Home My Staff & I Press Box Legislation Sites To See The 2nd District The Jacob Journal How To Reach Me Helpful Info

 

DATE: May 18, 2004
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBJECT: Reinvesting into East County Children, Families, and Seniors

SUMMARY:
Today's action will provide funding for a variety of projects in East County, from improving ball fields and sheep pens in Ramona, to renovating a kitchen at a senior center in La Mesa, to providing the last dollars needed to begin construction on a new library in Campo.

RECOMMENDATIONS:
Chairwoman Dianne Jacob:

  1. Find that the allocations for the projects listed in items 2 through 10 are exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15301.
  2. Allocate $160,000 from the District Two Community Projects fund (Org. 0262) to the Grossmont Union High School District for the installation of an all-weather track at Helix High School in La Mesa.
  3. Allocate $82,000 from the District Two Community Projects fund (Org. 0262) to the Granite Hills High School Athletic Booster Club to construct an athletic storage and office facility at Montgomery Middle School in El Cajon.
  4. Allocate $59,500 from the District Two Community Projects fund (Org. 0262) to the Ramona Junior Fair Board to purchase new swine and sheep pens for the Ramona Junior Fair.
  5. Allocate $30,050 from the District Two Community Projects fund (Org. 0262) to Ramona Pony Baseball to upgrade gates and fencing, add backstop extensions and safety guards, install a sandbox area with a shade trellis, and purchase and install a public address system for the baseball fields at Wellfield Park in Ramona.
  6. Allocate $20,000 from the District Two Community Projects fund (Org. 0262) to the La Mesa Adult Enrichment Center to upgrade the center's kitchen.
  7. Allocate $15,000 from the District Two Community Projects fund (Org. 0262) to Mountain Health and Community Services to install a deck cover and purchase tables and chairs for the newly built deck at the Campo Community Center.
  8. Allocate $10,000 from the District Two Community Projects fund (Org. 0262) to the YMCA Camp Marston in Julian to install new flooring in the dining room.
  9. Reallocate $195,000 in previously awarded District Two Community Projects funds (FY 01-02) to the City of Santee for ball field improvements at Santana High School to the City of Santee for improvements to the girls' softball complex at Santee Town Center Park. Project improvements at the new site may include installing backstops, fencing, bleachers, and dugouts, as well as building bathrooms and a snack bar with a storage facility.
  10. Allocate $1,520 from the District Two Trails fund to the San Diego County Trails Council to purchase 20 directional and parking signs for the Japatul Road Staging Area on the California Riding and Hiking Trail.
  11. Authorize the Chief Financial Officer to execute a grant agreement with the organizations in items 2 through 10 listed above, establishing terms for receipt of the funds described above.
  12. Find that the contributions to the project listed in items 13 and 14 are exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15303.
  13. Transfer appropriations of $240,083 from the District Two Community Projects fund (Org. 0262) to Contributions to Capital Outlay Fund (Operating Transfers Out) to complete funding for the construction of a new library in Campo.
  14. Establish appropriations in the amount of $240,083 in the Library Capital Outlay Fund for Capital Project KL1600, Campo Library, based on an Operating Transfer from the General Fund (4 VOTES).
  15. Authorize the Chief Administrative Officer to establish a new project in the County's Capital Improvement Program, named Lakeside Sports Park, for the purpose of setting aside funding toward the hard costs of eventually constructing a first-class sports park in Lakeside.
  16. Transfer appropriations of $81,224 from the District Two Community Projects fund (Org. 0262) to Contributions to Capital Outlay Fund (Operating Transfers Out) as the first contribution to the Lakeside Sports Park project.
  17. Establish appropriations in the amount of $81,224 in the Capital Outlay Fund for the Lakeside Sports Park, based on an Operating Transfer from the General Fund (4 VOTES).
  18. Find that all grant awards described above have a public purpose.

FISCAL IMPACT:
The fiscal impact of these recommendations is $894,377. The funding source for Item 9 is previously allocated FY 01-02 District Two Community Projects. The funding source for item 10 is the District Two Trails Fund. The funding source for the remaining amount of $697,857 is FY 03-04 District Two Community Projects. This action will result in the addition of no new staff years and no future costs.

BACKGROUND:
On September 16, 2003, the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved $261,250 in District Two Community Projects funds to purchase and install an artificial grass football field at Helix Charter High School in La Mesa. Now that the field has been installed and is getting constant use, the next step is to surround it with an all-weather track. Helix High School has committed half of the funding needed to put in the track. Today's action will match their funding with $160,000.

In El Cajon, Montgomery Middle School enjoys an asset that few schools have: an on-campus pool. This pool is used by the Montgomery Middle School students, the swim team at Granite Hills High School, and the Heartland Swim Club, which uses the pool to run swim instruction programs for neighborhood families, lifeguard certification, and community public swim time. Currently, there is no room at the pool to store equipment securely, to have team meetings, or to serve as office space for coaches, and construction of this multi-purpose room does not qualify for funding under the recently passed Grossmont Union High School District bond. Therefore, today's action will provide $82,000 to construct a multi-purpose room adjacent to the pool to meet the various needs of the community.

Ramona is well known across the region for its annual Junior Fair. Held on the grounds of Wellfield Park, the Ramona Junior Fair showcases the agricultural achievements of more than 400 young people ranging in age from five to 19 years old. In an effort to continue hosting a safe, enjoyable, and successful Junior Fair event for years to come, the Ramona Junior Fair Board has asked for funding to replace sheep and swine pens that are decades old. Today's action will allocate $59,500 to the Ramona Junior Fair Board to purchase new sheep and swine pens for the Junior Fair.

Just down the road at Wellfield Park, Ramona Pony Baseball has proposed to upgrade the gates and fencing, to add backstop extensions and safety guards, to install a sandbox area with a shade trellis, and to set up a public address system for the baseball fields. Today's action will grant $30,050 to Ramona Pony Baseball to accomplish these tasks and continue making the Pony Baseball fields some of the most beautiful in the region.

La Mesa's Adult Enrichment Center has been a main provider of vital services for East County's older adult community since 1965. Offering more than 450 monthly programs and classes for seniors, the Adult Enrichment Center sees an average of 500 mature adults daily. The kitchen at this facility serves more than 4,000 seniors each year! However, at 40 years old, the kitchen needs a facelift in order to better serve the seniors who use it. Today's action will provide $20,000 towards the renovation of the kitchen at the Adult Enrichment Center, which will include upgrading the countertops and cabinets, replacing the flooring, and making the kitchen handicap-accessible.

Similarly, the Campo Community Center is a hub of activity for people in the backcountry of East County. It serves as a town hall, a senior center, a place for nutrition events, and was a gathering place for food, shelter, medical aid, and community support during the October 2003 Wildfires. Today's action will allocate $15,000 to Mountain Health and Community Services to put a patio cover on the recently constructed deck and furnish it with tables and chairs, so that everyone from seniors eating lunch to moms and dads watching their children playing baseball can comfortably enjoy sitting in the shade on the new deck at the Campo Community Center.

In Julian, the Historic Gilmore Dining Hall at Camp Marston has been the YMCA campground's meeting and eating place for San Diego area children and families since it was built in 1928. In this dining hall, more than 160,000 meals are served to more than 15,000 people per year. Over the years, the building has fallen into disrepair, and now a major renovation of the 3,100 square-foot dining hall is necessary. Today's action will allocate $10,000 to the YMCA Camp Marston, which will be matched with a challenge grant of $5,000 by a private donor, to install a new floor in the Gilmore Dining Hall.

The City of Santee is making great strides in building Town Center Community Park. They have recently added lighting to four baseball fields, and the park has come alive with the crack of bats and the cheers of families at baseball and softball games. Today's action will reallocate $195,000 in unspent funding that was previously awarded to the City of Santee for ball field improvements at Santana High School to the City of Santee to continue building recreational facilities at Town Center Community Park. Project improvements at the new site may include installing backstops, fencing, bleachers, and dugouts, as well as building bathrooms and a snack bar with a storage facility.

The San Diego County Trails Council has long been a strong community partner in maintaining trails, building staging areas, and creating a safe environment for hikers, bikers, and equestrians. A new staging area along the California Riding and Hiking Trail near Japatul Road has been constructed, but the staging area and trail need directional and parking signs for safety. Today's action will grant $1,520 from the District Two Trails fund to the San Diego County Trails Council to purchase 20 signs for the Japatul Road Staging Area.

Campo residents need a new library. Currently 490 square feet in size and located in a 40 year-old leased storefront strip mall, the existing library is grossly inadequate for its service area population of almost 6,500 people. Fortunately, plans for a new 2,500 square foot library were approved in 2002, and earlier this month, $310,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds was approved to construct the new library. Today, approval of $240,083 will complete the funding needed for the library, and set the long-awaited project in motion!

Finally, for the past two years, initial efforts have been underway to develop a first-class sports park in Lakeside along the banks of the San Diego River. On December 10, 2002, the Board approved $20,000 in District Two Community Projects funds to investigate the feasibility of constructing a sports complex along the San Diego River in Lakeside. On April 8, 2003, the Board approved $63,000 in District Two Community Projects funds to fund initial environmental studies for the sports complex. Then on May 7, 2003, the Board authorized the Chief Administrative Officer to seek funding and negotiate a contract for the purchase of two parcels of property for the sports park's eventual construction.

Lakeside residents overwhelmingly support the idea of having a beautiful sports park that would be home to the Lakeside National Little League, and that could host tournaments and serve the entire East County region. Today's action will initiate the first deposit of $81,224 into a capital project account for the eventual construction of the sports park. Since this action only allocates funding into an account, and no construction will occur until the appropriate CEQA findings have been made, no CEQA finding is required at this time.

I urge your support!

Respectfully submitted,

DIANNE JACOB
Chairwoman, Second District