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::: COMMUNITY NEWS Parks Committee OKs $98,000 to cover bridge delay Corrected
Wednesday, September 14, 2005 The Parks Committee insured the survival of the North-South pedestrian bridge Wednesday by voting to reserve $98,000 in parks funds to cover the costs of delaying construction until next year. The project was put on hold in early August after the Rancho Murieta Association and the Pension Trust Fund of the Operating Engineers failed to come to terms on an easement agreement that would allow the bridge to be built on PTF property. It was a do-or-die decision, as Community Services District General Manager Ed Crouse framed it for the committee -- either commit funds to keep the project going or forget about building the bridge.
“Basically, this will be buying time to resolve the issues,” said committee member Pamela Haines, an RMA director. Most of the funds will be used only if the project goes forward next year. The committee reached the decision at Wednesday’s meeting after an hour-long discussion. It was the first committee meeting since the April meeting, where the committee voted to release funds to build the superstructure of the bridge. Brian Palmbaum, who represents South developer Reynen & Bardis on the committee, was part of Wednesday's unanimous vote to keep the project going. He was the only developer representative at the meeting, since Robert J. Cassano of Murieta Holdings resigned from the committee in August. Cassano, who represented the PTF on the committee, resigned because of concerns about personal liability related to the committee’s role in the bridge project. The PTF has the option of appointing another representative. The committee has contracted with Viking Construction for design and construction of the bridge for the set cost of $1.5 million in developer funds. To date, $870,000 of the $1.5 million in developer funds allotted for the bridge have been spent. Although the Parks Committee committed to providing the additional funds, other sources for the money will be pursued, Haines said in making the motion. There is over $400,000 in the Parks Fund now. The fund is made up of developer contributions and smaller, matching contributions RMA members pay through their dues. The five voting members of the committee are two RMA directors, one CSD director and two developer representatives. The committee’s action was in response to an Aug. 4 letter from Viking Construction that outlined the costs involved with delaying the project until next spring. Resident Randy Jenco, who owns Viking, explained the costs of the delay at Wednesday’s meeting. “We have a whole lot of stuff that’s been fabricated and (it’s) just sitting, waiting to be used,” he said. “The superstructure – the timbers and steel and such timbers -- is sitting on a piece of property up in Oregon and it takes up about an acre.” Jenco said the storage costs are one of the ongoing costs in the $98,000 estimate. Other costs will occur when the project begins again next spring and “10 or 15 things” have to be redone, including the site survey and a bird survey. “The permits may require additional fees to extend them,” he added. In addition to the $98,000 in costs related to delay of the project, the committee agreed to set aside $47,561 in Parks money for a building permit the county unexpectedly required two weeks before construction work on the bridge was scheduled to begin. When the bridge project was proposed over two years ago, the county went on record saying it was a private project on private property and declined to participate as the lead agency. “(The county) said they had no authority whatsoever, not one iota, over this bridge,” Crouse recalled from the meetings held two years ago with county staff and officials. Jenco said that was Viking’s understanding too, and Supervisor Don Nottoli and others at the county were approached to no avail. The bridge builder scrambled to get the permit in two weeks, when it usually takes six to eight, because construction was supposed to begin then, said Jenco. Both Jenco and Crouse suggested working on getting a refund from the county. The RMA is continuing negotiations with the PTF through legal counsel to come up with an easement agreement, said RMA General Manager Kathryn Henricksen when asked about the status of the easement agreement. She said the RMA intends to meet with the county to see if it will assist in the matter, and the association is evaluating opportunities presented by the resource protection area where the bridge will be built. The PTF has offered to give the property to the RMA under the same terms that are in the Mutual Benefit Agreement, and the county has an easement on the property. The project was postponed after PTF representative David R. Howard, director of real estate for McMorgan & Co., sent the RMA and others connected to the project a new version of the easement agreement and a letter explaining that the PTF wanted the RMA to accept liability in the construction phase by indemnifying the PTF or by accepting ownership of the property, in line with a provision in the Mutual Benefit Agreement. The RMA received the correspondence July 29, two days after the last possible start date for construction work at the river this year, according to a timeline offered at the August RMA board meeting. The two easement agreements the RMA wanted grantees to approve in June are available here and here. CSD Director Dick Taylor, a member of the Parks Committee, said he was “interested in trying to find a way to cover this liability issue … even to the extent maybe of asking my CSD board for an expression of interest … We have to know what the RMA board finds as a problem.” Henricksen and RMA Assistant General Manager Danise Hetland, who’s the project manager for the bridge, said they aren’t sure what the PTF’s liability concerns are or what the PTF wants. RMA Director Jack Cooper, the committee alternate member, described the PTF’s intentions as “veiled.” Taylor said the CSD has discussed the possibility of providing insurance for the project, but hadn’t considered taking over as the contracting agency, replacing the Parks Committee, which would address one of the PTF’s stated issues. Cooper and Henricksen downplayed threats of legal action against the PTF some RMA directors made at the August RMA meeting after Taylor and CSD alternate Mary Brennan expressed concerns that were voiced at a recent CSD meeting. Amphitheater stage cover survey proposed Residents could have the opportunity to react to a proposal to put a cover over the stage at Lake Clementia Amphitheater if a survey is included as part of the November election packet. The suggestion was made by CSD General Manager Ed Crouse at the Parks Committee meeting Wednesday and adopted by committee members. The project was referred to the Parks Committee by the RMA board although the committee has no power to accept or reject the proposal since the project is not on the parks matrix and there are no parks funds involved in its construction. The $100,000 project is a volunteer effort organized by the Entertainment, Theatre and Culture group. The group presented the plan to the RMA board at the July board meeting where ETC President Peggie Miller explained that a cover is as a contract requirement for many of the acts ETC brings in to perform as part of its summer concert series. She said the cover would also benefit the community by providing shade for other events that occur at the amphitheater, including weddings and graduations. At 24 feet high, with four 16-inch diameter columns flanking the front of the stage and two in back, the cover is on a massive scale that’s hard to envision from artist’s renderings. Committee member Dick Taylor said the towering structure was designed for the sound and lighting needs of ETC acts and called it “horribly ugly.” At present, “the view is exquisite,” said Haines, who expressed misgivings about the “rustic” nature of the design. Randy Jenco, who is working on the project with ETC, offered to redesign the cover, but said the current design was requested by the RMA Architectural Review Committee, which rejected an earlier version with an arched roof. The ARC has approved the present design in concept, said RMA General Manager Kathryn Henriksen. RMA Director Jack Cooper, the committee alternate member, said the aesthetics of the project are what people will care about, and suggested investigating portable structures as an alternative to the permanent cover.
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