FAIR OAKS, CA (MPG) - At the Measure J Bond Oversight Committee (BOC) meeting on March 3, the committee welcomed new member Keith Walter. As a Fair Oaks resident who owns retail property in the Village, Walter said he is “very interested in making sure that the village continues to stay unique and thrive.”

The BOC then received and filed the Annual Debt Transparency Report, an audit for the 2018-2019 fiscal year. Fair Oaks Recreation and Park District administrator Mike Aho explained that there wasn’t much listed in this first audit because “the majority of our expenditures did not happen until after” the end of the fiscal year.

The audit shows the first bond issuance of $9.4 million and $708,000 of interest accrued.  For the first issuance, the funds must be spent or under contract by June 2022. “We’re under a ticking clock of three years to spend that money,” said Aho. “And we’ll be there. We’re well on our way to spending it. It will be gone. And that second issuance will be very timely for us.” Right now, the District has approximately $2.5 million under contract for construction management, design, CEQA, and other planning requirements for upcoming projects.

The District is moving forward in discussions with San Juan Unified School District (SJUSD) to build softball fields at the La Vista School property. Aho said they’ve had “favorable meetings” with the SJUSD Board, so staff is now drawing up a proposal for the plan for the School Board and the District Board to approve. The proposal will include a long-term lease with the goal of eventually purchasing the property, which will add approximately five acres of park land to the District. There is also the possibility of purchasing the buildings on the land as well, which Aho said could potentially be remodeled for use as a community center or as the District headquarters.

The softball field project was initially planned for Phoenix Park, but there was concern that adding the fields would create even more traffic at an already busy sports park — traffic that wouldn’t be offset even with the parking increases proposed in the project. The District still plans to move forward with a portion of the parking improvements at Phoenix, so the new plan would improve an existing park while also creating a new park in the District.

SJUSD has identified La Vista as surplus property and they want to sell, so if the District doesn’t decide to build at La Vista, someone else will. Aho said it would be preferable to purchase the land for the District rather than allowing a developer to come in and build a housing complex. SJUSD is legally required to initially offer the property to other public agencies, and to charge below market value when selling to another public agency, so the District will likely get a good deal on the property.

Aho then presented the BOC with preliminary cost estimates for Swallow Way Park; staff will use the estimates to create a budget for the new park, where work is expected to start this summer. The cost estimates totaled $823,290, which Aho said is pretty typical for creating a pocket park of that size. Aho explained that the Swallow Way Park would fill a need for park space in the area near Hazel Ave. That side of Fair Oaks doesn’t have any parks close by: “It’s an area that really needs a park,” said Aho.

Some BOC members expressed concern about the cost of certain line items on the estimate, but Aho explained that the District has to put the project out to bid and the cost estimates are based on market rates and prevailing wage for labor. The District Board will ultimately be the ones to make the final decision about whether to approve all the costs for the park; the BOC is only responsible for ensuring that Measure J funds are spent appropriately — while their input is valuable to the Board, the BOC does not have the power to approve or deny the project plans.

Even though the cost for the park is higher than some members expected, BOC member Justin Drake said that creating a new park is exactly why Measure J was passed. He pointed out that while it is expensive to build a new park, the alternative is to just turn that land into an open grass field that would still need to be maintained by the District but wouldn’t add any benefit to the community. A new park would benefit the community while also increasing property values in that neighborhood by beautifying the area.

The District hoped to improve Veteran’s Memorial Amphitheatre using Prop. 68 funds from the state. Unfortunately, Aho said that the District’s Prop. 68 application was denied. To minimize the disruption to the Village during construction, the amphitheatre improvements need to be conducted at the same time as the Measure J-funded improvements at Village and Plaza Parks. The District plans to meet with the state to find ways to improve their application so they can reapply for the next round of Prop. 68 funds, but the next issuance will be too late to fund the amphitheatre project. The District is now considering using Measure J funds to pay for the amphitheatre project.

If Measure J funds are used for the amphitheatre, Aho said there likely will not be enough funds remaining to build a new community center. But he said that a community center did not score as high as the amphitheatre when surveying the public about which projects should be a priority. There are already detailed plans for the amphitheatre, and the District has also already conducted community outreach about the project, whereas the community center is merely a vague idea at this point with no plans, location, or community outreach. The BOC members unanimously agreed that moving forward with the amphitheatre project was the best use of Measure J funds, so Aho will take their recommendation to the District Board for the final decision.