keep the bid under $16 million in December. Kris Erickson also noted that the original bid from another company was $26 million and it was “let go” because it couldn’t trim the cost. Just like starting over PDK did offer several options to cut costs. They included relo- cating the pool, altering its posi- tion, removing shade shelters, sports lighting, scoreboard and bleachers, replacing the team room with a portable, shrinking the pool deck and going with a 38m pool instead. Those options would save just under $3 million. “This is not a surprise,” Kris Erickson emphasized. “We knew this was going to happen. Based on prior experience, it always does. Pet projects that board members want to push through always cost more. The El Modena pool doubled.” Regarding the suggested cuts, Erickson noted that they weren’t real savings. “Deck space, a scoreboard, lighting and bleach- ers are things we’re going to want to do anyway. If not now, then later.” Noting that CIF requires only a 33m pool to host competi- tion, she asked what the savings would be for that size. Can we put a 33m pool in the same space as the old one? Can we see what we can do with a smaller pool without sacrificing quality? Yamasaki suggested the board revisit the option of refurbish- ing all three of the aging pools at Orange, Canyon High and Villa Park, and building a single 50m pool at a central location that could be used by all students. Affordable options Superintendent Ernie Gonzalez asked for confirmation of what was being asked of the architec- tural firm and staff. “I want to make sure the direction is clear,” he said, “that we are not respond- ing to one board member, but the whole board. You want cost esti- mates for a 33m pool, including a scoreboard, shade structure, lighting and bleachers? You want to keep it where the existing pool is, with the same north/south ori- entation?” Yamasaki pointed out that the new board members hadn’t heard about the renovation option and suggested that they should. Gon- zalez, noting that those numbers had been presented last year, asked if the board wanted them updated. He offered that a fresh look at renovating all three pools could be presented to the board along with costs for the 33m op- tion. “I just want everything on the table,” Yamasaki said. OUSD has already made a down payment on a 50m prefab- ricated Myrtha pool. The board was assured that the order can be easily changed to 33m and that the district’s $220,000 deposit will not be lost. Orange approves development rights swaps to preserve open space The Orange City Council ap- proved an ordinance permitting development rights on parcels zoned “open space” to be trans- ferred to urban mixed used areas, and added properties designated “resource area, sand and gravel” to the mix. The June 25 decision affirmed the Orange Planning Commis- sion’s recommendation to ap- prove the ordinance. The Plan- ning Commission, however, did not agree to include sand and gravel-zoned properties, choos- ing instead to let the council make that determination. Under the new ordinance, property owners of designated open space parcels can transfer development rights, based on the density of surrounding parcels, to an owner of urban mixed used- zoned land. As an incentive, the transferred density allocation can be doubled. That is, if an open space property is surrounded by low-density housing, e.g., six units per acre, the transferred development rights would be 12 units per acre. Properties that already have a housing overlay could be trans- ferred one-to-one, or increased by 25 percent. The goal is to preserve open space parcels as parkland for the city. Once de- velopment rights are transferred, the “sending” property would be deed-restricted in perpetuity. Property owners in urban mixed- use areas could transfer their de- velopment rights to other areas with the same zoning designation if they elect to incorporate open space on their land, instead of building it to capacity. The resource, sand and gravel- zoned properties that the council added to the ordinance are largely adjacent to Santiago Creek and include the Sully-Miller acreage and the parcel behind Loretta Drive, Wheeler Street and Male- na Drive that borders Grijalva Park. Development rights transfers are voluntary and negotiated between the landowners them- selves. The city will not partici- pate at that point, but all swaps must be approved by the council on a case-by-case basis. Councilman Jon Dumitru, who represents the west side, noted that all of the “receiving” sites for transfers were in his district. “You’re building on the west side to preserve the east side,” he said. “The density in that area can’t be increased by 25%. But now we’re saying we can build more there?” He was assured that already high-density areas would not be candidates to receive transferred development rights, that only “underutilized” sites would be considered. Transfers would only happen in areas that could take on more density. The vote to approve was six to one, with Dumitru dissenting. Canyon residents encouraged to run for SMRPD seats By Ted Wright, SMRPD Board President The positions of two of the di- rectors on the Silverado-Modjes- ka Recreation and Park District (SMRPD) board need to be filled by election. This is particularly important, because the incum- bents in both seats, Michele Conklin and John Nelson, have announced that they will not be running for reelection. The can- yons are as wonderful a place as they are because of the efforts of your neighbors, past and present. Being an SMRPD director is a great way to continue this tradi- tion. SMRPD is a California special district, the public state agen- cy authorized to provide local recreation and parks programs and services within the district boundaries. Specifically, SMRPD oversees two community cen- ters and parks, in Silverado and Modjeska, as well as the Sil- verado Children’s Center. In ad- dition to these facilities, the dis- trict sponsors many of the classes and events taking place here, e.g., the summer concert series. You may also have noticed that this year SMRPD replaced both play- grounds. This is all made possible by the efforts of many volunteers, including the five directors on the SMRPD board. Being a SMRPD director is a responsibility, but it is not oner- ous. Directors are expected to at- tend two or three subcommittee meetings that take place in the afternoon or early evening on the third Tuesday of each month. The scheduling for these meetings, which last from 30 minutes to an hour, is flexible. They also attend a full board meeting that starts at 6:30 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday of each month and typically runs an hour and half to two hours. In addition to meetings, there are usually a few emails every week, and each director, depending on his or her specific area of inter- est, usually works on research or other projects for several hours each month. Those interested can learn more about the SMRPD from the website, smrpd.org . You can learn more than you ever wanted to know about the board and its operations by paging through the policy manual, available online. Finally, any current board mem- ber would be happy to answer your questions. You can find out who we are and how to reach us on the website under “About.” To be elected as an SMRPD di- rector, it is necessary to file as a candidate with the Orange Coun- ty Board of Elections by 5 p.m., Friday, Aug. 9. Information about filing can be found at ocvote.gov. From left, Justin Cashion, Samantha Sanchez, Leslie Santiago, and Shannon Tucker, Kiwanis of Orange president and head cheerleader. Kiwanis Club of Orange awards scholarships Kiwanis Club of Orange held its annual Scholarship Luncheon, June 20, to award scholarships to- taling $10,000 to deserving high school graduates from the Orange Unified School District. The 2024 honorees include Justin Cashion and Leslie San- tiago from El Modena High; and Samantha Sanchez from Villa Park High. Cashion will go to Baylor in the fall, and hopes for a career in the sports analysis field. Santiago and Sanchez will attend Rancho Santiago Community College, and then Cal State Fullerton. San- tiago wants to go into education, with an emphasis on art; Sanchez plans to become a pediatrician. One of the Kiwanis members remarked that it was gratifying to see young people who actually have “a plan” and are taking the steps necessary to execute it. Scholarship recipients were se- lected with an emphasis on com- munity service, which is the focus of all Kiwanis Club activities. For information about Kiwanis, see kiwanisoforange.org or call (714) 604-5653. The club meets for lunch on the first and third Thursday of each month. "VP pool" continued from page 1