The San Benito County Board of Supervisors approved a motion to
continue study on the proposed San Juan Oaks golf and housing
resort with a 3-2 vote Tuesday.
After lengthy public comment both for and against the project,
the Board denied Supervisor Reb Monaco’s motion to approve the
resolution. Chairman Bob Cruz cast the other supporting vote.
Supervisors Pat Loe, Ruth Kesler and Richard Scagliotti voted
against approving the project, but voted instead to continue study
on certain issues before any final decision is made.
The San Benito County Board of Supervisors approved a motion to continue study on the proposed San Juan Oaks golf and housing resort with a 3-2 vote Tuesday.
After lengthy public comment both for and against the project, the Board denied Supervisor Reb Monaco’s motion to approve the resolution. Chairman Bob Cruz cast the other supporting vote.
Supervisors Pat Loe, Ruth Kesler and Richard Scagliotti voted against approving the project, but voted instead to continue study on certain issues before any final decision is made.
“I’m not ready to make a motion to approve or deny this project today,” Loe said. “But I do want to send it back to staff – I want some answers to some questions.”
Concerns about the fire district and the benefit area – who would be paying for it and what financial responsibilities the county would have, how the project would mitigate the traffic it generates and concerns over access roads topped Loe’s list of questions to be answered before any final decision is made.
The Board directed staff to report back within the next 60 days with at least an update on the progress of the studies.
The project would include two golf courses, a 200-room resort and 186 lots for low-income housing. It also coincides with the county’s 1-percent growth cap.
San Juan Oaks’ track record with the community, its neighbors and the extent to which they’ve been willing to work with the county are all reasons to approve the project, Monaco said.
“They’ve set a very good standard for our county,” Monaco said.
In other business:
– The Board received the second quarter financial review from County Administrative Officer Terrence May.
The review revealed that the county is on budget as of Dec. 31, 2003, with General Fund expenditures at 47 percent of the budget. Revenues are below budget at only 29 percent, but the slow pace is normal for this time of year because revenues such as property tax and sales tax come in late, May said.
Good news for the county came in the form of a General Fund that is higher than originally budgeted, but May warned that things could change for the worse depending on the March 2 election.
If Californians turn down Proposition 57 – the governor’s deficit bond financing proposition that would authorize the state to issue $15 billion worth of bonds – the state will have an immediate budget hole in the current fiscal year of up to $15 billion, May said.
“If that bond measure is rejected there’s a very real possibility that state payments to cities and counties could be reduced or suspended,” May said. “We need to watch what happens on March 2 very carefully.”
Other challenges such as the Vehicle Licensing Fees (VLF) backfill and the Williamson Act, which seeks to preserve agricultural and open space lands and is on the table for elimination, create a lot of uncertainty for the county in the months ahead, May said.
“Fortunately we’ve got pretty good reserves,” he said. “I’m working on preparing a five-year financial forecast so we can see beyond the next year or two to get a sense that if revenues and expenditures continue at their current levels, what are our fund balances going to look like?”
The Board also approved a revised job description and salary range for a new director of public works and parks, as the position was vacated with the resignation of Public Works Administrator Doug Koenig in November 2003.
By reorganizing the department and hiring a director of public works and parks instead of a public works administrator, the individual hired will have to possess a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and five years of broad and extensive public works experience, and be a registered civil engineer and licensed land surveyor.
“The Public Works Department can benefit greatly from the leadership of a well-qualified department head with the proper credentials,” May said. “For us to attract well-qualified candidates for this key post, we need to offer a compensation package that is market competitive.”
