Published Monday, May 2, 2005

Some Rancho Murieta school children might be able to see the new elementary school from their bedroom windows, but they'll end up having to get there by bus, the same as everyone else, according to the environmental document for the proposed Stonehouse Road elementary school site.

"Here we are with $2.50 gas after fighting for 20 years for a neighborhood school that might as well be a 150 miles away," said Community Services District President John Merchant at Wednesday's Parks Committee meeting. "What you're going to generate if 400 of our kids go there, you're going to have 400 cars out on Jackson Highway every morning … especially on a rainy day. … (The CSD) has issues that would relate to safety and security. … I think we should demand what we want (from the school board)."

Merchant suggested that the Rancho Murieta Association and the CSD work together to bring the issue to the attention of the Elk Grove Unified School District's board. Murieta Holdings developer Robert J. Cassano offered the developers' help in the effort.

The RMA Ad Hoc New North Gate/School Access Committee has been grappling with safety and security issues related to getting children across Stonehouse Road to a school that will be located between Highway 16 and Escuela Drive.

Although the environmental document proposes installing a traffic signal at the intersection with 16, RMA President Paul Gumbinger, a member of the ad hoc committee, said getting a safe sidewalk from that corner to the school is a concern because of the elevations.

As an alternative, the committee has considered using the equestrian easement in back of homes along Pera Drive to create a trail within Rancho Murieta.

But the problem of getting the children safely across Stonehouse to the school would still remain. A bridge or a tunnel has been suggested, but cost is a factor, Gumbinger said.

"Part of this process is convincing the school district we can provide a safe access," said Merchant. He suggested "a creative solution" might be found by working through the Parks Committee.

The property has not yet been purchased by the school district. RMA Director Mike Martel said the district and the owner of the property are far apart on price.

The environmental document says that, although the Elk Grove Unified School District is eliminating bus service for neighborhood schools in urban and suburban areas, it's being continued in rural areas along busy roads that don't have improved shoulders and sidewalks. This is the reason that's given for continuing bus service for Rancho Murieta. About 80 percent of Cosumnes pupils are estimated to live here.

The district has exempted Cosumnes River Elementary from the bus fee the school board recently approved until classes begin in the new location in the fall of 2007. At that time, a fee that works out to be a dollar a day per student would go into effect.

When asked about the limitation on school access, Steven E. Looper, district director of planning, replied in an e-mail, "The environmental document currently in circulation calls for bus transportation to continue to be provided to the students attending the new school, just as they are transported to the current Cosumnes Elementary School site. The district is aware that the community is currently working on providing pedestrian and bike access to the school from the gated community, and we will be working with them as planning for the school progresses, should this continue to be a request. Since the proposal for pedestrian and bike access would not be located on school property or developed by the district, it could not be included as part of the scope for the project, as defined by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)."

According to the environmental document, improvements to Stonehouse Road would be required.

The document also states that once enrollment reaches 850 students, the school would go from a traditional schedule to a year-round schedule.

The environmental document was prepared to meet the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act. The school site qualified for a negative declaration, meaning mitigation measures reduce environmental impacts of the project to less than significant levels. Among the tests performed at the site was one for naturally occurring asbestos. The trace amount found was below the standard requiring a removal operation.

A paper version of the document is available for viewing at the RMA and CSD.

The 30-day review period for the negative declaration ends May 10. A public hearing is scheduled for 8 p.m. May 16 at the district board meeting held at the Robert L. Trigg Education Center, 9510 Elk Grove-Florin Road.

The RMA board meets Tuesday, May 3, at 7 p.m. at the RMA Building to discuss the document and consider drafting comments about it.

Funds for North-South bridge approved

With three of the four permits required to build a pedestrian bridge now in hand, the Parks Committee approved the release of close to a half million dollars to purchase materials and fabricate the wood superstructure for a $1.5 million pedestrian bridge over the Cosumnes River.

The bridge, linking North and South, is being constructed with developer funds through an agreement with the county, the Rancho Murieta Association and developer Reynen & Bardis. The bridge fulfills a county-imposed condition of development for the South developer.

The developer provided $450,000 for the design and permitting phases of the bridge to allow construction to continue on the South. The remainder of the bridge cost is secured by a letter of credit from the developer.

The county maintains the bridge fund and releases funds after receiving authorization from the Parks Committee, which is in charge of the project. Once the bridge is built, it becomes the property of the RMA.

Jim Foster of Quincy Engineering, a consultant to Viking Construction, the bridge builder, expressed confidence that the fourth permit, from the Army Corps of Engineers, will be issued by late May or early June.

Foster and RMA Interim General Manager Danise Hetland said the Pension Trust Fund of the Operating Engineers is on record as supporting the project. PTF's approval of the recorded easements necessary for trail access to the bridge is expected soon.

The committee approved Hetland as the project manager for the bridge at Wednesday's meeting. She will remain in that role after a new general manager is hired by the RMA, the committee decided. Hetland takes over from former General Manager Greg Vorster, who left the RMA in March.

CSD offers to try to build community center

CSD President John Merchant told the Parks Committee the CSD is looking into the feasibility of building a community center.

A community center is one of the projects included in the master plan for the community's parks. Parks projects are financed by fees contributed on a per-unit basis by developers and by the membership of the RMA through dues.

At Wednesday's Parks Committee meeting, Merchant said there would be a shortfall in parks funds because development is likely to top out at less than the 5,200 units originally planned for Rancho Murieta. He guessed that the final figure would be between 3,400 and 4,000 units. "So the long-term parks budget has been drastically reduced," he concluded.

Merchant said the CSD would need the cooperation of the Parks Committee and the RMA to consider options for locating a community center outside the gates, funding it and operating it. Merchant said 10 acres next to the CSD Building, which is located across Highway 16 from Murieta South, could possibly be made available for the center. The CSD acquired the property from the Pension Trust Fund of the Operating Engineers at the same time the RMA acquired the park sites under the terms of the Mutual Benefit Agreement.

If the RMA is not interested in the project, Merchant said, "just tell us. … We'll go somewhere else. … But if you think, through this committee and the RMA board, there is a way to get this thing done … then, if we can work together, (the CSD) will take the lead. We have some tools at our disposal to finance this thing," he said. "I'm more than willing to push this thing forward."

Merchant said "long-range plan" for the center involves "a dialogue that needs to happen sooner than later."

Merchant described the CSD's involvement as "tricky" because of its responsibility as a public agency to serve the entire the entire district, not just the gated community.

According to a survey of more than 600 households conducted by RanchoMurieta.com in 2003, 65 percent of respondents agreed that the community needed a community center while 35 percent were strongly opposed. (See those survey here.)

"There is a great significance to the RMA getting to the point where they want to talk about pursuing a community center or not, or pursuing a community center in cooperation with the CSD on property adjacent to our existing building," said CSD Director Dick Taylor, the CSD representative on the Parks Committee. "There is some kind of urgency because the CSD is not going to leave that land just sit there."

Merchant also suggested "figuring out a way" to get money for parks from the 200 residences planned as part of the commercial project across from the Plaza. As he has said before at CSD board meetings, Merchant suggested that those households will end up using the facilities behind the gates for free because the families will form relationships with Murieta North and South residents through school, sports activities, and organizations.

"If the RMA is willing to look at that, we're willing to help," he said.

Amphitheater cover challenged

Entertainment, Theatre and Culture for Rancho Murieta may have the plan, the volunteers and the financing to put a roof over Lake Clementia Amphitheater, but until the RMA Architectural Review Committee receives and approves detailed drawings, the project should go nowhere, RMA President Paul Gumbinger maintained at the Parks Committee meeting.

"We don't want to buy a pig in a poke," he told resident Randy Jenco, who has offered ETC his help to construct a cover over the concrete pad that sits at the water's edge.

Jenco disagreed about the need for detailed drawings, saying he loves what ETC does and the project solves a problem for the group because a cover is often specified in contracts for the bigger acts the non-profit volunteer group signs.

Jenco characterized the design, which calls for concrete posts and wood-product beams, as appropriate to the location -- "very rustic" and "see-through."

The issue seemed to come down to how much scrutiny should be required for something that's offered gratis to the community.

Gumbinger, an architect, has advocated design consistency and review since joining the ARC, before he was elected to the board.

RMA Architectural Manager Mark Parsons said the process requires the Parks Committee, the ARC and the RMA board to pass judgment on the project before it can be implemented.