The coast news, april 17, 2015

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THE COAST NEWS

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VOL. 29, N0. 16

APRIL 17, 2015

SAN E3MARCOS Cluster Goal:-NEWS 25 MPH on.Quail Gardens, THE and Saxony VISTA

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By Aaron Burgin

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helicopter makes beach landing

SOLANA BEACH— A marine helicopter made an unexpected landing in Solana Beach in front of the Del Mar Shores Terrace complex. Encinitas Fire Chief Mike Daigle said he’d never seen anything like it. See the full story on page A12. Photo by Ellen Wright

Oceanside back to square two on aquatic complex By Promise Yee

OCEANSIDE - The City Council unanimously voted to approve $1.2 million to move forward with planning and entitlement for the aquatic complex at El Corazon park April 15, with Mayor Jim Wood absent. The project is slowly moving forward despite concerns about securing funding, and water use in drought conditions. The swim complex will be located adjacent to the senior center, and include a competition pool, instruction pool, and kids splash pad. “We will finally, finally bring to the community the pool it deserves,” Council-

Sponsored by

woman Esther Sanchez said. City Council approvals for the $13 million swim center have faced starts and stops. City Council approved the concept of the aquatic center at El Corazon in October 2014. Council also requested a financial plan before earmarking funds for planning and entitlement. In February a proposal was made to refinance city bonds to pay for the swim center. Questions followed on weather financing would raise homeowner taxes. It was clarified at the April 15 workshop that taxes would not increase. Assistant City Manager Peter Weiss said city bonds

could be extended to cover the building costs. Additional sources of funding would also be looked into. One financing option presented was bonds financed at five percent a year, for 30 years, at a cost to the city of $1.1 million a year. City treasury staff is looking into refinancing current bonds, which will be paid off in 2019, at a lower interest rate, which will save additional funds. Even with financing options available, City Council shied away from designating any money for final design or construction. Instead Council is proceeding onestep at a time and going

forward with planning and entitlement, which will take just under a year. A plan will give the city more accurate numbers on how much the aquatic complex will cost. It will also provide specifics on operation costs. Estimates are the swim center will cost $700,000 annually to operate, and generate $300,000 a year. According to estimates the city will be paying slightly less to subsidize the new aquatic complex, than it currently does on combined subsidies for the smaller, dated Brooks Street and Marshall Street pools, which will remain open after the new swim center is built.

“If we move forward we would have more confidence on what everything costs,” Weiss said. “When we get further down road we’ll have further financing strategies.” The city has already been approached by two companies that would like to run the aquatic complex. Weiss said discussions with the companies could go forward after operating costs are determined. Next steps for the swim center are final design, determining funding and groundbreaking for construction. If things proceed on schedule the complex could be built and open in two and a half years.

NEWS ENCINITAS – On the heels of a major victory to slow down vehicle speeds on sections of Saxony Road and Quail Gardens Drive, stakeholders along both streets have turned their attention to a more ambitious goal- lowering the speed limit along the entire stretch of both roadsRANCHO between Leucadia and Encinitas boulevards. SFNEWS The coalition of educational, senior and cultural organizations, known as the Encinitas Environmental Education Cluster, held the first of two community workshops Tuesday night that they hope will yield a plan that will lead to lower speeds along the well-traveled streets. The second meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday at the San Diego Botanic Garden. "The ultimate goal is a 25 miles-per-hour speed limit for the full length of the road," said Dawn Wilson, a traffic engineer with Fehr and Peers, the consulting firm hired by the E3 Cluster to help craft the plan. When Wilson said this, the audience of about 50 people, many seniors who lived in the Seacrest Village retirement community where the event was held, broke out in applause. "I am so glad to hear that it's a popular idea,"

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TURN TO E3 CLUSTER ON A18


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