CDBG funding provided for Boys and Girls Club, Rainbow Park, sidewalk design

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors approved the county’s 2010-11 annual funding plan for Community Development Block Grant, HOME Investment Partnerships, Emergency Shelter Grant, and Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS programs, and the CDBG funding includes $171,000 to improve the swimming pool area at the Boys and Girls Club of North County, $52,500 for design work on future Rainbow Park improvements, $32,500 for design and preliminary engineering for West Alvarado Street sidewalks, and $22,500 for design and preliminary engineering for Aviation Road sidewalks. Each of those awards includes $2,500 for county Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) oversight costs.

The supervisors’ 5-0 vote March 23 allocated $2,043,632 of CDBG funding to 21 projects in the unincorporated area. The motion also called for staff review of issues which caused a Lakeside sidewalks proposal across from a park to be deemed ineligible; county staff will report back to the board on those issues at a later date.

Community Development Block Grant projects are intended to revitalize lower-income communities. The proposals were selected based on criteria which include benefit to lower-income residents, health and safety considerations, the ability to leverage block grant funds into additional revenue, and availability of alternate funding sources. The allocations are based on 2009-10 entitlement figures from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which provides funding for the programs. Although the 2010-11 plan must be submitted to HUD by May 15, the county has not yet seen its actual allocation. “We’re trying to make appropriate adjustments as soon as the final amendments are released,” said HCD director David Estrella. “If we have to make any amendments then we will have to return to the board.”

Approval of the recommended plan includes a 30-day public review and comment period. In past years two board of supervisor’s hearings were involved: one prior to the comment period and one following the public review. This year the public review began in February and only one hearing was held. “This meets the statutory requirement,” Estrella said. “We’re trying to improve our processes and meet the requirements on the first time.”

The improvements for the Boys and Girls Club swimming pool include a new deck, sealer, and two tubular water slides. “Hundreds of young people benefit from the swimming pool,” said Boys and Girls Club executive director Abe Oliveras. “It will have an impact on many lives.”

The project has an estimated completion date of June 2011. The design work for Rainbow Park will cover improvements including additional picnic tables and barbecues, a new shade structure, a trailer pad for an on-site volunteer and surveillance cameras. The estimated completion date for the design phase is November 2010.

The West Alvarado Street project will provide concrete sidewalks, along with curbs and gutters, on Alvarado Street from the existing sidewalk on Pasadena Avenue to the west side of South Mission Road. The design and preliminary engineering phase has an estimated completion of April 2011.

The design and preliminary engineering for concrete sidewalks, curbs, and gutters along both sides of Aviation Road from Alturas Road to just before Wisconsin Avenue has an estimated completion date of June 2011.

Five Fallbrook proposals, including four sidewalks design and engineering projects, were placed on the alternative list.

The non-sidewalk request sought $200,000 to design and construct a new multi-use amphitheater at Live Oak Park while the sidewalk requests sought $45,000 for Aviation Road between Mission Road and Main Avenue, $37,500 for Ammunition Road between Alturas Street and Mission Road, $37,500 for Elder Street between Potter Street and Main Avenue, and $20,000 for Old Stage Road from South Mission Road to Clemmens Lane.

Six Fallbrook requests were deemed ineligible for lack of low-income benefit. The $284,137 request for the Town Center pedestrian project was deemed to benefit a commercial rather than a residential area, the $99,300 proposal to bring the Fallbrook

Gem and Mineral Museum to Americans with Disabilities Act standards was deemed ineligible since the museum is not open during normal business hours to serve the community, and designations of primarily commercial use led to declarations of ineligibility for sidewalk engineering and design requests on West Elder Street between Main Avenue and Mission Road, East Mission Road between Main Avenue and Iowa Street, East Alvarado Street from Main Avenue to Brandon Road, and East Mission Road from Iowa Street to Brandon Road.

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