A wide-ranging City Council agenda Wednesday night will allow
the council to settle where and extra $2.7 million needed to finish
the Aquatic Center will come from.
A wide-ranging City Council agenda Wednesday night will allow the council to settle where and extra $2.7 million needed to finish the Aquatic Center will come from. Council added the money to the center budget in January and asked the Parks and Recreation Committee to review other recreation projects with the hope of finding the money elsewhere.
The PRC did so and returned with the recommendation that $2.7 million be taken from the Parks Development Fund and given to the Outdoor Sports Complex. It recommended that development impact fees be increased to reduce that loss and that $2.7 million be reallocated from the Outdoor complex to the Aquatics Complex.
The PRC did not take any money from the Indoor Sports Complex, planned for a site on Edmundson, despite the request of Councilwoman Hedy Chang.
COURTHOUSE
City staff will also present a summary of their discussion last Friday with Santa Clara County staff evaluating the schematic design for the new County Courthouse. At a recent council meeting, Mayor Dennis Kennedy and other council members criticized the county for ignoring city opinion and neighborhood interests during the schematic design process.
Kevin Carruth, county general services agency director, sent a seven-page, strongly worded letter to City Manager Ed Tewes stating his opinion that the redevelopment agency “is operating under assumptions based, for the most part, on inaccurate information.”
Kennedy said later that it was possible that he was too harsh on the county’s representative, courthouse project manaIf so, he said, he would certainly apologize.
Both the county and the city said they would attempt to work more closely together to avoid future misunderstandings.
The $60 million, 80,000 square-foot courthouse is planned for an 8-acre parcel between the railroad tracks and Butterfield Boulevard, just south of the Caltrain parking lot. Because it is close to the downtown commercial area on the west and a residential area and school to the east, there has been a great deal of interest in the design, function and appearance of the multi-building complex.
Council will also allocate Community Development block Grant (CDBG) funds, deal with rate adjustments for solid waste management and to user fees, service charges and miscellaneous utility fees.
Council had planned to take a look at the Planning Commission’s recommendations on In-N-Out Burger’s latest proposal but, because of an emergency in the applicant’s family, the issue was continued to the April 2 meeting.
The complete Council agenda in full is available at the City Clerk’s desk in City Hall. City Council meets at 7 p.m. Wednesdays in City Hall Chambers, 17555 Peak Ave. Details: 779-7271. Council meetings are broadcast live on cable access channel 17. The city’s website is www.morgan-hill.ca.gov
