Posted by: Bethany on 01/30/2008 04:01 PM
Updated by: Kim_Hamilton on 01/31/2008 08:13 AM
Expires: 01/01/2013 12:00 AM
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CCWD Board Determined to Help Keep Sandy Gulch Park, Valley Springs Soccer Field Projects in the Works ~ By Bethany Monk
San Andreas, C.A….Calaveras County Water District Board of Directors agreed Wednesday to make extra efforts to work with the county in order to help save the County Parks projects, which are in danger of losing state funding….
CCWD board members discussed the issue during a special board meeting Wednesday, Jan. 30 in the district board room in San Andreas. About 10 members of the public were in attendance.
Money used to fund the Calaveras County Parks projects is supposed to come from $1.2 million of Prop 40 funds (California voters passed Proposition 40, a park bond, in 2002). Calaveras County Park projects on the table include a soccer field with lighting in Valley Springs; the construction of a regional park in Sandy Gulch, a former lumber mill site; and the construction of recreational facilities at White Pines Lake.
Currently the Calaveras County Parks and Recreation Commission and County Board of Supervisors are discussing potential projects and ways to use the Prop 40 funds. Counties have until June 30, 2010 to finish their projects, and if they fail to do so the money must be sent back to the state
“The time to do something with this grant money is now,” said Bertha Underhill, CCWD board president and District 3 Director. “We see it floating away…it needs to be used now or it’s gone.”
One of the major loopholes is that the Calaveras County Parks and Recreation Commission needs $65,000 to fund a Parks and Recreation coordinator position in order get these park projects underway, Jeff Davidson, CCWD District 5 Director, said during the meeting, which began at 9 a.m. and ran until about noon. “But they need a coordinator to get the money,” he said of the “catch-22”-type of situation. “Do we work to fund that position,” or work with the county to fund it? he asked the board.
“I don’t want to back into something,” District 4 Director Ed Rich told the board, adding that CCWD could run into a “snafu” with the county if the CCWD board decides to fund or help fund the County Parks and Recreation Coordinator position. “We need to make sure it’s our role.”
The board agreed to place the issue on the agenda for discussion in the near future.
Call (209) 754-3543 for more information.
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